A lot of people don't know about Our House, but what the staff does is amazing. Our House is a…read moreplace where homeless families can get childcare for their children as they go and seek jobs, housing and other basic needs to get themselves back on their feet again. I volunteered last summer. The first time I went, I read to some 3 and 4 year olds. I almost cried when one of the kids asked me if I lived in a house. When I said yes, her eyes lit up and she said, "Really? I want to live in one, too." If I could have put all of those kids and their families into an apartment that day, I would have. Our House always needs volunteers AND donations, so help them out however you can.

I donated clothes and money to them today and I was touched by the environment and their…read morepurpose/goals. I walked in and everyone was really nice and very appreciative. The kids were happy and that was such a delight. If you read this, please make a donation. No donation is too small and little drops of water will turn into a pond. Also, volunteer if you have the time. God bless you!

This is a great organization, run by wonderful people, doing great things. Habitat for Humanity of…read moreDeKalb County, GA provides homeownership opportunities to deserving, hard-working, low income families through partnerships with individuals, businesses, government and religious organizations. They can always use your money, time, and support.

DCM is dedicated to providing services, programs and advocacy that work to alleviate and prevent…read morehomelessness.

My stay at Decatur Cooperative Ministries was difficult mainly because of the rude and…read moreunprofessional behavior I experienced from Ms. Betty Woods. In my experience, her tone toward residents was often disrespectful, and her actions made many of us feel uncomfortable and unheard. I filed multiple grievances about her behavior to the Director, Ms. White, but I did not see any action taken. Other residents and outside organizations also raised concerns, yet nothing seemed to change. During resident meetings, Ms. Woods made comments that felt like she was mocking residents for filing complaints, which added to the frustration. Overall, I felt that Ms. Woods' rude and unprofessional conduct created a stressful environment, and the lack of response from leadership made residents feel like our concerns did not matter.

My wife and I visited Open Hand Atlanta to volunteer our time for a couple of hours to prep meals…read more Open Hand provides nutritional meals for those with chronic diseases, such as AIDS/HIV, different forms of cancer, etc. These nutritional meals promote and prolong healthier way of life. Once you arrive and sign in, you'll be taken to a waiting room area, where Open Hand staff gives you a rundown of their history and what their mission is. You also get the rules of the prep room and are gifted a one of a kind hairnet, plastic apron, and men with facial hair gets face masks. No jewelry may be at any time. Rings, necklaces, earrings, facial piercings, watches, etc. can NOT be worn. There are different things that you can do at this space, but I wanted to do meal prep. We washed our hands and grabbed plastic gloves. Keep in mind, the gloves are different sizes. The meal prep was like an assembly line. The meal we prepped was Beef Stroganoff on Noodles with Green Beans. With a scale, the first person weighed the appropriate number for the noodles, the second person weighed the right number of beef stroganoff, and the third person weighed the right number for green beans. There is then a fourth person who wipes off any excess food from around the rim of the food container. This is important so the plastic cover will seal appropriately. It's then put in this contraption that holds multiple containers and a person press seals it and puts it to the side. This is definitely quite a process, but once you get into the flow of it, it becomes easier. Some people make it a challenge against another group to see who can make the most meals. Side note: THIS PLACE IS FREEZING! The ENTIRE BUILDING IS COLD! Bring a jacket or hoody. Overall, this is a great place to come with a group or by yourself and do some charitable services. Fortunately, we came with a large group of my wife's coworkers, so we were able to knock out over 2,500 meals which was awesome! I'd definitely come back.

