Emmaus House is dedicated to improving the economic and social well-being of the communities we serve, but it’s hard to even talk about economic and social well-being without talking about wealth.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Atlanta has the highest income inequality of any city in the country, despite record economic growth and the fact that it’s considered by many to be “a Black mecca.” But inequality of income is only part of the problem.

The Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative (AWBI) is a community of investors, advocates, and activists working to build Black wealth in Atlanta. Recently, they released a report titled “Building a Beloved Economy: A Baseline and Framework for Building Black Wealth in Atlanta.” The report presents a comprehensive way of understanding and confronting our city’s massive racial wealth divide and its impact on Black Atlantans.

Wealth and opportunity

Most people define wealth as a person or household’s assets minus their debts. A person can have relatively high income and still have little to no wealth, leaving them vulnerable to unexpected changes.

The median income for white families in Atlanta is $83,722 compared to $28,105 for Black families.

However, the median wealth of white households is $238,355: 46 times higher than the wealth of Black households, which is $5,180.

For Black residents of Atlanta, building wealth isn’t just about acquiring assets; it’s about security, mobility, and leverage… It’s about having the ability to say no to opportunities that aren’t right, and to invest in opportunities for growth.

Ultimately, Black wealth is about Black freedom, and—to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King—none of us are free until we all are.

Rooted in love

The report presents what AWBI calls “the structural determinants of Black wealth framework,” interrogating the data, narratives, and policies that drive Black wealth outcomes, from disparities in income and credit access to the disproportionate impacts of climate change and mass incarceration.

The goal isn’t just to highlight the problems, but rather to advance race-conscious solutions that build Black wealth and justice in the world.

“[N]ow more than ever, we need to embrace race-explicit strategies that demand we invest in people and places that have systematically denied access to opportunities,” says Dr. Janelle Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of The Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative.

Race-explicit work doesn’t mean race-exclusive work, however.

“The data, stories, and analyses we provide in this publication are rooted in love,” says Dr. Williams. “True love demands accountability, it looks to justice as its north star. This report is designed to realize the very real potential of our beloved home, Atlanta.”

Click below to read the full report and to learn more about how we can advocate for more equitable outcomes in our city.

With Black History Month coming up, we wanted to recognize one of the early pillars of our community, Judge Clint Deveaux. Community members who attend our Christmas celebrations may know him as Santa Claus, but Judge Deveaux has been an important figure at Emmaus House and the Emmaus House Chapel since its earliest days.

Man on a mission

Clint Deveaux arrived in Atlanta in December 1969 to help Andrew Young with his first congressional campaign. Soon after, he accompanied Mr. Young to visit the Welfare Rights Office and there met Emmaus House Founder Father Austin Ford along with Ethel Mae Matthews.

Deveaux went on to become close friends with Father Ford, working with him at the ACLU where Ford served on the board. After seeking Ford out for spiritual advice, eventually, Deveaux became a member of the Emmaus House Chapel and has served actively ever since. He currently serves as Treasurer.

Blessed community

One of the things that impressed Deveaux about Emmaus House was the strong sense of community. He fondly remembers the Christmas Eve dinners that Father Ford would host for staff in his home, with dishes ranging from fried chicken to oyster stew and red cabbage—even a suckling pig one year.

By the 1970s, the neighborhood had been devastated by the building of the Fulton County Stadium and the interstate which cut through the community, destroying residential property and forcing many residents to relocate.

The first law firm Deveaux worked for represented many of the neighbors and tenants and won terrific settlements for them.

In a later interview, Deveaux speculated it was Father Ford’s connection to one of the firm’s partners through St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church that resulted in the firm taking the case.

More than service

Judge Deveaux was and still is part of a dedicated group of supporters who, for various reasons, chose not just to support the community, but to become part of it.

When asked what he thought people should know about Emmaus House, Deveaux answered: “It was and still is, in many ways, an integrated—racially integrated—religious community. Interactions of people in both the programs and in the chapel are comfortably integrated. None of it is practiced. It’s just people who are comfortable with each other and they aren’t insecure about whites being with blacks and blacks being with whites. It’s rare in this town. There’s a lot of social stuff in Atlanta that remains pretty segregated.”

When we focus on building and strengthening our community, we do more than serve one another—we connect. Many thanks to Judge Deveaux for embodying what it means to be a community leader in Peoplestown.

On November 10, Greg Cole, Executive Director of Emmaus House, spoke at the Diocesan Annual Council to highlight the accomplishments of Emmaus House, its partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, and to highlight what’s ahead for our organization.

