It’s easy to be wistful about summertime. It’s a period many children look forward to—full of sunshine, adventure… not to mention zero homework! But while summer is an enjoyable time for some, for youth in low-income households, it can also be a challenge.

In addition to learning loss and a lack of positive support networks, summer poses nutritional challenges for children who rely on school-sponsored meals. It also puts additional pressure on families at a time when inflation and soaring grocery prices are already taking their toll.

No easy fixes

This summer, the City of Atlanta and the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning are hosting Bright from the Start, a summer-long food program that provides nutritious breakfast and lunch options to Atlanta youth from June 5 until July 21. The program includes a mobile feeding truck that will distribute 5,000 meals throughout various locations. 

But despite these excellent programs, many children are unable to access them due to transportation and other factors.

In 2019, a study by the Food Research & Action Center revealed that less than 15% of low-income students served by the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) maintained access to similar programs during the summer. 

Government food programs are a big help, but to ensure our children are being fed during the summer, we must also make an effort to act locally.

Making a difference in our community

At Emmaus House, we recognize the importance of convenient and consistent nutrition options. The Emmaus House Food Pantry is just one of the ways we address food insecurity in our community by making healthy food options accessible to our neighbors.

The Lokey Help Center also helps neighbors apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) to meet their everyday needs, and the Emmaus House Freedom School provides children K-8 with healthy meals and snack options throughout the 6-week program.

Click below to learn more about our food pantry, as well as some of the other ways we’re helping ensure that children and families have plenty to eat during the summer months.

As we kick off this year’s Freedom School program, we want to start by thanking everyone who contributed to the Freedom School Fundraiser. Thanks to your donations—and a very generous $20,000 donor match—we managed to raise $53,194 to offset the significant cost of this program as well as provide scholars with nutritious meals and enrichment opportunities throughout the summer months.

The Emmaus House Freedom School is one important way that we support educational attainment in our community. It gives children a fun, safe space to learn during the summer while also providing them with access to positive mentors and healthy food options.

Thank you so much for supporting our Freedom School. It means the world to us.

As many of you know, in October one of our three vans was stolen. The theft particularly affected our Youth on the Move participants, many of whom rely on it as a way to get to and from the program facility.

Our ability to provide reliable transportation is critical for encouraging program participation and lowering the barriers that prevent many in our community from accessing support.

Soon after it happened, we put out a call to our community to help us replace the van. We’re pleased and extremely grateful to be one of four recipients for the Episcopal Community Foundation’s spring 2023 grant program. Thanks to this $20,000 capital grant, we were able to replace the stolen vehicle and continue serving individuals in our community who do not possess reliable transportation.

A force for good

The Episcopal Community Foundation (ECF) for Middle and North Georgia provides funding, leadership, and resources that enable Episcopal parishes and nonprofit partners to lift up people experiencing poverty and oppression and to achieve significant, long-lasting impact in the Diocese of Atlanta. Since its inception, ECF has donated more than $5.5 million to promote thriving and spiritually strong individuals, families, and communities locally.

To learn more about this incredible organization, click below.

Monday is Juneteenth, a time when we celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. As many know, this isn’t the day slavery officially ended—that happened in 1863 when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Instead, Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when news of their freedom finally reached the slaves living in Galveston, Texas, one of the last strongholds of the Confederacy. 

For more than two years, over 250,000 free men, women, and children continued to live in chains because freedom on paper doesn’t always translate to freedom in practice. Even today, the effects of slavery continue to appear in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways, affecting the health, safety, and opportunity of Black people throughout our country.

Looking back while moving forward

We have a lot to celebrate this weekend. Sunday also happens to be Father’s Day. But just as Father’s Day doesn’t celebrate the completion of fatherhood, Juneteenth doesn’t celebrate the final expression of freedom. 

These ideas aren’t successes that we commemorate, but rather, they are processes that we rejoice in over and over again. As much as it’s about celebrating the emancipation of slaves, Juneteenth is also about renewing our commitment to making our society more just, equitable, and free.

At Emmaus House, we harness the power of community, education, hope, and love to dismantle poverty, racism, and other barriers to opportunity in the lives and communities we serve. We look forward to celebrating that mission on Monday, but even more, we look forward to continuing it.

