As if serving as the Emmaus House case manager, and newly promoted Director of Community Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives isn’t enough, Tanisha Corporal has found another way to connect with the community. Every Tuesday she leads a “healing circle” at FCS (Focused Community Strategies) in Historic South Atlanta.

Two years ago, with no dream of the pandemic and associated crises to come, Tanisha trained with the non-profit program CHRIS 180 as part of an effort to create “trauma resilient communities.” Tanisha learned to create space where residents could take time for reflection. She guides participants through contemplation, having them think about connecting, communicating, and celebrating. Each neighbor is encouraged to bring an item for a centerpiece that anchors the circle, symbolling the communal ownership of the space and their relationships to each other.

With the trauma of the last year, the circle has become even more significant.

Writing in the Permanente Journal of the Kaiser Permanente health system, Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona of Dartmouth explained that the healing circle, also called the peacemaking circle or the talking circle, is rooted in the traditional practices of indigenous people. The shape of the circle, and the relationships around it, ensure that everyone is included, Dr. Mehl-Madrona said.

The circle is considered sacred space.

Tanisha has said that she considers herself an “intentional neighbor.” With the healing circle, she is neighboring in a new and unique way.

When a parishioner at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in North Atlanta became “very concerned” about the impending eviction crisis, the rector, Patricia Templeton, knew just who to call. The result was a “very generous” gift of $50,000 to Emmaus House from the parishioner through St. Dunstan’s to provide rent and mortgage assistance that can help keep some families in their homes.

Working with Emmaus House “brings us satisfaction,” she said. “It’s a way to live out our faith—to put it into action.”

Parishioners believe in providing for the needs of their neighbors, she said, and they believe their “neighbors” include people well beyond the comfortable community that surrounds their church.

The Rev. Templeton said her always caring congregants seem to have stepped up their awareness of the needs of others during the COVID pandemic. “I’ve been delighted and touched to see how much concern there is for people,” she said.

She said that, while she hopes needs will decrease as unemployed people are able to return to work, she hopes the empathy for others will continue to grow. “It’s been wonderful and horrible at the same time,” she said. “The need is horrible. The fact that people are responding to it is wonderful.”

Emmaus House efforts provide a way for the church to channel aid through a program that operates with integrity and compassion.

In the meantime, although a moratorium on evictions has been extended, bills are piling up. “People are still going to owe the money eventually,” she said. “Payments haven’t been forgiven, only delayed.”

She said she often gets requests from people who need the church to pay for a few nights at a hotel to keep them off the streets. “A hotel is just a band-aid,” she said. “We hope to prevent people from being in the position of wondering from night to night where they’re going to stay.”

Last month we welcomed our new intern, Trey Davis, to our Emmaus House team. Originally from Louisiana, Trey is a graduate student at Emory University studying Justice, Peacebuilding, and Conflict Transformation at the Candler School of Theology. During his time at Emmaus House, he will be working with the Youth on the Move program and in our food pantry. While here, he’s looking forward to gaining experience in a setting focused on community building and outreach.

“I’m hoping to walk away [from this program] with a greater understanding of community building. We can’t really affect positive change on a larger scale if we don’t start with the immediate community...Everything starts in your backyard.”

In his spare time, Trey is an avid reader and enjoys traveling (in non-COVID times), hiking, and practicing yoga. He will be with us through the remainder of the school year. If you see him around Emmaus House, make sure to say hello! 

All of us have experienced profound changes in the last few months. No one is more susceptible to this change than our children. In-school teaching abruptly concluded early and opportunities for summer enrichment became scarce. Learning for the most vulnerable among us is a challenge during the best of times. During the pandemic, the education of our children becomes even more difficult. 

According to The New York Times, “research suggests that by September, most students will have fallen behind where they would have been if they had stayed in classrooms, with some losing the equivalent of a full school year’s worth of academic gains. Racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps will most likely widen because of disparities in access to computers, home internet connections and direct instruction from teachers.” The children that we serve at Emmaus House suffer the consequences of these disparities everyday. That’s why our work, in partnership with our local schools, is so vital.

Pivoting in the Pandemic

Sadly, we had to cancel our annual summer Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools® program. So, we went virtual. I am grateful to our Director of Education, Ann Fowler, who had the vision and skills to create an innovative program to keep the learning moving forward for many of the children that we serve. I am also grateful to you, our supporters, who make this kind of creativity possible through your commitment and generous contributions.