How we got here

Emmaus House was founded in 1967 by Father Austin Ford, an Episcopal Priest and advocate for civil rights. Working out of his home in Peoplestown, Father Ford enlisted the help of two nuns and a seminary student to garner resources and to assist Peoplestown residents: he set up an after-school program, once-a-month transportation to Reidsville State Prison for family members of inmates, chapel services, hot meals, and a poverty rights office. He led efforts for welfare rights, neighborhood empowerment, and racial justice.

Since our founding 56 years ago, Emmaus House has evolved alongside our Peoplestown community and the surrounding neighborhoods. Our staff and advisory board continue to serve the neighborhood in client-responsive and measurable ways that help families move toward economic self-sufficiency and children create pathways to educational and career success.

Partnering for impact

Emmaus House stands for justice and equity rooted in faith and a deep respect for the dignity of every human being. A mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, we have a long history of partnering with faith-based institutions (and others) to ensure our residents have the resources and support they need to pursue joy and opportunity.

What's to come

The programs and services that Emmaus House provides to its neighbors have become integral to the neighborhood's well-being. With the effects of gentrification evident all around us, our neighbors are in need of assistance now more than ever. With your support, our work will continue to address systemic issues like economic opportunity and access to education in our community.

To support our work and community, click below.

This year’s Thanksgiving at Home provided holiday staples to 250 families in our community, allowing them to enjoy a delicious meal at home with their loved ones. We are so grateful to everyone who donated ingredients to make these meals possible. Your support enabled our neighbors to celebrate the true purpose of the holiday: spending time together.

A special thank you to all of the groups and individuals who contributed to this year’s program. Girl Scout Troop 22170 sent some pictures of them collecting and organizing bags of ingredients for this year’s meals, and we also have photos of some St. Bede’s Episcopal Church members alongside their congregation’s donations.

So many people contributed to this year’s Thanksgiving at Home, it would be impossible to list them all, but their hard work and holiday spirit helped ensure that families got all they needed to enjoy a very special holiday. Thank you so much for your support.

On Sunday, October 15, we held our Annual Benefit on the Emmaus House campus. We had a lot to celebrate and it was a privilege to welcome our guests, Right Rev. Bishop Robert Wright of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright, and State Representative Phil Olaleye. We were also very happy to hear from our Freedom School Servant Leader Intern (SLI), Jalen.

None of the work we do would be possible without the network of volunteers and supporters who invest their time and resources into lifting up the families and neighbors we serve.

They say the strength of a community is best measured during times of change. We’ve undergone many changes these past few years, but thanks to you, we are as strong as ever.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

In many areas—and particularly those with a lot of new development—cashless establishments are becoming a popular way of doing business.

WABE reported on the trend recently, pointing out that Mercedes-Benz Stadium has been cashless since 2019 and, since then, many others have followed suit to alleviate operational challenges, address safety concerns, and prevent theft.

More and more business owners are beginning to believe the benefits of going cashless outweigh the additional processing fees.

Access denied

But there are also problems with refusing to accept cash. Major cities such as Philadelphia and San Francisco have banned cashless establishments, as well as the entire states of Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Our cash notes themselves declare that they are “legal tender for all debts, public and private.” Refusing to accept them raises questions of access, particularly for those who—for various reasons—are unbanked.

“According to the FDIC, 6.7% of Georgians are unbanked,” the WABE article observes, “with Black and Hispanic households being disproportionately unbanked compared to white households.”

As a result, we have to ask ourselves: “Do cashless establishments align with our vision of a fair and equitable society?”

Convenient banking

We believe it is important to ensure that unbanked citizens have equal access to goods and services. However, we also recognize there are many benefits to banking and not everyone who goes unbanked does so intentionally. Banks are often located in wealthier areas, and not everyone has the resources to commute or manage their finances online.

For these reasons, we’re proud to partner with PNC Bank to provide our residents with a convenient banking option.

PNC’s Mobile Banking Units (MBUs) are designed to extend essential banking services into low and moderate-income communities. In addition to banking services, MBUs provide financial education for homebuyers and money management strategies to help reduce residents’ reliance on high-fee check cashing and predatory lending.

The PNC truck is on the Emmaus House campus every Tuesday morning from 9:00 am - 11:00 am, offering all the services and benefits of a mobile branch.

Emmaus House was founded during a time of social and political unrest when conversations about race and wealth both dominated and divided our culture. 

