As Covenant House Georgia ramps up for one of our most exciting and rewarding fundraisers, Sleep Out: Executive Edition, it is important to reflect on the many reasons we strive to raise the needed awareness and funds for youth experiencing homelessness. When youth don’t know where or when they’ll eat their next meal or be able to find a safe place to sleep at night, it creates significant anxiety and insecurity. Adding to these anxieties is the issue that most youth who come to CHGA have been living in a food desert.
This is a common question our volunteers and donors have as they learn more about the anxieties our youth face. A food desert is an area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers' markets, and healthy food providers. You may be surprised to learn that a large majority of Atlanta and metro-Atlanta communities, including the neighborhoods surrounding Covenant House, are considered to be food deserts. This means that many of our youth have had to go to great lengths to get to a supermarket, either by relying on friends for transportation or taking multiple buses or trains – options that are often not readily available to them while living on the streets.
Covenant House works to ease the food and sleep insecurities our youth have. Once a youth enters our program, they know that they have a bed just for them each night and three meals served at the same time every day. When youth no longer feel the burden of having to figure out how to meet their immediate needs, they are able to focus on finding a job or finishing school.
This week, National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, is not only a time to reflect on reasons why youth experience hunger and homelessness, but also a time to activate and create change! Below are ways that you can play your part in ending hunger and homelessness:
Together we can work toward ending hunger and homelessness amongst Atlanta’s youth!