Celebrate together

For those looking to celebrate Juneteenth this weekend, be sure to check out the following opportunities:

• Juneteenth Atlanta Parade and Music Festival

• City of South Fulton Juneteenth Celebration

Happy Juneteenth (and Happy Father’s Day) from all of us at Emmaus House.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) announced that this year’s Mental Health Awareness Month campaign is #MoreThanEnough. Since 2016, the number of people accessing NAMI’s HelpLine has increased by 300%, and in the last three years, the number of people calling with suicidal ideation or crisis situations has more than doubled.

“#MoreThanEnough is a powerful message of hope and unity, emphasizing that people living with mental health conditions are deserving of the love, support, and resources to help them lead fulfilling lives,” said NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison Jr. 

Safe Spaces

One of this year’s campaign focuses is “Building Connection and Community;” that is, creating supportive environments for open dialogue and shared experiences. One of Emmaus House's local partners, CHRIS 180, is doing just that with their Trauma Response Network (TRN).

“The TRN operates as a vital lifeline for individuals and communities impacted by trauma,” said Aaron Johnson, NPU-V Community Manager at CHRIS 180. “Our team of dedicated professionals and volunteers work tirelessly to provide immediate support, resources, and interventions to those in need.”

Healing Together

Twice per month, the TRN hosts healing circles that bring people together so that they can share concerns and help one another heal. One of their regular activities is yoga in the park hosted by our very own Camelia “Mimi” Felton of Mimi's Yoga Kids.

“Yoga is a wonderful practice for one’s overall mental, physical, and emotional health,” says Ms. Felton. “It creates space for you to connect with your mind, body, and spirit. When you practice together, you see that you are not alone. It builds connection and a stronger community! It also builds trust and friendships that allow us to grow and feel that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves.”

As terrible as it may be, the logic behind these efforts is unimpeachable. It’s true: reading does help people recognize the various ways that they are being oppressed. It does cause them to long for—and feel entitled to—better futures. And it empowers them to find courageous and inventive ways of getting there.

Committed to Community

CHRIS 180’s Trauma Response Network provides NPU-V residents with opportunities to build relationships through sharing and listening, provide long-term support, and work together on solutions.  

“Through our collaboration with community partners, we have built strong relationships that enable us to effectively respond to traumatic incidents,” says program manager Aaron Johnson, “ensuring that individuals receive the care and support necessary to begin their healing journey.”

Click here to learn more about CHRIS 180’s Trauma Response Network.

Most of us know that reading is good. It helps develop empathy, communication skills, and imagination. It improves sleep habits and reduces stress, strengthening neural pathways in the brain. It’s also our primary point of access to the whole of human knowledge.

There are numerous studies connecting childhood literacy to greater economic outcomes as adults. But as great as reading is, if the history of banned books and colonization has taught us anything, it’s that reading can also be dangerous.

Get Caught Reading

May is Get Caught Reading Month. The very name speaks to reading’s subversive potential. But what may strike us now as a cheeky, fun way to encourage reading, throughout many times and places has been an idea with real consequences.

One contemporary example is the story of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani woman who grew up in a place where the Taliban had banned girls from attending school. Despite the risks, Malala's father encouraged her to read and write, and through that education, Malala became more aware of the many injustices girls in her community faced. She began to speak out against the Taliban's ban on girls' education, and would go on to become the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

“I have challenged myself that I will read thousands of books,” she once said. “Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism.”

The First Step to Tyranny

Women have been banned from reading throughout much of history, the belief being that intellectual engagement would prevent them from focusing on their domestic duties. They aren’t the only ones to face this kind of intellectual censorship, however. Others include:

• Enslaved Africans - Slave owners believed that literate slaves would be more likely to escape and/or organize rebellions.

• Indigenous peoples - Colonizers invariably suppress the cultures and traditions of those whom they oppress, often banning indigenous peoples from reading and speaking in their own languages.

• Religious minorities - Religious minorities have often been banned from reading certain texts, or from reading altogether. In medieval Europe, many Jews were prohibited from reading the Christian Bible.

• Political dissidents - Totalitarian regimes—both near and far—routinely ban books and materials that challenge the ruling party's ideology.

As terrible as it may be, the logic behind these efforts is unimpeachable. It’s true: reading does help people recognize the various ways that they are being oppressed. It does cause them to long for—and feel entitled to—better futures. And it empowers them to find courageous and inventive ways of getting there.

Freedom Schools

As summer approaches, we’re already gearing up for our CDF Freedom School program.

