By Julio Carrillo, Chief Operating Officer of Families First April is set aside to celebrate the many volunteers who give of their time, talent, and treasure to positively impact the lives of others. The United Nations estimates that about one billion individuals volunteer each year to support their favorite nonprofits. As a nonprofit, Families First […]
Category: Poverty & Equity
Posted inThought Leadership
Choosing Balance Over Business
By: DePriest Waddy, CEO of Families First Quote from Anne Frank…”Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.” One of my mentees, a young, successful IT junior executive, whom I’ve known since he was 17 years old and at the time making $8.00 an hour in a retail […]
Posted inThought Leadership
The Power of Strengthening Your Child’s Mental Health Due to the Pandemic
Edward M. Valentin, Ph.D., LCSW, Families First Director of Clinical Services With April being National Counseling Month, this year more than ever, attention needs to be drawn to the need for accessibility to counseling and therapy for everyone and to remove any stigmas some might associate with the need for assistance with mental health. Outside of […]
Posted inThought Leadership
Resilience and Equity
By DePriest Waddy, Families First CEO The challenges of the last year have impacted all of us. From social injustices to racial inequality and COVID, our communities are suffering. We have also seen great acts of heroism with our front-line workers who have continued to serve our communities. A common thread that has emerged is […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity
Beyond the numbers…Income
By S. Kelley Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, Action Ministries According to recent headlines from popular business sites, the United States is currently experiencing the longest period of economic growth in history at over 122 months. The last stretch of similar proportion was from March 1991 – Mar 2001 (CNBC). This expansion has created wealth, jobs, […]
Posted inThought Leader
Beyond the numbers
By S. Kelley Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, Action Ministries From and early age, we were taught to “show your work.” Although the answer may have been correct, demonstrating how you arrived at the answer demonstrated competency and hopefully your ability to repeat the same results. The same holds true for using statistics when tracking trends […]
Posted inThought Leader
Any way you slice it…it’s a bad idea.
By S. Kelley Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, Action Ministries Continuing the topic of food insecurity, especially among families with children, we will take a look at changes impacting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as numerous proposals could go into the effect soon. The latest proposed change impacts eligibility criteria for families with children, potentially […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Change the Trajectory
By S. Kelley Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, Action Ministries Readers of the “Poverty and Equity” section of the Saporta Report, have hopefully become aware of the challenges of food insecurity for Georgia’s children. Food insecurity is a real challenge, and one that has a long-term impact on our communities, economy, and future workforce. With 1 […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Back to School…bridging the gap!
By S. Kelley Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, Action Ministries Summer 2019 is almost over for Georgia’s kids, with most returning to the classroom over the next couple of weeks. For children living in poverty, “catching up” becomes the first task for teachers. In my June 18th article entitled “Summer Slide,” the faucet analogy was used […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Serial Evictions-Preying on Georgia’s Poor
By John Berry, Chief Executive Officer, Society of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia, Member, SVdP USA National Board of Directors Any seasoned caseworker in the field for St Vincent de Paul Georgia can tell you multiple stories of working families struggling to make ends meet as their rising rents outpace their incomes. In Georgia, 52% […]
Posted inUncategorized
Affordable Housing…have you met the new neighbor?
By S. Kelley Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, Action Ministries The topic of Affordable Housing is what might be described as “trending” of late. Numerous publications, social media platforms, and talking heads on the nightly news are parroting the obvious points. Yes…we do! This month, we are digging deeper into the reality facing so many families […]
Posted inUncategorized
Affordable Housing?
By S. Kelley Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, Action Ministries Recent headlines have shed light on what many are describing as the “affordable housing crisis” in the Greater Atlanta area. Our reputation as a destination city has been tarnished with renewed attention to the income inequality that seems entrenched, along with a runaway train in rising […]
Posted inUncategorized
ANYTHING BUT EASY
By John Berry, St. Vincent de Paul Georgia There was an old song that was popular when I was young that had a line something like ‘It’s summer time and the living is easy.’ It was one of those songs that you kind of remember, without having a clue as to the artist or the rest […]
Posted inUncategorized
Summer Hunger is Real
By S. Kelley Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, Action Ministries In my column titled The Face of Georgia’s Hungry on April 23rd, a number of statistics were shared that framed the problem of food insecurity in our state. There are few things that impact every facet of a person’s quality of life as does hunger. For […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
MEASURING IS GOOD, BUT NOT THE END ALL
By John Berry, Chief Executive Officer, St. Vincent de Paul Georgia I started in the nonprofit sector almost 13 years ago after a 25+ year career in the governmental and business sectors. It was a challenging transition. In 2006, when I came to St. Vincent de Paul Georgia, the nonprofit sector was becoming more focused […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Georgians Have One More Vote to Take
By Tamieka Atkins, Executive Director, ProGeorgia On December 4, Georgians will once again be asked to turn out to vote in an important election – the runoff for Georgia Secretary of State. This election will have a lasting impact on how Georgia runs its elections and how we count every vote in the future. The […]
Posted inPoverty & Equity, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS AT ITS ROOT CAUSE
By John Berry, St. Vincent de Paul of Georgia At St. Vincent de Paul we have discovered a cure for homelessness…it’s a home. I’m not trying to be glib here but it is a simple fact: we can prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place. People like “Charles” who is living on veteran’s […]
Posted inUncategorized
Georgians want funding to close the Workforce Gap
By Che Watkins, The Center for Working Families There are two recent reports that I have read that I am really excited about. Job training, workforce development and access to affordable education are rapidly becoming the hottest topics for companies today. We have seen recent commentary from a number of major employers lamenting that their […]
Posted inUncategorized
“Love is the only way,” A lesson from the Royal Wedding
I was up at 6:30 am on Saturday to watch the royal wedding. I had three text streams going with all of my girlfriends. We mainly wanted to see what everyone was wearing and to witness history. Needless to say, it was beautiful. However, about half way through the service, the Most Reverend Michael Curry […]
Posted inUncategorized
Youth Employment Efforts in Atlanta
By Che Watkins, Center for Working Families Atlanta has an estimated 78,000 youth ages 16 – 24 that are not in school or employed for a variety of reasons. Research has continued to show the importance of engaging these young adults sooner rather than later to show them the various options available to them. Most are […]
