One of the biggest barriers to equity is access to transportation. For many legacy residents on the Westside, owning a vehicle isn’t an option and frequent ridesharing can be too costly. That’s why Auna Tyson started Strive Transit, a hyper-local, micro-transit shuttle service company for eight Westside neighborhoods seven days a week.

Strive Transit was also the official transportation partner for our inaugural Ride for the Westside ride/bike/walk cause event earlier this month. Hundreds of participants joined our effort to raise awareness and funds to support the equitable revitalization of historic Atlanta neighborhoods.

“Our sole goal is to pick up and drop off residents and visitors and take them to businesses on  the Westside including Midtown and the Peachtree Corridor. Our eco-friendly vehicles promote environmental sustainability while offering an alternative to MARTA, Uber and Lyft,” says Auna.

Building Community

Tyson first moved to the Westside in 2010, leaving her home in St. Louis for the first time. While it was daunting to make the leap halfway across the country, she immediately found herself at home on the Westside.

As Auna reflects on her time on the Westside, she is proud of the community’s progress and hopeful for the future.

“When I think about the Westside, I think about growth,” says Auna. “These neighborhoods are about  building community, maintaining sustainability and connecting with people who share the similar interests and mindset to help each other grow.”

Auna has high hopes that Strive Transit will continue to grow thanks to funding from the WFF Program Related Investment (PRI) program. The company was selected as a PRI recipient last year and immediately experienced a positive impact. Auna has also applied for the opportunity to qualify for a home with our Home on the Westside, a community retention initiative created to ensure that long-time residents can benefit from revitalization efforts in the historic community.

According to Auna, “The PRI funding has opened doors we had no idea would be possible. We’ve secured contracts and additional vehicles to expand our business and we’re now in the room with other Westside businesses who utilize our services for some of their events and other ventures.”

Why walk when you can ride? Book with Strive: 470-231-9941.

Inaugural event supports efforts to revitalize our Beloved Community

Support Dr. King’s vision for a Beloved Community by joining Westside Future Fund’s inaugural Ride for the Westside on Saturday, October 22 from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. Sign up and meet us 970 Jefferson Street, Atlanta, GA 30318.

Why Ride for the Westside?

An influx of jobs and people are returning to the heart of Atlanta, bringing new life to an area rich in cultural history but long neglected due to systemic inequity. This economic growth drives up the price of housing and threatens to displace legacy Westside residents.

Join friends, neighbors, and colleagues and ride to disrupt the cycle of poverty and empower the potential of our neighbors who call the Westside home. With your support, Atlanta’s Westside, a neighborhood rich in civil rights history, can become a national model for racial equity and justice.

Ride: 11-mile circuit through Westside neighborhood streets and along the Westside Beltline. Bring your bike and some friends and enjoy a great fall ride.

Run: Peachtree Road Race qualifier, timed 5K run/walk with overall and age group awards following the event.

Walk: Tour a neighborhood on the move!  Learn about the heritage and future of the historic Westside neighborhood where WFF is working to create economic opportunity and affordable housing.

Ride for the West includes:

• Breakfast and refreshments to start your day
• An 11-mile bike circuit along the beltline and through WFF’s Westside neighborhoods
• A 5K race and official qualifier for the Peachtree Road Race
• A family-friendly self-guided walking tour to highlight the neighborhood’s incredible civil rights heritage and Westside Future Fund’s work on the Historic Westside
• Post-race festivities include music, awards, finisher medals, and fun!
• Volunteer opportunities for companies and individuals
• Prizes!

A Living Legacy for African Culture in Atlanta

Atlanta is widely regarded in America as the capital of Black culture, as our city is the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement and home to institutions dedicated to understanding and dismantling systemic injustice.

On the Westside, one museum is working hard to ensure that the roots of African culture are not forgotten: the Omenala Griot Afrocentric Museum.

“I’m carrying on the legacy that my mother Dr. Narvie Puls started back in 1994,” said Kevin Williams, museum director. “She was a public school teacher for Atlanta Public Schools, and she really wanted to make sure that the true story was being told about African-American history.”

After a 35-year career as an educator, Dr. Puls founded the Omenala Griot Afrocentric Museum to provide a teaching and research facility that uplifts African history and culture through diasporic artifacts, artwork and historical literature. The museum also serves as a destination for interactive group and community discussions as well as special events.

