Andi Shen, a longtime volunteer and current partner leader with Love Atlanta, has played a key role in the organization’s impact on the historic Westside this year. Though it was her first year working directly with Westside Future Fund, Andi has been volunteering with Love Atlanta for nine years, helping to organize volunteers across the […]
Category: Thought Leadership
Posted inAtlanta Housing
“Community Begins with Home”: Why I Partner with Atlanta Housing
By Pam Storm As a native Atlantan, born and raised in College Park, I have witnessed this city evolve dramatically over the years. The skyline has grown, new industries have taken root, and our cultural footprint continues to expand globally—from music and film to technology and entrepreneurship. Yet amid all that progress, Atlanta retains something […]
Posted inPeople, Places & Parks
Teaming Up For Georgia’s Pollinators
By Nikki Belmonte, Georgia Native Plant Society Step outside during this sizzling summer and you will likely see a pollinator hovering, crawling or flying around in search of food. A pollinator is any animal that helps carry pollen from one flower to another, allowing the plant to become fertilized and produce fruit and seeds. More […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Help 50,000 Kids See and Succeed — For Free!
By Dr. Rebecca Parshall This school year, Learn4Life is launching The Atlanta Vision Project — a bold effort to bring free eye exams and glasses to every elementary student in metro Atlanta who needs them. And there’s a simple, no-cost way for you to help: the PEACH Education Tax Credit. This isn’t a donation. It’s […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity
The Case for a Neighborhood-Focused Response
Why Hope Atlanta Is Investing in Place-Based Strategy Neighborhoods shape everything—from housing access and job opportunities to mental health outcomes and generational wealth. In fact, a person’s ZIP code is one of the strongest predictors of their health—even more than their genetic code. That’s why Hope Atlanta has adopted a Place-Based Strategy that aligns housing, […]
Posted inHistoric Westside
Groundwork for Change: How Integrity Home Solutions Powers Property Care, Youth Leadership, and Volunteer Impact on the Historic Westside
When it comes to revitalizing Atlanta’s historic Westside, transformation doesn’t just happen — it’s built, block by block, by those willing to roll up their sleeves and do the work. For Westside Future Fund, that work is made possible every day by a trusted partner: Integrity Home Solutions. Founded in 2019 by two brothers with […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
A Tradition of Leadership: YWCA Greater Atlanta’s Academy of Women Achievers
Since 1984, YWCA Greater Atlanta has honored extraordinary women whose lives and work embody its enduring mission: to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. The Academy of Women Achievers is a living tapestry of leading women dedicated to making a meaningful impact in the Atlanta area and helping […]
Posted inPeople, Places & Parks
Building a network of greenspace leaders through Park Pride’s Park Stewardship Academy
By Hannah E. Jones, Park Pride’s Marketing & Communications Manager It may be summer break now, but class is almost back in session! Our Director of Education, Eli Dickerson, is excitedly preparing for the third year of the Park Stewardship Academy (PSA). PSA is a three-month educational and skill-building program that equips community members with […]
Posted inHigher Education
Atlanta’s Brainpower Hub: How Georgia State Is Rewiring the Future of Neuroscience
At a university known for innovation, Georgia State’s Brains & Behavior (B&B) area of focus is making its mark by connecting research from across the institution into a powerful, collaborative hub free from traditional silos. At the program’s recent annual retreat, at which it celebrated its 20th anniversary, more than 250 experts and students showcased […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Child Care Challenges and Their $2.5 Billion Economic Impact
In 2018, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students and the Metro Atlanta Chamber conducted a study to better understand the prevalence, nature, and impact of child care challenges. The results revealed that such challenges had a devastating impact on families’ ability to participate in the workforce and their economic well-being. This hardship for […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity
More Visible, More Urgent: Homelessness Is Growing—And Changing
You may have noticed it, too.The person outside your grocery store. Sleeping in a car in your office lot. Sitting quietly at your train station. Homelessness in Atlanta is no longer confined to downtown. It’s more visible—and more varied—than ever. One of the biggest misconceptions about homelessness is that it’s mostly caused by mental illness […]
Posted inHigher Education
New Graduates and a New Neighborhood: Start:ME Accelerator Expands in 2025
Another cohort of Atlanta micro-business owners has graduated from Goizueta Business School’s Start:ME Accelerator. This free, four-month intensive program provides business training and mentorship, culminating in the award of grant investment capital. This year, 68 ventures completed the accelerator. The May graduation ceremony featured catering, photography, music, and other services provided by program alumni. The ceremony also included […]
Posted inHigher Education
Engineering Medical Advancements
The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, the largest biomedical engineering program in the country, began as a partnership between Georgia Tech and Emory University intended to maximize research and educational opportunities in fields of intersecting biomedical interest. Today, its labs are producing innovative technology with the potential to change lives while fostering the […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity
Housing, Health & Hope: What Hope Atlanta’s Field Report Reveals – And why it matters
As homelessness becomes more visible—and more complex—in communities across Atlanta, Hope Atlanta’s Summer 2025 Field Report offers a powerful window into both the challenges and the solutions. With family homelessness up 14% and chronic homelessness down 9%, the 2025 Point-in-Time Count reflects a shifting landscape—and a need for adaptive, data-driven responses. Hope Atlanta’s Field Report highlights how […]
Posted inHistoric Westside
A New Chapter in English Avenue: CJ Williams Becomes a First-Time Homeowner Through Home on the Westside
Westside Future Fund (WFF) is proud to celebrate a new beginning for CJ Williams, the latest first-time homebuyer to close on a home through our Home on the Westside program. A dedicated Atlanta Public Schools teacher and staff member at the Atlanta Trap Music Museum, CJ is now the proud owner of a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in […]
Posted inGlobal Health & Development
How Testing Protects Us All
For much of history, physicians made disease diagnoses by simply using their senses. What does the skin look like? How do the lungs sound? Do any bodily fluids have a particular smell? As we have learned more about the nature of diseases and developed more advanced tools, testing has become one of our strongest defenses […]
Posted inHistoric Westside
970 Partner Spotlight: Community Farmers Markets – Strengthening Local Food Access on the Westside and Beyond
In 2019, Food Well Alliance and Westside Future Fund partnered to purchase and revitalize 970 Jefferson St. NW, the historic site of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Bill Bolling and John Ahmann played pivotal roles in making this acquisition a reality, turning a shared vision into a success. The two organizations collaborate on managing the […]
Posted inHistoric Westside
June Transform Westside Summit Recap: The Group Project: Advancing Atlanta’s Neighborhoods Together
At Westside Future Fund’s June Summit at The Gathering Spot, attendees explored how strategic investments in neighborhoods can shape Atlanta’s future. In a city where life expectancy can differ by 20 years across just a few miles, the conversation focused on the urgent need for systems-level change. The summit’s featured speaker, Courtney English, Chief Policy Officer […]
Posted inPeople, Places & Parks
Birds Georgia Is Burning for Birds
Prescribed burning, also known as controlled burning, helps restart the ecological clock, thin unwanted vegetation, and benefit native plant species, creating a habitat where birds can thrive. Working with the Interagency Burn Team (IBT), a collection of private, state, and federal partners focused on burning to help rare wildlife, Birds Georgia has conducted prescribed fires […]
Posted inHigher Education
Emory researchers discover promising treatment for epileptic seizures
Epilepsy is a persistent brain disorder that produces hard to control seizures and cognitive impairments in 1.2% of the U.S. population. It can be treated and sometimes controlled but never cured. Now, Emory University researchers have discovered genetic pathways to address the stubbornly difficult challenge of alleviating epileptic seizures. The researchers were part of a […]
