Category: Historic Westside

For T. Dallas Smith, accepting the role as chairman of the Board of Directors for Westside Future Fund (WFF) was a full-circle moment. Smith grew up in Hunter Hills, off Simpson Road on Child’s Drive. Today, it’s known as Joseph E. Boone. His mother was an entrepreneur, running a daycare in his childhood home. His […]

Westside Future Fund had the honor of welcoming over 1,400 volunteers to over 10 sites throughout the historic Westside for our annual MLK Day of Service on January 15. Together, we worked to make a transformative impact on the community in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many other Civil Rights leaders lived, learned, […]

Westside Future Fund (WFF) launched its Our Next Chapter campaign in August 2023 with the goal to pair philanthropic dollars with capital from its Impact Fund and the addition of public grants to complete its housing targets. This includes: We sat down with WFF’s Chief Real Estate Officer Rachel Carey to learn about the organization’s […]

In August of 2023, Westside Future Fund launched the “Our Next Chapter” campaign with a goal to raise key philanthropic support to complete the organizations housing development targets it outline in 2017. We talked to WFF’s Chief Development Officer Rochelle Reeder about her vision for 2024 and how philanthropic partners help fuel the organization’s mission […]

When Dr. Kimberly Hundley first came to Atlanta from Los Angeles, she knew she’d found home. She recalls visiting the city many times as a child with family, with extended familial roots in the South stretching from Mississippi, but it wasn’t until her return as a young adult attending school in the Atlanta University Center […]

Neighborhood residents, faith leaders, heads of nonprofits and corporate executives gathered together at the December 15 Transform Westside Summit to hear from Roz Brewer, former chief executive officer of Walgreens Boot Alliance and former chair of the Spelman College Board of Trustees. The Summit provided a unique opportunity for the audience to engage with Roz, who shared insights into her […]

On December 12, 2023 Westside Future Fund (WFF), in collaboration with officials from the city of Atlanta, celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony in English Avenue. The event marked a key milestone for the vacant site at 839 Joseph E. Boone, which WFF plans to build into a mixed-use development that will include multifamily housing and commercial […]

Community members and business leaders attended the November 17 Transform Westside Summit for a glimpse into Georgia Tech’s dynamic role in community development, innovation, and inclusivity under President Dr. Angel Cabrera’s visionary leadership.  The event showcased the university’s commitment to creating positive change and fostering a collaborative and thriving community. As always, the morning opened […]

Community members and business leaders convened at The Gathering Spot July 21 for the Transform Westside Summit.  The program began with a moving devotion from Reverend Winston Taylor, legacy Westside resident local preacher, and founder of The Beloved Community Inc. Taylor also owns the historic St. Mark AME Church, which he plans to make a community […]

The Historic Westside, and its neighborhoods including English Avenue, Vine City, Ashview Heights, Atlanta University Center and Just Us are part of our nation’s Civil Rights history and full of rich culture. During our bi-monthly community tour, Westside Future Fund (WFF) invites the community to learn more about the stories, and history, behind the landmarks […]

Transform Westside Summit began in 2014 as the brainchild of Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy. Created to bridge the gap between Westside residents and organizations with a true passion and desire to see the Westside grow, the audience includes longtime neighborhood residents, community and faith leaders, heads of non-profits and corporate executives. These diverse stakeholders come together […]

When she first started working with the Westside Future Fund (WFF), Carol Waddy knew the organization was positioned to make a tremendous impact in the underserved, disinvested Westside community – and she was committed to help make it happen. Waddy, director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Chick-fil-A, Inc., joined Chick-fil-A with the specific intent to help support company Chairman Dan Cathy’s […]

Community members and business leaders attended the May 19 Transform Westside Summit to learn about Atlanta Housing’s work on the Westside. The morning opened with connection and community building, where members of the audience shared resources for the group’s collective efforts to improve the Westside. Jerry McGaughy, Real Estate Development Director at Quest CDC, led the […]

Westside Future Fund (WFF) recently hosted an information session about our signature program, Home on the Westside (HOTW), on the campus of Spelman College. The event was hosted with support from Dena Terrell, Training and Development Program Manager at Spelman College to educate college faculty on their opportunity to “live and work” on the Westside. Our program […]

For Shawn Watwood, the Westside has always been home. He moved to Atlanta in 2017 to take a job with Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, and from there began to learn about his new community by attending NPU meetings and early Transform the Westside Summit’s hosted by Westside Future Fund (WFF). Years later, and in […]

A big year is in the works for Westside Future Fund’s (WFF) Home on the Westside program as we plan to complete 45 affordable homes in the community by the end of 2023. The plans include 33 rental units across five multi-family properties and 12 single family homes. All of the properties are located within the English […]

When she first arrived in Atlanta in 2002, Dr. Beverly Tatum stepped into a critical role for the success of the City. A life-long educator, Tatum was named President of Spelman College – a leading educational institution for Black women, not only here in Atlanta but around the world. She brought years of experience with […]

A Worker from a Young Age In 1933, Dorothy Bolden began working as a domestic worker for a white Atlanta family near her Vine City home in the Westside community. She was nine years old. Every day after school, she’d work at the family’s home, caring for their baby, washing diapers and cleaning the house. […]

Born in 1908, Dr. Irene Dobbs Jackson was the first of six daughters born to Irene and John Wesley Dobbs. In her early years, Irene, known as “Renie,” and her family resided in Auburn Avenue, a thriving neighborhood in Atlanta known as an epicenter of Black culture and excellence in the South. She was a […]

While exploring the historic Westside, you’ll find Black history that made American history on nearly every block — including the streets you’re driving on. There are several streets in the community named after nationally prominent Black leaders from Atlanta, each of whom contributed to advancing civil rights and democracy for all Americans. While some names […]