One of Georgia’s longest-standing welfare organizations, Wellroot Family Services, is set to buy Decatur’s seven-acre Avondale Patillo campus, formerly the United Methodist Children’s Home. The nonprofit will transform the lot into a multi-use community space and organizational headquarters.
The organization envisions a “dynamic, healing, multi-use community campus serving children, youth, families, and the wider Avondale/Decatur community.”
Decatur First United Methodist Church has been trying to find a use for the campus since obtaining it when the congregations merged in 2022.
When Wellroot heard about the property, CEO Allison Ashe said the organization connected with the church. The nonprofit manages foster care programs, transitional and independent living, family housing and wraparound resources.
It currently manages an apartment complex in Decatur dedicated to housing for adults aging out of foster care with a continuum of services. The CEO said she has long been on the hunt for real estate to expand their care.
“We reached out and let them know that we would be interested in partnering with them, and at the time, they didn’t know what they were going to ask for,” Ashe said.
After an extensive research process, the church decided to focus on its ministry and pass the campus on to a nonprofit it could work with: Wellroot. Ashe said the Patillo campus was a perfect fit.
“We are a faith-based organization, and walking onto the grounds of the campus, it feels like a holy place,” Ashe said. “We’re helping families heal, so that feeling of being in holy places is really important to the work we do.”
Wellroot’s interest worked for the church, too. The nonprofit agreed to a licensing deal that would let the congregation use the religious buildings and green space for gatherings and worship.
On May 19, the Decatur First congregation voted to approve Wellroot’s proposal to purchase the property for $4.8 million.
“Wellroot’s vision for Avondale Pattillo is indicative of our organizations’ shared commitment to community service and support,” Decatur First Senior Pastor Rev. Dalton Rushing said. “Wellroot has been and continues to be our long-term, dedicated partner in fostering positive change and providing vital services to those in need.”
The church will also task out the members to volunteer for Wellroot. Ashe said the nonprofit will need all hands on deck with its “big vision” for the seven-acre campus. While renovations are still being planned, the CEO envisions a hub for affordable housing and community resources. She also wants the location to be the new headquarters for Wellroot.
“Me and our entire team could come to work every day with the people that we’re working on behalf of, working alongside,” Ashe said.
She said the campus would also include a youth vocational training center to teach “hard skills” and trades, housing for families and young people transitioning out of foster care, nonprofit headquarters and offices, a food pantry, a gymnasium, and a sanctuary for weekly church service.
The host of resources are only part of the campus benefits, though. The nonprofit wants to help with the factors that put people in need, too.
“The things that lead families to be in poverty are complex and include housing, jobs, food access, education, and transportation,” Ashe said.
The location is less than half a mile away from the Kensington MARTA station. Easy access to transit will increase access to job opportunities, Ashe said. While the CEO does not know how much affordable housing the property will hold, she knows it will help serve more people than Wellroot currently does.
Last year, Wellroot received 300 housing requests it wasn’t able to meet. The Urban Land Institute reports that 50 percent of households earn less than the median income of $81,278 – leaving hundreds of Atlanta residents in need of affordable homes in the midst of an already pricey city.
“We’re going to be able to help a lot of people,” Ashe said.
Housing is only one part of the solution, though. She hopes the wraparound services like training and the gym will be resources for the greater Decatur community, too. In turn, Ashe calls on residents and businesses to get involved where they can.
“We have a big vision, and we need the community’s help to realize it,” Ashe said.
Wellroot is in the “due diligence” phase and will be mapping out the complex in months and years to come. Ashe said the group will soon launch a capital campaign to fundraise for the renovations.