Williams hopes that the museum he calls Atlanta’s best kept secret won’t be a secret for much longer.

“I work from volunteerism. I really need people to come and give me a hand. The Westside Future Fund has provided a tremendous amount of help,” said Williams. “I welcome all who want to serve, and they came in and did a great job sprucing up the place. I am so grateful for Westside Future Fund.”

Drop in for a tour of African history and make a donation to help sustain the beauty of the space: www.omenalagriot.com/donate

Partnership helps heal the land, connect people

Three decades ago, the Westside Future Fund partnered with Trees Atlanta to change the landscape of the community for the better – literally.

For years, the Westside community had suffered from environmental inequalities that caused tremendous damage to the natural landscape. To help heal the land, Westside Future Fund turned to Trees Atlanta, an organization with a deep commitment to maintaining the natural beauty of our city known for its sprawling tree canopies.

“We know that reconnecting to nature helps people, and what better way to ground ourselves in nature than with trees?” says John Ahmann, President and CEO of Westside Future Fund. “A lot of environmental injustice issues happened in our neighborhood, so we’re working to rectify this by adding more landscaping with lots of trees.”

Together, Westside Future Fund and Trees Atlanta have planted hundreds of trees alongside affordable multi-family housing developments on the Westside. As a matter of fact, Trees Atlanta named Westside Future Fund their 2022 Tree Champion Community Award winner, an honor that inspires WFF to forge ahead with a joint mission to revitalize the natural beauty of the Westside.

Read about the impact of Trees Atlanta: www.treesatlanta.org.

We welcome Ashley Collier in her new role as Major Gifts Officer where she will focus on stewarding relationships with new and existing donors. She brings more than 12 years of development experience to the position, including previous roles with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Hands On Atlanta.

“As the organization continues to grow, our philanthropy must grow, too. Our impact is limitless when we have donor support to unlock new avenues to support the Westside,” says Ashley.

Ashley chose the WFF opportunity because she is intentional about serving Black and Brown communities with hopes “every child who looks like my daughter Lauryn has a better chance at a more equitable life.”

Ashley is a graduate of Furman University where she played golf as a student athlete. She and her husband enjoy teaching their daughter new sports – and running appears to be their 19 month-old’s favorite thing to do.

Meet Rejoice Jones, founder of Vower, Inc.

One of the first steps toward securing a promising future is launching a career, and this can be a daunting task for many young folks who are just starting out. That’s why Westside resident Rejoice Jones founded Vower, Inc.

“Vower connects Black and Brown people with non-traditional employers like sole proprietors or companies with limited funding. We specifically support 16- to 30-year-olds, entry-level workers in high school and college or others who just want to find a job and build their resume,” says Rejoice.

Making the connection to employers easier for young people has been a game changer – especially for the Westside community. It’s one of the reasons why Westside Future Fund (WFF) named Vower a recipient of the Program Related Investments (PRI) program – to amplify the work Rejoice is doing to make a difference for young people who are finding their way.

Where the Money Resides

“Funds aren’t just raining down from the sky because of COVID and inflation, so the PRI program has provided gap funding that is getting us from point A to point B,” said Rejoice. “I think the program is brilliant, and I think more community foundations should offer something like it. PRIs build trust and teach fiscal responsibility because, when we pay the loan back, we can ask for more funding.”

PRIs are low-cost loans made with favorable terms to support the growth of minority enterprises. WFF provides these PRIs to small, minority-owned businesses that are based in or serving Atlanta’s Westside. They are unlike traditional banking institutions because PRIs offer a viable solution to organizations that are gaining traction and doing important work.

Networking Works

Networking is one way small business owners like Rejoice are making connections to keep doing meaningful work on the Westside. As a matter of fact, she started building her network by attending weekly Transform Westside Summit events hosted by WFF at The Gathering Spot before the pandemic.

Rejoice reflects on how she made her first few business deals thanks to networking at WFF events: “When I first started Vower, I went to the Westside Future Fund Summit event every Friday and it was standing room only. CEO John Ahmann passed around the mic and allowed us to introduce ourselves in 30 seconds or less. Being persistent at those meetings catapulted me into building a network in our community.”

Follow @thevowergigs to learn more about Rejoice and Vower, Inc.