For six weeks, we conducted a virtual reading program. This program, called Vision 2020, engaged 40 rising second and third-grade students from the Barack and Michelle Obama Academy. It was a tremendous success! The scholars read a total of 901 books, logged more than 10,700 minutes of reading, completed weekly art projects, learned motivational songs, and worked on daily lessons with their tutors.

Members of The Cathedral of St. Philip and The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany and countless others donated books to the program through gift cards at the Cathedral Book Store, Brave and Kind Books, and Little Shop of Stories. Because of these donations, we were able to give children more physical books of their choice to build home libraries and encourage a love of reading. It was heartwarming to see how excited the scholars were to receive books every Friday with their favorite characters and topics of interest to them. Each week, members of St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church and School supplied groceries to the families of students in the program, which was much appreciated.

Words from our Neighbors

Ayana Cottman is a Peoplestown resident and a member of the Emmaus House Advisory Board. Her daughter Maia took part in Vision 2020. Here is what Ayana had to say:

“Thanks for everything this summer! Maia has definitely grown and blossomed. She has even more confidence in reading, and I know it’s due to this program. Seeing her finish those Helen Ruffin books and challenge herself to accomplish those goals has been amazing. Thank you again!"

On Facebook, Ayana wrote:

“So proud to be a part of the Barack and Michelle Obama Academy and Emmaus House community. Serving on the Emmaus House board, I hear about the wonderful programming, but this year I was able to experience it first-hand!! Maia had a great six-week virtual summer reading experience where she read 24 chapter books!! She is now even more motivated to read and participate in her school’s Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl! Thanks to the amazing Emmaus House staff, Greg Cole and Ann Fowler, as well as Principal Robin Christian (principal at the Barack and Michelle Obama Academy)."

Peoplestown resident and parent Alicia DeCriscio wrote:

"The virtual summer reading program has been so good for our family. The structure and one-on-one sessions have been so helpful in keeping Samuel’s skills fresh and ready for second grade.  We’ve also enjoyed the art supplies and treats which the whole family could enjoy.  This pandemic has been hard on us all; thank you, Emmaus House, for bringing light into the community."

We are creating fall programming that will help to close the gap for children for whom out-of-classroom learning is a challenge. With your support, we can continue to change the odds for the children that we serve in Peoplestown and beyond. 

Greg Cole
Executive Director

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This news article has been reposted from The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta.

Imagine a scenario where you need medical attention but must choose between going to the doctor or feeding your family. Or another situation in which a single trip to the emergency room ruined your credit rating and sent you into a debilitating debt from which you may never recover. Now imagine being able to prevent such scenarios. We can!

The Cathedral of St. Philip is partnering with Emmaus House to buy the medical debt of residents of some of our most financially vulnerable communities. This debt reduction will give struggling families a fresh start, allowing them to receive critical medical attention and support on their journey toward financial stability. In partnership with the non-profit RIP Medical Debt, we seek to forgive $11.5 million in medical debt from our neighbors in and around Peoplestown. Every dollar donated forgives $100 of medical debt. Your gift of any amount will help us to reach our goal of $115,000 to purchase and forgive the medical debt of families in the communities served by Emmaus House.

Emmaus House works to improve the economic and social well-being of the residents of Peoplestown and surrounding neighborhoods. It provides resources to build long-term, economic self-sufficiency for individuals and families in crisis through a variety of social services. However, no matter how hard some families work to break the cycle of generational poverty, crushing medical debt can be virtually impossible to overcome. Your support of this unique campaign will help us reach 4,800 households in south Atlanta to help break this debilitating cycle.

Now imagine a scenario when a resident of Peoplestown opens an envelope telling them that a third party has paid for and erased their medical debt with no strings attached – they owe nothing and have no tax penalty. Families can pay mortgages, utility bills, put food on their tables, and, most importantly, remain in the neighborhood.

Every gift will make a difference. Please join us today in fellowship with our Cathedral family, our neighbors in Peoplestown, and our partners at Emmaus House to make a significant difference in our city.

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Thanks to the generosity of several Cathedral families, the first $40,000 in donations will be matched dollar for dollar.