A lot has changed since then. 

We now live in a society where Black children may be seated next to white children in school, yet face an entirely different set of expectations and outcomes. Similarly, gentrification has created massive divisions in our communities, with high-end developments situated alongside legacy homes that house multiple generations of family members.

On the surface, we see diversity and a general elevation of standards, but without a commensurate distribution of resources, our vulnerable neighbors are struggling more than ever. And what’s worse: their pain often goes unseen.

Mission in progress

Even in the last few years, much has changed. In 2019, the Emmaus House Advisory Board approved a new mission statement: “Emmaus House works to improve the economic and social well-being of the residents of Peoplestown and surrounding neighborhoods.”

With the redevelopment of the Georgia State Stadium and the Beltline—and the impact those projects have had on the area—it may look to some like that mission is well on its way. There certainly seems to be plenty of economic and social well-being going around. The problem is that legacy residents and homeowners aren’t the ones benefiting from this development. In fact, it’s on their backs that much of it is being built.

A time of need

As an organization, so much of our impact is made possible by our community of supporters and partners. Many have been drawn to our work over the years because of the obvious needs that face Peoplestown and surrounding areas. As those needs become less apparent, however, we’re noticing that many of the funds our neighbors depend on are being diverted elsewhere.

We know that there are many worthy causes. One of the things that has always distinguished our work at Emmaus House, however, is our commitment not to a cause, but to a place, a people… a commitment to our community.

Communities are not static. They move, they change, and so do their needs. Your support allows us to think holistically about our impact, providing emergency support to neighbors in crisis, a wide range of social services, and, of course, programming that facilitates opportunity and well-being.

By staying engaged with the community, we’re able to recognize and respond to emerging challenges, shifting our focus when necessary so that we all rise together.

Challenge and opportunity

The simple fact is that we need your support now more than ever… because of the changes facing our community. 

With gentrification displacing more and more of our neighbors beneath a veneer of upscale dining and shopping options, it can be tempting to succumb to the inevitable; to believe that, whatever the cause, the neighborhood will continue to change and those who can’t afford the new standard of “luxury” will be forced to relocate. Where once there was community and a shared sense of history, there will be diaspora as residents move elsewhere.

But we are not in a moment of inevitability. We are in a moment of crisis. 

If we don’t support one another now, we risk renewing the cycle of disenfranchisement that began our struggle so many years ago. We must work together to preserve what we’ve built and ensure that the changes facing this community benefit everyone.

We can do it, but only with your support. At Emmaus House, we rise and fall on the strength of our community. Luckily, our community is strong. Our community is you.

In 2018, to commemorate our 50th anniversary, we put together a history walk highlighting milestones from our five decades of service. At the anniversary gala that year, 30 posters lined the reflecting pool at the Carter Center, allowing attendees to revisit significant moments from our history.

Beginning with the Summerhill Riots in 1966 (the year before Emmaus House was founded), the history walk includes the Episcopal Diocese buying the property (1967), the opening of the Poverty Rights office (1970), the launching of the Summers Away Program (1980), as well as many other events that have impacted our work and mission.

The history walk was so popular that, afterward, we decided to create a digital version for our website.

A new chapter

A lot has happened since 2018. We thought that now—5 years later—would be a good opportunity to update the walk to include some of the pivotal events from the past several years.

To take a look at some of those notable moments, click the link below.

Raising children is challenging. It requires time, resources—both financial and emotional—and some degree of stability.

For all of these reasons, raising children can be especially hard in communities that are underserved or have little income. In these cases, the concept of the “nuclear family” isn’t always as useful as the old adage: “It takes a village.” As a result, many families choose to adopt some form of kinship care.

What is kinship care?

Kinship care is when a family member other than the child’s parents acts as primary caregiver. In some instances, kinship caregivers can even be close family friends. In our community and many others, this role is often assumed by children’s grandparents.

Community connection

Federal and state law often requires that family members be given priority over alternatives such as foster care. Kinship care allows children to stay connected to their families, friends, and communities, minimizing disruptions to their education and development.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of shared culture and values in children’s development. Kinship care allows children to stay connected with the people and places where they are most likely to find understanding, love, and opportunity.

Honoring our caregivers

September 10 was National Grandparents Day, and to celebrate, we want to acknowledge all of those grandparents doing the hard work of raising second or even third generations of family members. Their strength and love don’t just strengthen their families, they strengthen our entire community. Grandparents, we salute you!