Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum & Her Work to Address Inequity
This Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting visionary leaders in our Westside community both past and present – including Westside Future Fund Board Chair and life-long educator Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum.
When she first arrived in Atlanta in 2002, Tatum stepped into a critical role for the success of the City. She was named President of Spelman College – a leading educational institution for Black women not only here in Atlanta but around the world.
WFF Board Member Helen Smith Calls the Westside “A Very Special Place”
A native woman of the Westside, Helen Smith Price has a unique passion for the community. Her grandparents, father and his 10 siblings were all born and raised on the Westside, and she recalls it as a place during her childhood where Black residents felt truly equal, safe and protected in the days leading up to the Civil Rights Movement. In honor of Women’s History Month, Price takes a moment to talk about her personal history in our Westside community.
For Price, a deep passion for the Westside is rooted both in her personal history and its role advancing Black excellence and culture.
In honor of Women’s History Month, we are honoring key women leaders from our community, both past and present, including many of our very own hard-working board members.
“I am incredibly grateful for the many visionary women civic and business leaders who form our Board,” said John Ahmann, president and CEO of Westside Future Fund. “Their leadership as Women of the Westside and commitment to the equitable revitalization of the four historic Westside neighborhoods are essential in our mission to transform our community into one Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud to call home.”
Thank you, Women of the Westside board members:
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, President Emerita, Spelman College
Stacy Apter, The Coca-Cola Company
Kathleen S. Farrell, Truist Inc.
Shawntel Hebert Clark, Vanderlande Industries Inc.
Virginia Hepner, Retired, Wachovia Bank
Susan Somersille Johnson, Prudential Financial
Lee Kuschel, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Penny McPhee, Retired, The Arthur Blank Family Foundation
Helen Smith Price, Retired, The Coca-Cola Company
Sylvia Russell, Retired, AT&T Georgia
Beverly Thomas, Retired, Kaiser Permanente
Kathy Waller, Ex-Officio, Atlanta Committee for Progress
To honor Women’s History Month, community members and business leaders came together for a women-led panel and discussion about youth anti-violence at the Westside Future Fund (WFF) Transform Westside Summit on Friday, March 17.
Meet the Panel
An all-woman panel took the stage to discuss youth anti-violence and how their organizations present options that steer these youth in the right direction. Panelists included:
Moderator Ebony Ford, Director of Community Building and Engagement, Quest CDC
Powerful Testimony
The most powerful moment of the Summit happened when co-moderator Benjamin Earley, Westside Correspondent at Redclay-Hill and a fourth generation Westside resident, shared his testimony with tears streaming down his face. (The video contains audio with potentially disturbing language.)
During the first half of the 20th century, the historic Westside was a bustling middle-class Black community with manicured neighborhoods – but as socioeconomic inequities set in, so did neglect.
Over the years, many properties on the Westside became vacant, abandoned and blighted, leaving rotting shells of former homes engulfed in overgrown vegetation. The unsightly nature of the situation pushed out families, and drew in crime.
Lee Harrop, vice president of Real Estate Development at Westside Future Fund (WFF), says it’s a cycle that without intervention will only get worse, which is why the organization is working to purchase as much of the blighted property as possible to help beautify and sustain the community.
The plans include 33 rental units across five multi-family properties and 12 single family homes. All of the properties are located within the English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods, including several single family homes on the blocks surrounding Kathryn Johnston Memorial Park.
T. Dallas Smith Named Chair-elect, Danny Shoy Joins Board of Directors
Earlier this month, Westside Future Fund announced the election of T. Dallas Smith, founder and CEO of T. Dallas Smith & Company, as chair-elect (pictured top), and the appointment of Danny Shoy, managing director of youth development and Westside Atlanta for The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, as a member of its Board of Directors (pictured bottom). Their combined experience and extensive community involvement will support the organization’s mission to revitalize the Westside.
Black Homeownership on the Rise in Atlanta
According to new data from Zillow, Black-owned homeownership rates jumped during COVID – increasing by nearly five percent, the most of any race. Odetta MacLeish-White, director of Georgia Initiatives for the Center for Community Progress, says thanks to programs like Westside Future Fund’s Anti-Displacement Tax Fund, homeowners have the resources needed to stay in their homes for the foreseeable future.
Revitalizing our community is a team effort, one that relies heavily on the support of our many incredible volunteers. To thank them for their hard work and dedication, we shine a light on people who actively support our mission.
This month, we’re spotlighting Alesha Bell, a Westside local committed to helping transform our community for the better. See what inspires her to give her time as a volunteer for Westside Future Fund.
Come and join our Volunteers Corps this April as we celebrate National Volunteer Month through service in our Westside community. Sign up today to help transform the Westside into a community that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud to call home!
Fun and Games with Seniors – April 12 from 10am to 12pm
Come out for a morning of fun and games at the New Horizon Senior Center. Volunteers are needed to serve snacks and lead games with the seniors. We will play games like BINGO, The Price is Right and more. Sign up here.