Contributing is easy: online at www.cathedralATL.org/medicaldebt or mail a check to the Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Rd., NW, Atlanta, GA 30305 (with “Medical Debt Relief” in memo line).

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Please join us today in fellowship with our Cathedral family, our neighbors in Peoplestown, and our partners at Emmaus House to make a significant difference in our city.

Thank you!

The Rev. Canon Lauren Holder
Cathedral Canon for Community & Education

Haven Long
Cathedral Treasurer; Emmaus House Board Member

Greg Cole
Emmaus House Executive Director

Reflecting On Last Week's NPU-V Meeting

One of our core commitments at Emmaus House is to elevate the voices of the community. We choose to listen to and support those in the neighborhoods that we serve, recognizing their wisdom and passion. After the police killing of Rayshard Brooks on June 12, we have listened to our community leaders as they have called for the reimagining of policing in our neighborhoods. We stand in solidarity with those who have suffered too many losses and who live in fear that they could be next.

Last Friday, we were honored to take part in a town hall and solidarity march with our friends who live in the neighborhoods of NPU-V. Several of our advisory board members are community leaders here in Peoplestown, and we stand with them as they demand that city leaders listen to their voices. I am grateful for Columbus Ward and Chris Lemon, who not only provide leadership to Emmaus House but who work tirelessly to make Peoplestown a more equitable place for all residents.  

One of our funding partners likes to say that we are not here to help children to overcome the odds. Instead, we are here to change the odds. Emmaus House does a lot of crisis intervention work, offering rent and utility assistance as well as food from our food pantry. We know that this work is essential. However, we also know that it is not enough. We need to engage on a deeper level that will bring about more profound change and will create opportunities for all people to thrive. 

At this moment in our nation’s history, we must come to terms with the racial injustice that oppresses Black people and robs them of opportunity. Many of the actions that we have seen in the past few weeks are a good start, but they are not enough. When the dust clears and people turn to other challenges, will we still have the energy and desire to dismantle the evil of structural racism? What will we who are white give up so that we can move towards a more just and equitable world? These are challenging questions that demand answers. 

For those of us who consider ourselves people of faith, what does it mean for us to proclaim that God creates each person in God’s image? What does it mean to proclaim that God calls us to respect the dignity of every human being? If we believe these two statements, then we have no choice but to be antiracists, making conscious choices based on careful reflection and unbiased analysis. As Ibram Kendi says, “to be antiracist is a radical choice in the face of history, requiring a radical reorientation of our consciousness.” Are we ready to make that choice? It will not be easy, and we will need to choose repeatedly. At Emmaus House, we commit to this journey, wherever it takes us. We invite you to join us as we move forward together.

On Friday, June 26, join our Executive Director, Greg Cole, and Emmaus House Advisory Board members at the NPU-V Town Hall and Solidarity Walk. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at 4 Corners Park (1040 Crew St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30315) to discuss our elected officials’ response to the NPU-V community demands and steps for advancing our community. Read our statement of support here as we continue to advocate for our neighbors and amplify their voices.

The meeting will conclude with a solidarity walk to Wendy’s for prayer over our community and the family of Rayshard Brooks.

This week, again, we find ourselves heartbroken and devastated by the death of another black man at the hands of a system meant to protect and to serve. This occurrence hits very close to home; Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed in Peoplestown, our own community. 

This, of course, has had a profound effect on our neighbors and friends. Members of our staff and volunteers call this neighborhood home. In this time of deep pain for our community, we re-commit to listening to and lifting up their voices. 

Last weekend, in response to Rayshard Brooks’ death, representatives of NPU-V, of which Peoplestown is a part, met to develop a thorough list of demands to present to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. I was part of that conversation and I pledged, on behalf of Emmaus House, to support resident-led initiatives and to help amplify the voices of community members. 

Included in the list of demands is the passing of the proposed Hate Crime bill, banning the use of chokeholds by police, requiring a significant presence of community members on the hiring committee for the next police chief, and extending Academy training to include community policing engagement. (Read the full list of demands on the NPU-V site.)

We urge the Mayor to listen carefully and consider the voices of the people who live in this community. Emmaus House stands with them. We echo the voice of Bishop Rob Wright, who called in his statement this week for the reimagining of policing in Atlanta and our country.

