Westside Future Fund (WFF) touted its 2022 achievements at the first Transform Westside Summit of the year on Friday, January 20. After the Summit, WFF was featured in the SaportaReport (January 23) as an organization that successfully balances revitalizing communities with ensuring affordability for legacy residents. Read the story: https://tinyurl.com/WFFOffersLessons

Good News for the Westside

Community members and business leaders gathered to hear more about the mobilization of more than 700 individual volunteers across several projects throughout the year and progress toward a goal of developing or financing 800 affordable units in the community. So far, the organization has 219 units in service, 153 in development and another 304 planned for development – for a total of 676 units toward the 800 unit goal.

Panelists also highlighted the 970 Jefferson Street partnership with the Food Well Alliance and the growth of the Home on the Westside program.

Event Highlights

Westside Future Fund panelists included: Tameka Askew, Home on the Westside Manager; Rachel Carey, Chief Real Estate Officer; Charles Forde, Director of Project Finance; Raquel Hudson, Director of Programs; and Derrick Jordan, Real Estate Development Contractor.

Darryl Lesure, Senior Principal Lead at Chick-fil-A Corporate, kicked off the event by leading devotion and moderators Ebony Ford and Benjamin Early invited new members of the crowd to introduce themselves.

The moderators then took a moment to honor the late Yolanda Owens. Known as The Skincare Chef, Owens was loved and admired by the Westside community that she called home. In 2003, Owens launched Iwi Fresh, a holistic skincare business, and she opened her first brick and mortar location in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood in 2010.

Transforming Our Summits

Beginning in February, the organization will host the Transform Westside Summit on the third Friday of each month from 7:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The Summit, which began in 2016 as the brainchild of Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy, was created to foster community fellowship and networking.

“We hope that starting later and hosting fewer meetings each month will help us maintain a high rate of engagement among Westside residents and community supporters,” said Ahmann. “More than 10,000 people have attended our Summits over the years, and we hope more people will find value in the information we continue to share.”

Couldn’t attend the event? Watch the full Transform Westside Summit on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mByhV3qQDkA