Choice Atlanta announced today that 14 organizations received a total of $50,800 to support programs that advance the former University Homes and including Ashview Heights, Vine City and the Atlanta University Center Neighborhood, collectively known as the University Choice Neighborhood (UCN).

The microgrants support the UCN and its residents in seven areas: 1) youth empowerment; 2) healthy living; 3) arts and place-making; 4) public safety; 5) capacity building; 6) history/heritage; and 7) food ecosystems.

The UCN Microgrant program was originally launched in 2012 using Atlanta Housing’s Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant, funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Since the program’s inception, grants totaling more than $180,000 have been awarded to 53 recipients.

“With the first round of microgrants, we saw the impact that organizations could have on the community and its residents using small grants of $500 to $3,000. In subsequent years, we’ve continued to focus on our mission and have used the microgrant program to help worthwhile organizations have an even greater impact on physical, social and economic outcomes in the area,” said Susan Evans, director of Choice Neighborhoods.

This year, we are really excited to have had such competitive applicants and to have awarded microgrants to community-based businesses, non-profits and civic groups with initiatives that promise to have such a positive impact.”

The 14 recipients of UCN Microgrant 5.0 awards and brief descriptions of their projects follow:

• ADLT 101 – Facilitate workshops for Booker T. Washington High School graduating seniors focused on a smooth transition to postsecondary life.
• Atlanta Small Business Training Consortium – The Herndon Choice Pre-Apprenticeship Barber Mentor Program, a project of The Dokter’s Office Barber Shop, is designed to teach business and financial literacy, mechanics of barber tools and hair cutting techniques, establish individual checking accounts and provide mentorship during after-school hours for 10 youth ages 12-16.
• Atlanta School of Modern Etiquette – Develop the “Food Finder” app to locate local farmers’ markets.
• Black Child Development Institute – Conduct two-hours, Get Ready to Read! screening workshops for educators, staff and parents of those early childhood learning centers within the UCN boundaries demonstrating how to use the tool to assess and increase the literacy levels of children ages 3-6.
• Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta – Increase club memberships by recruiting from UCN-supported schools (40 youth) for Harland Boys & Girls Club. Programs to focus on visual, performing, and culinary arts.
• Doc B. C.A.R.E.S. – PEACE LIVES HERE campaign – in pursuit of peace, non-violence conflict resolutions, and anti-bullying strategies.
• MLK-Ashby Merchants Association – Implement a public safety program – MLK W.A.T.C.H – along the ML King, Jr. Drive commercial corridor.
• Morehouse Community Revitalization Initiative – 4th and 5th graders at M. Agnes Jones will work with a genealogist to learn about genealogy, ancestry and DNA testing.
• Parent Avengers – Capacity building for an organization that aims to break the cycle of poverty by connecting parents to resources while on their path to self-sufficiency.
• Preserve Black Atlanta – Expose and celebrate the history of Atlanta University’s lauded founders and faculty.
• Think Green, Inc. – Install two beehives at local urban gardens to yield years of pollination and honey.
• Trellis Horticultural Therapy – Develop a therapeutic and educational gardening program curriculum and a separate culinary arts program that focuses on engaging youth in the production and preparation of organically grown food.
• West End Urban Garden – Provide a series of workshops that will pair seniors and youth to work together and learn how to plant, grow and prepare healthy and nutritious foods from different cultures.
• Young Adult Publishing – Increase the levels of self-sufficiency, entrepreneurship and financial literacy among lower-income students – ages 10-14 – through the experience of the book publishing process.

 

For more information about the Choice Atlanta microgrant program, email microgrant@atlantahousing.org.

About Atlanta Housing
The Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia (AH) is the largest housing authority in Georgia and one of the largest in the nation. AH provides and facilitates affordable housing resources for nearly 25,000 low-income households comprised of approximately 50,000 people. These affordable housing resources include AHA-owned residential communities, AH-sponsored mixed-income, mixed-finance residential communities, tenant-based vouchers, HomeFlex (project based rental assistance), supportive housing arrangements and homeownership opportunities. AH’s programs are funded and regulated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”).

Visit Atlanta Housing at https://www.atlantahousing.org or follow on Facebook, IG and Twitter at @housingatlanta.

SOURCE Atlanta Housing

Photo courtesy of Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta