We say often that the strength of our community is in how we show up for one another. That was certainly true of our year-end fundraising effort.

Thanks to your support, not only did we meet our $80K fundraising goal, we far exceeded it, raising a total of $100,988 for our most successful end-of-year campaign ever!

Planning for the Future

Year-end donations are critical to our work. They allow us to plan our impact and ensure our neighbors receive the maximum benefit in the year to come.

Your donations will allow us to provide multigenerational programs and services that strengthen our community and support southside residents of all ages.

Because when we each have what we need to thrive, we have more to offer one another.

Our Deepest Thanks

As a community, we depend on one another. We truly could not do the work we do without the generous support of people like you.

Our deepest, most heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated to this year’s fundraiser. We’re fortunate to have a community like you behind us.

The holidays are a special time at Emmaus House: a time when compassion and gratitude, service and celebration, all come together—in this case, over a dinner table.

As we prepare for another successful Thanksgiving at Home program this week, we wanted to take a moment to express our gratitude to you for being part of our community.

Each year, with your help, we’re able to distribute more than 300 turkeys and bags of groceries to families in need, allowing them to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving at home with those who matter most.

At a time when food and nourishment have become such politically charged subjects, we’re so grateful that families in our community have this opportunity to come together and experience the full meaning of Thanksgiving: good food and full stomachs, of course, but also community, love, and fellowship.

So Happy Thanksgiving from our table(s) to yours. We’re grateful for our residents and neighbors and the opportunity to serve them. And we’re also grateful for you.

Your compassion and support makes this work possible.

Happy Thanksgiving,
The Emmaus House Team

Nonprofits across the country are facing a lot of challenges right now.

An Urban Institute analysis showed that, in 2021, at least 33% of nonprofits received government grants. The vast majority of these would run deficits without federal funding.

It’s a situation that has been a long time in the making.

Instead of investing in state-sponsored programs, the US has always stressed the importance of neighbors helping one another. This led to the emergence of the charitable sector, which the federal government supported as a way of addressing social issues while minimizing government intervention.

Over time, many organizations have come to rely on that funding, which is why the current uncertainty is impacting so many.

Planning for the Future

The challenge isn’t just financial.

Regardless of what the current state of funding happens to be, the rapid pace of pauses, freezes, and proposed cuts have caused many organizations to scale back their programming—and their impact—in preparation for the potentially hard times ahead.

Policymakers hope that stimulating the economy will also stimulate giving, resulting in increased donations and leaner, more effective programs. And while experts are skeptical that the private sector can make up this gap in funding, at Emmaus House, we see some cause for hope.

Supporting One Another

Emmaus House is a community-based mission, which means we are committed to serving a specific place, but it also means we’re committed to one another. Everything we do is grounded in community and mutual service.

We’re more grateful than ever for our neighbors and the support we’re able to offer in the form of programs and critical services. We’re also grateful for our donors and volunteers, and the support you all offer us.

For now, funding insecurity is a reality all nonprofits—including us—must face. But history has demonstrated that our community is strong, and together, we will continue to empower our neighbors and lift up those around us.

Adolescence is an important time in life. As humans, we experience it longer than almost every other species. It includes a wide range of physical, neurological, cognitive, and social developments.

As important as adolescence is though, it’s also a uniquely vulnerable time for young people.

The combination of hormones, cognitive development, and complex social tasks can lead to a great deal of stress during a time most young people aren’t yet equipped to manage it, making it difficult for them to focus on learn­ing and forming healthy rela­tion­ships.

Youth who are under-resourced or living in marginalized communities are more likely to face chronic stress, which can have profound impacts on their growth and development.

Holistic Support

At Emmaus House, we believe it’s critical that young people have stable, supportive adult relationships in their lives to help them cope with adversity and build resilience.

That’s why programs like Freedom School and our newly-expanded Families on the Move program prioritize mentorship and emotional support alongside education and enrichment.

As adults, we sometimes forget that growing up isn’t easy. However, for our youth to be successful, they need every bit of support we can offer them.

Click below to learn more about how we support our youth.

The holidays are just around the corner, and we’re already making preparations to ensure our neighbors have a joyous holiday season.

Every year, with the help of our supporters, Emmaus House hosts a number of holiday programs that local children and adults look forward to throughout the year.

Thanksgiving at Home

We believe celebrating the holidays together is an important way of strengthening family ties. This year, we’ll gather donations to help 300 families in need enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at home.

Families on the Move Grandparents Party

Grandparents in Peoplestown are often the family guardians. We’ll celebrate the support they offer with a wonderful meal and entertainment.

Children’s Christmas Festival

On December 20, children, parents, and volunteers will enjoy a morning filled with fun Christmas activities before Santa and Mrs. Claus distribute presents donated by our community.

The holidays are a magical time at Emmaus House thanks, in large part, to you! Click below to learn more about our holiday programs and how you can support them.

We are thrilled to announce that Emmaus House is partnering with St. Paul's Episcopal Church to reopen the St. Paul's food pantry following a seven-year hiatus.

