This past week, Emmaus House Chief Program Officer David-Lee Mattison spoke with CBS News Atlanta about how nonpayment is affecting local TSA agents and their families.
The story covered how local organizations are stepping up to offer support, and the importance of serving these and other vulnerable families with dignity and respect.
Click below to check out the full story.
In February, the Georgia House Education Committee passed the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026—a new bill addressing Georgia’s low literacy rates.
The bill follows a study from the Georgia Literacy Council, which found that 62% of Georgia third-graders aren’t able to read proficiently.
Third grade is an important milestone for literacy. It’s when students are transitioning from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.”
Studies show that children who cannot read well by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school. Lawmakers hope the bill’s measures will also impact Georgia’s adult literacy rate, currently ranked 45th in the nation according to a report from ThinkImpact.
The Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026 will attempt to help early readers by providing support and guidance to schools, teachers, and families.
Classroom literacy coaches will support teachers with things like lesson planning, co-teaching, and mentoring, while regional leadership coaches will train principals and superintendents in literacy education and make recommendations for how they can support teachers.
The bill also requires children to attend a full-day kindergarten program before they can enroll in first grade, ensuring most students begin their education at age 5 (instead of 6). It will also require schools to develop intervention plans for kindergarteners at risk of not reading at grade level.
The bill passed the Georgia House of Representatives 170-2 in February with overwhelming bipartisan support, although it still needs to be approved by the Senate before the lawmaking session ends on April 2.
Classroom interventions are important for improving literacy, although they don’t address some of the most significant factors that affect students from families with low income—many of which occur outside the classroom.
Summer learning loss and inadequate access to learning resources contribute to the literacy gap between lower-income and higher-income students. That’s why, at Emmaus House, we make a point of investing in outside-the-classroom programs like Families on the Move and the CDF Freedom School.
We’re as excited as anyone about the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026; it is a major step toward addressing Georgia’s flagging literacy rates. Although without corresponding out-of-classroom support, it’s possible for literacy rates to improve while the gaps between lower-income and higher-income students continue to widen.
We recently opened enrollment for this year’s Freedom School program (which will take place June 15 - July 24) and were quickly overwhelmed by the response. Within days, we had received well over 170 applications—far more than we can accommodate.
So, as of this time, enrollment is currently closed.
Dozens of families in our community depend on this free, 6-week program for summer literacy training, as well as enrichment, nutritional opportunities, and a safe, supportive place for their children to spend time during the summer months.
Demand is high, and we’re currently exploring ways to expand the program’s capacity, although it will likely require hiring additional Student Leader Interns to support the additional scholars.
If you’re interested in learning more and potentially supporting our Freedom School program, please click below. As one of our most popular and impactful programs, we would love to expand it, although we need your help to do so.
We’re so grateful for your support.
For 41 years, the Atlanta Community Food Bank has hosted the Hunger Walk Run, an annual 5K that brings together people and organizations from all over Atlanta to fight food insecurity in our communities.
Since it began in 1984, the Hunger Walk Run has raised more than $16 million for hunger relief—that’s roughly 48 million meals!
This year, the 42nd Annual Hunger Walk Run will take place at 2:00 pm on March 15 at The Home Depot Backyard. Participants are able to attend either in-person or virtually, with all proceeds helping to feed vulnerable families within our communities.
We’re very pleased to announce that, this year, we are joining with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to support our shared food security partnership.
When teams register for the Hunger Walk Run each year, they have the opportunity to select a beneficiary that supports neighbors in need of food assistance. These organizations help recruit participants, with a percentage of all funds supporting their own hunger relief initiatives.
For many years, St. Paul’s has led a committed and successful team in the Hunger Walk Run, and this year, we’re excited to join them. Together, we can do more to help Atlanta families.
We hope you’ll support us and our partners at St. Paul’s by joining the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Atlanta) team and raising as much money as you can to combat food insecurity.
To join, click the link below and follow these instructions:
Click “Join Team”
Click “Join as a New Participant” (or if you’re a returning user, log in)
Complete your registration
Every dollar you raise will help fight food insecurity in Atlanta, and a portion of it will directly benefit our partnership with St. Paul’s.
So please join us in taking part in this incredible tradition and ensuring our neighbors have access to healthy, nutritious foods.
We say often that the strength of our community is in how we show up for one another. That was certainly true of our year-end fundraising effort.
Thanks to your support, not only did we meet our $80K fundraising goal, we far exceeded it, raising a total of $100,988 for our most successful end-of-year campaign ever!
