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We Honor Dr. King's Legacy Through Servant Leadership
We celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. yesterday and we are thankful for his example on how to live as Servant Leaders. But what would Dr. King say about Atlanta being top in the nation for income inequality? According to this 2019 Bloomberg statistic, Atlanta’s average income for the top 5% of households exceeded $663,000 while families in the bottom half of the population earned less than $65,000.
We believe "Atlanta's Native Son" would not be happy about some of us being left behind, but all is not lost. The ball is in our court to be actionable by doing our part to increase opportunities for families at the bottom of the income disparity to create more parity in our beloved city.
In the spirit of Dr. King’s legacy, we want to share a testimony from one of our CIS of Atlanta parents who we were able to help remain in her home. We ask that you read this very personal and compelling story below, and afterward, make a donation to our Annual Fund campaign. You will be helping us do the real work needed to create change in this city.
Click here to make your donation.
Letter from a Mother Doing Her Best To Change The Next Generation
Hello, my name is “Ms. Anonymous” and I am proud to say that I was a recipient of your program very recently (within the past week) and I want to personally thank the CIS of Atlanta family.
I never knew CIS of Atlanta existed until I had to go into my rent office and the leasing manager gave me back my money orders totaling $2600, telling me she had to proceed with the eviction process. I had gotten too far behind in my rent and this payment was not going to be enough to keep me in my home.
My heart dropped and I thought about how this was going to disrupt my daughter’s stability because I would have to pull her out of her APS School. I am trying hard not to make her a statistic and being faced with this dilemma would have caused her to shut down just as she was beginning to catch her stride within her school.
The leasing manager told me she knew that I was trying but it was above her now. We sat there and cried together. Shortly after, she started going through some business cards on her desk and came across a card from Communities in Schools of Atlanta. She told me to call to see if they could help.
I immediately called the number and ended up reaching April Whiteside who told me she was going to pass my information on to a caseworker and that everything would be ok. That afternoon I got a call from Calleb Obumba and after explaining my family situation (my brother was tragically killed in prison over a cell phone and come to find out he didn’t have any Insurance so the only thing I knew was I had to help my mother get my brother home and buried), he never made me feel uncomfortable about possibly being evicted.
I told him I was behind on my rent and fees and he told me he would do his best to help me. Within a day, Calleb called to tell me “GREAT NEWS.” He had dropped off the check, allowing me to stay in my home. When I tell you I literally felt the weight of the world lifted off of me and wanted to hug him through the phone.
I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am a true believer that there are still some good people in the world. This program is literally helping to save lives and I am thankful for Communities in Schools.
Sincerely,
A Mother Doing Her Best To Change The Next Generation
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