In addition to our current food pantry operations, which serve 75 families weekly, beginning this fall, we will be launching a mobile food pantry at St. Paul, which will provide fresh produce, protein, and canned goods to families in need every month.

Combining Emmaus House's operational expertise with St. Paul's dedicated volunteer base, this partnership will serve approximately 120-140 families each distribution day.

"This partnership multiplies our collective impact," said David-Lee Mattison, Emmaus House Chief Program Officer. "By combining our knowledge, skills, and passion, we're creating a model for sustainable community collaboration."

“As a church, our faith is most visible when we engage with the practical needs of our community,” said Bobby Young, a leader of the project at St. Paul’s. “We're grateful to Emmaus House for helping us to serve and care for our neighbors who are challenged by food insecurity.”

Your continued support makes initiatives like these possible. Together, we're not just addressing hunger—we're building bridges between communities and demonstrating how organizations can work together to serve our neighbors with dignity and compassion.

Thank you once again to everyone who donated to this year’s Freedom School program.

It was an incredible 6 weeks of mentorship and literacy training, as well as daily enrichment activities like dance, PE, photography, and swimming. 

CDF Freedom Schools© teach students to love reading using a research-based curriculum that prioritizes the whole child. This includes academic enrichment, of course, but also cultural experiences, family engagement, nutrition, mental and physical health, and opportunities to engage with and serve the community.

National Day of Social Action

The National Day of Social Action is an event organized by CDF Freedom Schools© each year to raise awareness, build community, and empower young people to use their voices to create positive change in society. 

The theme this year was inspired by a quote from Dr. Maya Angelou: “When You Learn, Teach.” In that spirit, Freedom School scholars visited a museum highlighting influential African American figures who advanced education and freedom. 

They also assembled gift bags containing books and other essential items for local families.

Exploring New Horizons

As usual, the program included a number of fun and enriching field trips, like indoor skydiving at IFly and an Alliance Theater production of Milo Imagines the World. 

For the first time, scholars were also able to visit Serenbe Farms, where they learned to harvest and witnessed first hand how the farm-to-table process works.

It was an incredible 6 weeks, and to cap it off, 41 of the 52 scholars were able to spend an additional week at Camp Mikell, a 460-acre campus owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta which boasts forests, waterfalls, a swimming pool, and natural bodies of water.

It was a rare opportunity for our scholars to get away from the stimulation of city life and unwind a little before the start of the school year.

Our Deepest Gratitude

Your support makes transformative experiences like this possible for our youth. Thank you once again to everyone who has supported the Freedom School over the years. 

For as long as we’ve been hosting the CDF Freedom Schools® program, we’ve witnessed children grow in confidence and creativity throughout the summers. Part of what makes the program so effective is the way it engages, not just the scholars, but their families as well. 

By Popular Request

At the end of each session, the most common feedback we get is from families who wish this kind of support could continue throughout the year.

We’re excited to introduce a new year-round program designed to extend the impact of Freedom School into the school year.

Families on the Move (FOTM) is an expansion of our former Youth on the Move program, providing support to students ages 7–17 and their guardians.

Students will gather for reading and math support, creative exploration, and leadership development two days a week while their guardians participate in their own program, gaining access to resources, community, and tools for personal growth.

Supporting Families 

The evolution of this program reflects a deeper commitment to partnership, collaboration, and support that prioritizes the entire family. With it, we look forward to ensuring what begins in the summer continues all year long, allowing our children, families, and community to thrive together.

In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. However, since the 1960s, schools have once again become more and more segregated.

In the South today, 82% of Black students attend schools where students of color make up the majority. There are also disparities with respect to educational outcomes, including lower graduation rates, test scores, course completions, and more.

These educational disparities can have a lasting impact on children’s confidence and their ability to imagine different opportunities for themselves.

The Brown v. Board of Education ruling overturned the “separate but equal” policy, but unfortunately, it will take more than a single ruling to create an equitable educational system.

Miles to Go

In 2024, the Southern Education Foundation released Miles To Go: The State of Education for Black Students in America. The report examines the different educational outcomes facing white and Black students, finding that many stem from “opportunity gaps” that prevent many students of color from accessing opportunities to learn and succeed.

Some of these include low funding for school districts that serve Black students, lack of access to early childhood education, fewer opportunities for rigorous coursework (such as AP classes), Black teacher shortages, disproportionate school disciplinary practices, and, of course, the wide range of social and economic factors that continue to promote modern day segregation in the first place.

Showing Up for One Another

Advocating for equitable education policies is important. But history has shown that we can’t afford to wait for the system to fix itself.

In addition to the vital work organizations like the Southern Education Foundation is doing to advance equitable education policies, we also need to show up for one another locally, providing the support that school districts aren’t always able to.

At Emmaus House, we recognize the important role education plays in empowering children, youth, and adults to overcome challenges and change the systems around us. That’s why we prioritize educational supports like afterschool programming and the CDF Freedom School.

Click below to learn more about the strategic priorities that inform our work.