Year-end donations are critical to our work. They allow us to plan our impact and ensure our neighbors receive the maximum benefit in the year to come.
Your donations will allow us to provide multigenerational programs and services that strengthen our community and support southside residents of all ages.
Because when we each have what we need to thrive, we have more to offer one another.
As a community, we depend on one another. We truly could not do the work we do without the generous support of people like you.
Our deepest, most heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated to this year’s fundraiser. We’re fortunate to have a community like you behind us.
The holidays are a special time at Emmaus House: a time when compassion and gratitude, service and celebration, all come together—in this case, over a dinner table.
As we prepare for another successful Thanksgiving at Home program this week, we wanted to take a moment to express our gratitude to you for being part of our community.
Each year, with your help, we’re able to distribute more than 300 turkeys and bags of groceries to families in need, allowing them to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving at home with those who matter most.
At a time when food and nourishment have become such politically charged subjects, we’re so grateful that families in our community have this opportunity to come together and experience the full meaning of Thanksgiving: good food and full stomachs, of course, but also community, love, and fellowship.
So Happy Thanksgiving from our table(s) to yours. We’re grateful for our residents and neighbors and the opportunity to serve them. And we’re also grateful for you.
Your compassion and support makes this work possible.
Happy Thanksgiving,
The Emmaus House Team
Nonprofits across the country are facing a lot of challenges right now.
An Urban Institute analysis showed that, in 2021, at least 33% of nonprofits received government grants. The vast majority of these would run deficits without federal funding.
It’s a situation that has been a long time in the making.
Instead of investing in state-sponsored programs, the US has always stressed the importance of neighbors helping one another. This led to the emergence of the charitable sector, which the federal government supported as a way of addressing social issues while minimizing government intervention.
Over time, many organizations have come to rely on that funding, which is why the current uncertainty is impacting so many.
The challenge isn’t just financial.
Regardless of what the current state of funding happens to be, the rapid pace of pauses, freezes, and proposed cuts have caused many organizations to scale back their programming—and their impact—in preparation for the potentially hard times ahead.
Policymakers hope that stimulating the economy will also stimulate giving, resulting in increased donations and leaner, more effective programs. And while experts are skeptical that the private sector can make up this gap in funding, at Emmaus House, we see some cause for hope.
Emmaus House is a community-based mission, which means we are committed to serving a specific place, but it also means we’re committed to one another. Everything we do is grounded in community and mutual service.
We’re more grateful than ever for our neighbors and the support we’re able to offer in the form of programs and critical services. We’re also grateful for our donors and volunteers, and the support you all offer us.
For now, funding insecurity is a reality all nonprofits—including us—must face. But history has demonstrated that our community is strong, and together, we will continue to empower our neighbors and lift up those around us.
Adolescence is an important time in life. As humans, we experience it longer than almost every other species. It includes a wide range of physical, neurological, cognitive, and social developments.
As important as adolescence is though, it’s also a uniquely vulnerable time for young people.
The combination of hormones, cognitive development, and complex social tasks can lead to a great deal of stress during a time most young people aren’t yet equipped to manage it, making it difficult for them to focus on learning and forming healthy relationships.
Youth who are under-resourced or living in marginalized communities are more likely to face chronic stress, which can have profound impacts on their growth and development.
At Emmaus House, we believe it’s critical that young people have stable, supportive adult relationships in their lives to help them cope with adversity and build resilience.
That’s why programs like Freedom School and our newly-expanded Families on the Move program prioritize mentorship and emotional support alongside education and enrichment.
As adults, we sometimes forget that growing up isn’t easy. However, for our youth to be successful, they need every bit of support we can offer them.
Click below to learn more about how we support our youth.
The holidays are just around the corner, and we’re already making preparations to ensure our neighbors have a joyous holiday season.
Every year, with the help of our supporters, Emmaus House hosts a number of holiday programs that local children and adults look forward to throughout the year.
We believe celebrating the holidays together is an important way of strengthening family ties. This year, we’ll gather donations to help 300 families in need enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at home.
Grandparents in Peoplestown are often the family guardians. We’ll celebrate the support they offer with a wonderful meal and entertainment.
On December 20, children, parents, and volunteers will enjoy a morning filled with fun Christmas activities before Santa and Mrs. Claus distribute presents donated by our community.
The holidays are a magical time at Emmaus House thanks, in large part, to you! Click below to learn more about our holiday programs and how you can support them.
