In a major step toward revitalizing Atlanta’s Westside, YWCA Greater Atlanta President and CEO Danita Knight announced the grand opening of the newly renovated Phillis Wheatley campus, scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. The official announcement was delivered on Sept. 18 during a panel discussion at the Transform Westside Summit.
Named in honor of the 18th-century poet and former enslaved author, the Phillis Wheatley Westside Campus aims to establish a community hub for women, girls and families by expanding access to essential health, education and career resources. To ensure the new center directly addresses local priorities, Knight partnered with Wykeisha Howe, executive director of Official Parent Avengers, to conduct focus groups with local residents. Insights gathered from these social circles directly shaped the facility’s design and programming.
“That building and the programs that will be offered at that building have been designed based on what the women on the Westside said they needed,” Knight said during the summit.
The renovated campus will focus on three areas: advocacy and social justice, education and economic empowerment and health and safety. Key programs provided at the center range from breast cancer screenings to state-level policy development, including:
Digital Skills Academy: An eight-week workforce development initiative designed to help Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) advance their digital expertise and career opportunities.
Early Learning Academy: A program providing accessible, low-cost childcare to support working parents.
ENCOREplus: A community-based breast health awareness initiative by YWCA Greater Atlanta that educates medically underserved women and connects eligible individuals to free clinical breast exams and mammograms. The program serves both English- and Spanish-speaking communities.
Georgia Women’s Policy Institute: A leadership, advocacy, and civic engagement training program where women from diverse backgrounds learn how to develop and support state-level policy proposals.
In addition to these programs, the Westside campus will also expand healthcare access by offering medical care and mental health services through direct partnerships with the Morehouse School of Medicine and CHRIS 180.
A central highlight of the Phillis Wheatley revitalization is the landmark partnership between the YWCA and YMCA. The two Ys are working together for the first time in regional history to coordinate community care. Knight emphasized that collaboration across nonprofits has been critical to launching and sustaining the Westside Campus.
“We cannot do this alone,” Knight noted during the panel discussion, highlighting the necessity of partnerships to “get us started” with revitalization efforts and adding that “there will be many more collaborations coming” for future programs.
As renovations progress toward the early 2027 target, leadership looks forward not only to opening the newly renovated building, but also to establishing a social and civic gathering place for girls and women on the Westside.
