100 Years of Service Celebrated with $1 Million to Atlanta Nonprofits

The Junior League of Atlanta Celebrates Centennial Anniversary with Grant Donation to Area Organizations

ATLANTA, April 27, 2017
To celebrate 100 years of service to the Atlanta community, The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) announced today three Centennial Grants to local nonprofits totaling $1 million and targeted to assist residents struggling through food insecurity, generational poverty and the effects of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. The Centennial Grants will enable and encourage growth for the next three years in organizations aimed at helping some of the city’s hardest hit communities.

The winning organizations are:

  • Atlanta Community Food Bank
  • Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Georgia Heirs Property Law Center and Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta
  • Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

The grants were awarded as part of a year-long celebration of JLA’s centennial anniversary and the organization’s impact on Atlanta. Each grant recipient went through a rigorous, three-step application process. For more information on how each organization plans to use its grant, see below.

“Our Centennial Year is about honoring our members and community partners who for 100 years have served together as a catalyst for change in Atlanta,” said Deanna Anderson, president of the JLA. “The Centennial Grants celebrate our legacy of proven leadership while at the same time fueling our second century of service. These projects represent the opportunity for transformational change in our city that will lead to a lasting and positive impact on the lives of women and children.”

.@jlatlanta kicks off its 2nd century of service giving $1M in grants to local nonprofits. #JLA100 #JLAGift

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Atlanta Community Food Bank – Child Nutrition Programs
The Atlanta Community Food Bank received a $380,000 grant from JLA, and will use the money to expand its Child Nutrition Programs, which focus on elementary, middle and high school students in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. The grant will help the Food Bank implement a new School Breakfast Program, add new Summer Meal sites and expand its current School Mobile Food Pantry program, providing an additional 800,000 meals per year to students through these school focused programs.

“The Food Bank has been a proud partner of the Junior League of Atlanta since 1985 and together, we've been able to make an incredible impact on the lives of our neighbors in need,” said Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. “Today, we take an even bigger step in this powerful partnership with an investment from the JLA that will help change the future of local children who face hunger.”

See more about how the Atlanta Community Food Bank will utilize its grant by clicking here.

Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Georgia Heirs Property Law Center and Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta – Generational Poverty Law Project
The Generational Poverty Law Project received a $380,000 grant from JLA, and is a 3-year joint venture between Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Georgia Heirs Property Law Center and the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta. With its grant, the partners plan to expand outreach to metro-Atlanta non-profits and collaborate to protect homes and families in the Atlanta area. In establishing the Generational Poverty Law Project, the collective hopes to use its work in Atlanta to create a national model for providing holistic legal services to multi-generational families. This collaborative approach will help ensure that metro-Atlanta clients of all three organizations receive the legal help and social services support that make a significant difference.

“Legal Aid is excited and honored to renew its relationship with Junior League of Atlanta,” said Steven Gottlieb, executive director of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. “Throughout our 93-year history, Junior League of Atlanta provided great support through volunteers and grants. This grant renews our partnership in an incredible, substantial way, and we hope to grow and strengthen that partnership through this work.”

See more about how the Generational Poverty Law Project will utilize its grant by clicking here.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – Institute for Healthcare and Human Trafficking
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta received a $240,000 grant from JLA. Through its Institute for Healthcare and Human Trafficking, Children’s will follow a public health approach to address the crisis of human trafficking. The grant will be used to provide training and education to healthcare providers and promote evidence-based research on trafficking. The Institute will:

  • Establish a comprehensive online database of evidence-based research on child sex trafficking
  • Train more healthcare providers how to recognize trafficking victims and effectively intervene on their behalf
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for child sex trafficking

“The Institute for Healthcare and Human Trafficking will transform the ability of trafficking victims to access help by providing medical and mental health professionals the means to recognize and respond to suspected exploitation,” said Dr. Jordan Greenbaum, a physician in the Stephanie V. Blank Center for Safe and Health Children at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Healthcare professionals can be powerful advocates for those who have been trafficked or sexually exploited, but only if they are equipped with appropriate knowledge and skills. By offering high-quality training, resources, technical assistance and leading-edge research, the Institute will help transform Atlanta's healthcare facilities into effective gateways to victim identification and intervention.”

See more about how the Institute for Healthcare and Human Trafficking will utilize its grant by clicking here.

JLA focuses its volunteer and training efforts on three impact areas in Atlanta: early childhood education, generational poverty and commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Each grant recipient aligns with the League’s mission and is now poised to create an even larger impact. In addition to the monetary award, each grant further deepens the partnership between organizations and JLA by committing additional volunteer hours and support to each program over the next three years.

About the Junior League of Atlanta, Inc.
The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and to improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

Funds raised through the efforts of the JLA are used to aid and support projects and programs of our community partners. In addition, funds are utilized to train and develop our membership to become future leaders of the Atlanta community. Combined, our volunteers and funding have impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and children in the communities in which we serve.

For more information on the Junior League of Atlanta, visit here

About the Atlanta Community Food Bank
The Atlanta Community Food Bank works to end hunger with the food, people and big ideas needed to ensure our neighbors have the nourishment to lead healthy and productive lives. Far too many people in our own community experience hunger every day, including children, seniors and working families.

Through more than 600 nonprofit partners, we help more than 755,000 people get healthy food every year. Our goal is that, by 2025, all hungry people across metro Atlanta and North Georgia will have access to the nutritious meals they need when they need them. It takes the power of our whole community to make that possible. Join us at ACFB.org.

About the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc.
The Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc. provides civil legal services to persons with very low income in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton and Cobb counties. Last year, Atlanta Legal Aid attorneys handled more than 20,000 cases involving over 50,000 people, primarily involving housing, family, and senior citizens issues. Begun in 1924 by 17 idealistic young attorneys, Atlanta Legal Aid has meant access to the justice for countless individuals, who might otherwise be lost in an increasingly complex legal system.

About Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (Children's) has been 100 percent dedicated to kids for more than 100 years. A not-for-profit organization, Children's is dedicated to making kids better today and healthier tomorrow. Our specialized care helps children get better faster and live healthier lives. Managing more than 1,000,000 patient visits annually at three hospitals, 28 neighborhood locations and more than 80 telemedicine sites, Children's is the largest healthcare provider for children in Georgia and one of the largest pediatric clinical care providers in the country. Children's offers access to more than 60 pediatric specialties and programs and is ranked among the top children's hospitals in the country by U.S.News & World Report. With generous philanthropic and volunteer support, Children's has impacted the lives of children in Georgia, the United States and throughout the world. For more information about the Stephanie V. Blank Center for Safe and Healthy Children, visit choa.org.