I volunteered at Open Hand two weeks ago (Saturday, July 22, 2017) and had a lot of fun. I didn't…read moreknow what to expect as far as working conditions, the general environment, and exactly what we would be doing. Would I be in some freezing cold meat locker? Would I be inside an insanely hot warehouse? Would I be breaking my already broken back moving heavy objects around? Would I be doing some mundane task for hours and be bored out of my mind? Fortunately, the answer to all those questions was no. I went with a big group to celebrate someone's birthday (a neat idea). Half of us did meal packing and the other half did market basket packing. I signed up for meal packing. Our meal packing session involved packing meals into bags and portioning food into individual containers (think frozen TV dinners). The food was already cooked and just needed to be heated up to be eaten. Market basket packing involves packing nonperishable foods. In this case, the food wasn't cooked and the recipients would need to cook it themselves. We signed up to work from 1pm to 4pm. Each of us had to register on Open Hand's website. After registering and reserving our spots, we received confirmation emails with information, reminders, and dress code requirements. One of the dress code requirements in my confirmation email said, "Long pants are preferred. Skirts or dresses must be shin length." I wore shorts. When standing, those shorts touched the top of my knees. My girlfriend, who also signed up for meal packing, wore shorts too. Her shorts were shorter. She ended up getting moved to market basket packing because of the length of her shorts. This wasn't a big deal, but the dress code requirements listed in the confirmation email should have been more clear about shorts or simply just said that long pants are required for meal packing. There was at least one other person in our meal packing group with knee-length shorts. When you arrive to Open Hand, the volunteer entrance is clearly marked. Each volunteer must sign in and sign out using a computer just inside the entrance. We arrived right around 1pm, checked in, and were ushered into an orientation room. The orientation was quick, about 10 minutes. A short video about Open Hand was played and then we got some in-person instruction. After that, we were whisked to our volunteer work areas. For meal packing, we had to wear hair nets and aprons. First, we helped prepare bags to place meals in, then we moved into the meal packing work area. This was a cool, clean room with various tables and assembly lines. One group was already sealing TV dinner trays when we arrived. We washed our hands and helped assemble bags with four meals in them: Monday lunch, Monday dinner, Tuesday lunch, and Tuesday dinner with cornbread and condiments (ketchup and mustard). It was pretty easy. Each person was assigned to place one or two items into each bag and pass it down. I was responsible for the ketchup and mustard. After a bag had four meals, cornbread, and condiments, it was tied and placed on a tray which was later stacked and carted off. We assembled 126 of these Monday-Tuesday meal bags. Two of our meal packing group were broken off and sent to the cornbread station where they individually bagged and sealed cornbread. The cornbread was already cooked and cut. After assembling the meal bags, we took a short break in the break room and then were called back into the meal packing room for another job. This time, we had to portion food into TV dinner trays which would later be sealed. This task was harder than the last because we had to handle food directly with our hands (wearing gloves of course) and measure correct portion sizes using scales. We packed 285 meal trays filled with chicken, mushroom risotto, and peas and pearl onions. The hands of the people scooping and portioning out the risotto and peas got tired. I helped a little bit with the peas and organizing and stacking the meal trays on bigger trays, but I mostly was responsible for placing a piece of chicken on top of the risotto. We ended up spending almost our full 3-hour allotment at Open Hand. The market basket packing group ended up finishing early, in under 1.5 hours. Volunteer Services Manager Julie Barwig was the person who oversaw our group. In the meal packing room, Andre led us for the meal bag packing and Shameka led us for the meal tray portioning. Everyone was nice and friendly. I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm now considering signing up to do meal delivery. Open Hand's mission statement: "Open Hand helps people prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care, which combines home-delivered meals and nutrition education as a means to reinforce the connection between informed food choices and improved quality of life." The campus is located in the industrial Armour neighborhood of Atlanta near SweetWater Brewing Company and the Armour Yard rail yard on the southern edge of Buckhead.

Beautiful peaceful garden with paved paths to walk through and admire the trees, flowers, and…read moreplants.

While visiting Atlanta, I was looking to kill some time…read more And I needed a excuse To write another rhyme. With a name like Woodlawn Gardens, I almost expected a cemetery. But instead what I found, Was a park fit for fairies! The area was once privately owned. But they've donated the land. The well kept grounds, I'd describe, As nothing less than grand! There's many paths to wander, And little gardens to see. There's even a makeshift playground Made from the trunks of trees! Such an adorable little park, In the middle of the city. Atlanta isn't the same as I remember, It's actually quite pretty!

They have a great selection of all sizes of designer items and nicer items. That's in the front so…read moreyou can easily find it. The store is very clean and helps animals which I prefer.

It's difficult to pick my favorite thing about this store: 1) the outstanding quality of the…read moredonated goods 2) the friendly neighborhood vibe 3) the helpful, resourceful staff. I started a new job this year, after years of working from home, my office wardrobe needed a serious refresh, but with the inflation of clothing prices I had to rely on buying second-hand. Once you are a Woman of a Certain Age, you can't get away with cheap and cheerful, plus, quality is better constructed, so the fit and wear is better. Second Life was an essential to me: I found Cole Hahn and AVL leather flats (almost unworn), numerous silk blouses (Marchesa Voyage, Annie Griffin), two silk skirts (one bespoke, the other from Anthropologie), dresses, jackets, a string of cultured pearls, Chicos and Eileen Fisher trousers - oh, and my last trip there, I actually scanned the books, and the selection is equally good there. Prices are higher than your average thrift, but, as you can see, so is the merchandise. It's always fair, and they run sales on the regular. I've been inspired to start putting aside some of my almost unworn or lightly worn clothes so that I can contribute to this community treasure, and keep the cycle going. This shop reminds me of everything I love about Avondale Estates / Decatur / Scottsdale / Clarkston.

