Our mission is to respond with love and commitment to the homeless and the surrounding community seeking change and a life of equality, self-sustainability and dignity.
Our Commitment is to engage the homeless (including veterans, ex-offenders and community members struggling with food insecurity) to regain their lives as self-sustaining members of the community by offering a Help to be Helped program that nurtures the empowerment and healing of Self and provides the condition for successful living, thinking and social engagement.
Our plan of action. We are very much aware of the challenges of homelessness reduction in Atlanta. We know homelessness can only be reduced when all steps from A to Z are taken and are leading to self-sustainability. Many shelters, churches and organizations have taken the first important steps by providing food, temporary shelter and temporary housing. Yet, there is more that has to be done. We recognize that personal healing and personal empowerment is a fundamental step towards self-sustainability before job training and job placement can be introduced. We also recognize the importance of getting to know and working with the community around us.
Our work cannot be fruitful in a community that suffers. How can homelessness be reduced in an environment that induces homelessness? It is therefore imperative that we get to know our community and find solutions to the problems by working together with the people and for the people. Building relationship is key in order to lift-each other up and to help each other in the process to self-sustainability. How will we achieve that? Change to Humanity is working the homeless program and community project in tandem.
We started a ‘Planting Seeds of Love with the People and for the People’ as a solution to the food desert problem in the community. It is a street by street, house by house planting produce- gardens project and clean-up and beautifying project involving the residents, youth, elders, artists, teachers, schools and colleges. An Aquaponics Green house will be introduced to the community in spring of 2018. That will provide paid jobs and fresh produce for the people of our program and the people living in the community. Weekly food deliveries donated by Wholefood Market will bridge the gap until produce can be harvested from the individual gardens and greenhouse.
We are also rebuilding donated properties to provide housing for our people participating in our program in job training and employment. Yet most importantly, by working in tandem with the community, valuable relationships are being build that create trust, peace, security and prosperity for all.