CDF Freedom Schools® have roots in the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964, which brought college students from around the country to help secure justice and voting rights for Black citizens in the South.

These “schools” provided Black children and youth instruction in reading, writing, humanities, mathematics, and science along with many subjects that weren’t taught in Mississippi public schools, like Black history and constitutional rights. They sought to empower youths to become independent thinkers, problem solvers, and agents of change in their communities.

Worth the Risk

We hope that those of you who get caught reading this month do so under less dire circumstances. But we also recognize that whatever the cost, reading is worth it. We can’t wait to empower other young scholars this summer with the Emmaus House Freedom School. We may not know what the future holds, but we know what it needs: inspired young minds that have been empowered through literacy.

One of our primary goals for Peoplestown residents is economic stability. A big part of this is financial literacy. Through our programs like Supports for Success, we connect individuals and families with partner agencies to provide services, educational support, and financial literacy training.

In honor of National Financial Literacy Month, we’d like to share a new partnership with PNC Bank. PNC uses Mobile Banking Units (MBUs) 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. 

Financial Stability Starts At Home

We recently revised our strategic plan to focus on three priorities:

• Creating a ladder to economic opportunity that leads to household stability

• Providing multigenerational education that supports economic mobility for the next generation

• Optimizing Emmaus House assets for increased community impact

We’re proud to partner with organizations and companies that prioritize education and access over profits. Economic opportunity can come from many places, but to achieve stability, financial literacy is essential. 

At Emmaus House, our first strategic priority is creating a ladder to economic opportunity for residents that leads to economic stability. Ground zero for this effort is our Muriel Lokey Center. 

The Lokey Help Center offers a wide range of services, from emergency financial assistance to SNAP applications, GA ID vouchers, and mail services. It also houses the Emmaus House Food Pantry. 

In addition to the services it offers, the Lokey Help Center also serves as a hub of opportunity for the community, connecting residents to various resources and services in the area.

A New Chapter

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve recently hired a new Director of Economic Opportunity! Using the Lokey Help Center as a base of operations, David-Lee Mattison will guide the execution of our priority to foster economic opportunity and financial stability among residents. 

David-Lee has more than two decades of experience working with unhoused individuals, as well as providing HIV prevention education and risk-reduction counseling services. He’s a certified National Behavioral Interventions Trainer for the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and the Georgia Department of Health.

“As the Director of Economic Opportunity,” David-Lee says, “I am excited to contribute to the forward-thinking Emmaus House. My years of experience working as a director and providing case management to neighbors and community members facing housing and food insecurities has given me the tools I need to be successful.”

David-Lee is inspired by this quote from Mother Teresa: “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”  

Please join us in welcoming David-Lee to the team!

With Easter and Holy Week now behind us, we’ve been thinking a lot about Emmaus House’s legacy of faith. A mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, Emmaus House was founded in 1967 by Father Austin Ford, an Episcopal priest and civil rights advocate. 

The name “Emmaus House” refers to the Easter story in which two disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus (north of Jerusalem). In this story, the resurrected Jesus walks alongside them but disguises himself. He listens to them speak about all that has happened, and only later reveals himself to them as they are breaking bread together.

Faith In Action

There are a lot of things one could take away from this story, but one is the idea of God’s revelation coming through fellowship. There had been plenty of opportunities for Jesus to reveal himself along the road: while they were discussing the Messiah and the meaning of all that had happened. But he chose this moment of simple hospitality and kindness. 

Faith is one idea that draws us together into a blessed community, but it’s in caring for one another that God is ultimately revealed.

Church On The Move

In April each year, Emmaus House hosts a special service exploring the Stations of the Cross. We do not do so from within the walls of our chapel, but by going out into our Peoplestown community and visiting sites where residents have fought against racism and the destructive effects of police brutality, expressways, urban renewal, stadium projects, white flight, and gentrification.

At Emmaus House, we believe that we are all created in the image of God. So as we visit each of these sites, we consider how the themes of justice and mercy reflect the story of Christ in the Stations of the Cross. We ask ourselves, “Who is Jesus here?”

Everyday Faith

We’re proud of our legacy of faith, and while we appreciate traditional expressions such as the proclamation of God’s word and the celebration of the Eucharist, we recognize its most profound expression is living as Christ lived: among the people, for the people, with infinite love. 

Click below to learn more about our legacy of faith and the Emmaus House Chapel.