I got the chance to tour some of the biggest, most reputable vaccine buildings across the country…read moreand by the most impressive one was the Task Force For Global Health in Decatur, right next to the Voice For Vaccines building. Fortunately, the two work hand-in-hand in the vaccine efforts, with Voices For Vaccines handling the more domestic and national efforts concentrated in the United States. It was there that I met Karen Ernst, the executive director of Voices For Vaccines. I first toured the Voices for Vaccines building, but I later toured the Task Force for Global Health's building. Needless to say, it was very impressive, as I was able to see many of the new floors as the carpeting was being done- most of the staff were on vacation during the time, so they were doing the carpeting there. But the completed parts of the building where you could walk did not fail to impress. The conference rooms were new, there were new pieces of furniture, file cabinets were being brought in and a tech crew was syncing the mainframes with the Voices for Vaccines server next door to facilitate data being shared between the two buildings. Each floor had recently renovated bathroom facilities. The break rooms each had comfy chairs along with new microwaves and fridges. The community coordinator, Mario, gave me quite the tour of the facility. Afterwards, we sat down in the backyard patio area where many employees have their lunch. We had quite the talk about the important work that went on during the pandemic, which made upgrading the facilities I mentioned difficult due to the pandemic. With all the traffic from workers, it was also difficult to so as well, so they did the renovations during the summer when I stopped by. When I finally finished, I went back to the Voices For Vaccines building to reunite with Karen so she could treat me to a lunch. My highlight of the trip was I was there definitely touring both buildings, but the Task Force for Global Health's building was really impressive. I thoroughly enjoyed how modern of a building it is. If you're a vaccine and health advocate, definitely reach out to Karen from Voices For Vaccines as well as the Task Force for Global Health staff to take a tour of the building because it was awesome!

Very high quality fresh food and a good variety! Everything from meats to milk and bread and fresh…read moreproduce. Feeding the community and cutting food waste, too. Thank you for your service!

Thank you, JT, at Food2Life for the beautiful meat, produce, and veggies from last Friday…read more Food2Life has been a very valuable addition to my shopping experience for the last few months. I always look forward to seeing what all they have to offer, and this org never disappoints. Thanks again, Food2Life.

Every few months I hear about $5 pony rides here and never went.....until this weekend!…read more This 40 acre hideaway is across from the QT on Lawrenceville. Who knew that it was this big?!? They are usually closed to the public except for these events. They had a ton of volunteers wearing matching vests which was really helpful. You parked on a residential street and got to walk through the conservancy and look at horses in the field. Then came the fun part. Kids 4 and up could ride on a pony for $5. They did 2 huge round a outs in the corral. You sign a waiver, learn about the conservancy via a waiver, and wait in line to ride the horse. In the meantime they teamed up with DH high (I think) what was selling chicken biscuits and snacks as well as doing face painting. They had 7 horses in the corral that kids were riding in. We are not talking tiny little things either. They were huge! Afterwards, you got to walk by the area at that the horses stay in and could read about them and see any awards the won. They also had free arts and crafts projects setup like making horse puppets. They offer riding lessons, but I didn't tell my kids because I am nervous that they will want a horse.

Came by on a Saturday when they offered public pony rides. It was $5 for two laps around the barn…read moreon "real" horses and not just ponies. The rides are available for 4+ (adults too). They also have a couple tents set up with food and face painting. It was interesting to see the farm and all of the horses on the farm. Fun visit when they have an event open to the public.

We do this every year for community service. My fraternity and our sister organization come in and…read moredo diapers and clothes and Women's Health packs and all sorts of things. We take a few months throughout the year to stack up donations. And then we just ended up sorting things and putting things in places in the warehouse. It's a really good way for us to work together, to give back to the community. All of the proceeds go to places that are in need, within the community. Giving back a super important, and helping Mama's is consistently in the Forefront of that within Gwinnett county.

From the owner: Baby Supply Bank of Georgia. Support the over 300,000 women and children living in poverty in Metro…read moreAtlanta by texting "HELPMAMAS" to 44-321.