ESSENTIALS FOR YOUNG LIVES DRIVE HELPS HOMELESS BABIES

ATLANTA – May 18, 2010 – HomeAid Atlanta recently hosted its ninth annual Essentials for Young Lives Drive, April 26 – May 3.  The drive, a community-wide effort to collect essential items for homeless infants and toddlers in the metro Atlanta area, was held to coordinate with Mother’s Day again this year. Through the drive, more than 37,000 essential baby items such as diapers, baby wipes, baby food, formula and other baby products were successfully collected. All items collected were distributed to local shelters that serve homeless families and young children, helping many moms and their babies receive basic necessities which they urgently need.

 

Businesses and organizations throughout the metro Atlanta area joined hands with HomeAid Atlanta to collect items during the Essentials for Young Lives Drive this year, including The Atlanta Academy, Atlanta Marketing Concepts, Bank of America, Boral Bricks, Cofer Brothers, Coldwell Banker NRT Development Advisors, Cooper Elementary, Core-Mark, Decatur-DeKalb YMCA, Dunwoody Baptist Church, Evolv, G. Cecil Pruett Community Center Family YMCA, Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, IIDA Student Chapter of the Art Institute of Atlanta, John Willis Homes, Kimberly Clark Corporation, Lincoln Property Management Company, McCleskey-East Cobb Family YMCA, MetLife Home Loans, Metro Atlanta YMCA, Northeast Cobb Family YMCA, Northwest Exterminating, Oneida Builders, Parmenter Realty Partners, Pulte Homes, Salon and Spa Venéssa, SunTrust, Technology Dependent Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta-Scottish Rite Campus, Weissman, Nowack, Curry & Wilco P.C., along with many other companies and individuals.

 

On May 5, a group of volunteers gathered to help HomeAid sort and count the items collected.  Then, on May 6, just a few days before Mother’s Day, Atlanta-based UPS assisted HomeAid Atlanta in delivering the essential items collected to seven local shelters serving homeless families and children. The drive beneficiaries included Decatur Cooperative Ministry (Decatur), Genesis – A New Life (Atlanta), HomeStretch (Roswell), My House (Cherokee County), Rockdale Emergency Relief (Conyers), Tapestry Youth Ministries (College Park & Fairburn) and The Drake House (Roswell).  With women and children being one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population, the donated items were a welcomed sight, providing critical support to these shelters and the families they serve.  In addition to supporting these shelters through the Essentials for Young Lives Drive, HomeAid Atlanta has also assisted in the construction of transitional housing for each of these programs.

 

HomeAid Atlanta is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working in partnership with the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, and is a local chapter of HomeAid America, a leading national provider of transitional housing for the temporarily homeless. The HomeAid mission is to build and maintain dignified housing where homeless families and individuals can rebuild their lives. This is accomplished through the donation of construction services and materials from members of the homebuilding industry. HomeAid Atlanta partners with existing homeless service providers and expands their capacity to serve the homeless by building a new transitional housing facility or renovating an existing facility. For more information about HomeAid Atlanta, visit www.homeaidatlanta.org.

 

About the photo:
“Essentials Sorting” - A dedicated group of volunteers gathered to assist HomeAid Atlanta with sorting and counting the items collected through the 2010 Essentials for Young Lives Drive in preparation for delivery to local shelters serving homeless moms and babies.