HomeAid Atlanta’s Essentials for Young Lives® Drive takes place next week, April 28 – May 6, 2014 in honor of Mother’s Day. The 13th annual drive to benefit homeless and low-income babies and their mothers is a community-wide effort to collect “essential” baby items for homeless mothers and their infants. Items collected include diapers/pull-ups, baby wipes, baby food, and formula, in an effort to provide aid to one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population – women with children. Everything collected through the drive will be distributed by HomeAid to local nonprofit organizations serving homeless families and children in the metro Atlanta area.
A list of public collection sites is available at www.homeaidatlanta.org/dropoff - many locations are 
already collecting. Donations can also be made online through HomeAid Atlanta’s baby registry at Target.com. To access the registry, enter “HomeAid” for the registrant’s first name and “Atlanta” for the last name. All donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Bank of America and State Bank & Trust Company sponsor the drive’s first-ever “Essentials Celebration” event on May 9 at 12:30 p.m., hosted by HomeAid’s service provider partner Genesis – A New Life Shelter. The lunch and short program will celebrate the drive and its support of service provider partners in the metro area, as well as the mothers and babies they serve.
Atlanta-based UPS is assisting HomeAid Atlanta for the eighth year with delivering the donated items to local nonprofit organizations that provide housing and supportive services to homeless or low-income infants, toddlers, and their mothers. Many of these organizations operate facilities that have been built or renovated in partnership with HomeAid Atlanta and include Action Ministries (Atlanta), Atlanta Dream Center (Atlanta), Community Advanced Practice Nurses (Atlanta), Decatur Cooperative Ministry (Decatur), Genesis – A New Life Shelter (Atlanta), HavenATL (Atlanta),
HomeStretch (Roswell), My House (Cherokee County), Nicholas House (Atlanta), Our House (Decatur), Out of Darkness (Atlanta), Partnership Against Domestic Violence (Atlanta), Phoenix Pass (Conyers), Rainbow Village (Duluth), Sheltering Arms (Atlanta) and The Drake House (Roswell). The items will be delivered just before Mother’s Day, providing critical support to these organizations and the mothers and babies they serve.
The Essentials for Young Lives Drive was first launched in Atlanta in 2002, and since then m 
ore than 430,000 essential baby items have been distributed to homeless mothers and their babies. This Mother’s Day, it is HomeAid’s desire to honor and celebrate mothers by ensuring they are given the tools to provide for their children’s needs.
To learn more about the 2014 Essentials for Young Lives Drive, visit www.homeaidatlanta.org/dropoff, contact HomeAid Atlanta at 678-775-1401 or [email protected].
About HomeAid Atlanta: Founded in 2001, HomeAid Atlanta is a 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. HomeAid Atlanta builds new lives for homeless families and individuals through housing and community outreach. HomeAid acts as the housing developer and liaison between homeless service providers, builders, trade partners and community donors and volunteers. To date, HomeAid Atlanta has completed 18 housing developments that serve the temporarily homeless, including victims of domestic violence, teen mothers, abused and abandoned children, and homeless families. For more information about HomeAid Atlanta, visit www.homeaidatlanta.org.
Comments