We will continue to advocate for our neighbors until the scourge of racism is eliminated from our country. We will work towards equity, justice, and peace for our Black brothers and sisters, and we will continue to proclaim that Black Lives Matter.

Greg Cole

Executive Director

Emmaus House in the Time of COVID-19: Responding to the Needs of our Neighbors

As we spend time this week in grief and reflection, our daily work continues. (Read Greg Cole’s full statement on current events here.) This week, we launched a new literacy program for rising second and third-grade students at the Barack and Michelle Obama Academy. 

We invite you to read about this program below as you reflect upon the systemic racism and generational poverty that affect so many members of our community.  

At Emmaus House, we stand for justice and equity. Please join us, teach us, stand with us.

Part 3: Education

Three young students from Barack and Michelle Obama Academy in Peoplestown will be among the forty participants in Vision 2020, an online reading program sponsored by Emmaus House this summer. 

Each has a different learning challenge. Each has seen major results from past reading programs.

One student had severe attention issues. Reading online with a paraprofessional calmed him and helped him to concentrate. One was a kindergartner in danger of having to repeat his kindergarten year. Through last summer’s Emmaus House program, he caught up with his class and became a top student in first grade. The third presented behavior challenges. When his teacher discovered that he enjoyed superhero books and could read at two grade levels above his age, she encouraged him and his behavior improved.

The progress made by the boys shows how much difference a good reading program can make, especially when progress can be lost over the summer due to no follow-up and no access to new reading material, an occurrence known as the “summer slide.” 

Emmaus House will offer Vision 2020 from June 1 to July 10 to rising 2nd and 3rd graders. The goal is to provide reading enrichment to children who otherwise might have no opportunity to continue academic work over the summer.

The online program is a COVID-19 response to replace the past in-person summer Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools® program sponsored by Emmaus House. “We had to do something safe for the neighborhood and safe for the children,” said Ann Fowler, director of education services at Emmaus House.

Learning to read is life-changing for a child, said Brittany Young, reading specialist at the Obama Academy and one of the teachers who will be working with Vision 2020 this summer. “When students begin reading, they can make a connection with something that interests them,” she said. “They also develop vocabulary and storytelling skills. It increases their creativity.”

Teachers will do interest inventories at the beginning of the program to learn what kind of books each child might enjoy most, she said. 

Besides daily online reading with mentors, all the children will receive a book of their choice each Friday. To provide the books, Emmaus House is partnering with Little Shop of Stories, an independent bookstore in downtown Decatur. 

“The work of providing books to all children is urgent,” said Fowler of Emmaus House.

Research shows that students who have books in their homes perform better academically, she said. She cited a 2001 study that found that the ratio of books to children in middle-income neighborhoods is thirteen books per child. In low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is one book for 300 children. Another study found that giving children twelve books to take home over the summer resulted in gains equal to summer school for lower-income children, and had twice the impact of summer school for the poorest of those children. Research also shows that academic gains are larger when children are allowed to select their own books.

“This book gap is easier to erase than the more complex barriers involved in poverty,” Fowler said.

A home full of books makes a difference beyond literacy, she said. Researchers found a correlation between reading and understanding of mathematical concepts, and even between reading and the ability to use technology to communicate.

Teachers are concerned that the reading gap has widened during seclusion as a result of COVID-19. Whereas children in higher-income neighborhoods are spending time in homes with books and computers, children from lower-income families are less likely to have those resources.

Veteran teacher Shirley Freeman, who will be working with the Emmaus House  program this summer, saw the effects reading can make in the kindergartener who was almost retained. He came from a home with several children and a mother who worked long hours. “It was a case of older children looking after younger children,” Freeman said. 

Last summer at Freedom School, the “light bulb went on” and the little boy realized he could read.

“He just grabbed books and took off,” she said. “He really blossomed.”

The result was a good student and a happy teacher.

“That’s the reward,” Freeman said. “That makes everything else worth it.”

TO SUPPORT VISION 2020 WITH BOOKS, you can buy a gift card from Little Shop of Stories and indicate Emmaus House as the recipient. Select “store pick up” and Little Shop of Stories will hold the cards for Emmaus House. Donations of any amount are welcome, but $10 will buy a paperback and $15 will buy a hardback. Additionally, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church will provide a bag of groceries with the book delivery to each participating family.