No More Hunger and Homelessness

November 12, 2018

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.

What exactly is 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.

How can you help?

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:

• Honor youth at our Candlelight Vigil: Join us for our annual candlelight vigil, this Thursday November 15th at 6:15pm on our campus (1559 Johnson Road NW Atlanta, GA 30318), honoring those youth we have lost to the streets. Being an ally to our youth who are experiencing homelessness is difficult at times, but at the vigil we are all able to stand as one community in solidarity. For more information about the Vigil, contact Georgia O’Farrell at gofarrell@covenanthouse.org
• Volunteer to Prepare and Share a Meal with our youth: this program invites volunteers to cook and serve a warm meal for our youth, as well as eat alongside them. Sign up to serve a meal.
• Donate needed items: You can make an in-kind donation of needed items, click here to see what we’re currently in need of in our shelter
• Donate Needed Funds: Monetary donations go a long way at CHGA and can be designated toward services and supplies such as meals for our youth or individual mental health counseling for youth dealing with trauma. To make a donation, click here.

Together we can work toward ending hunger and homelessness amongst Atlanta’s youth!