2021 Community Heroes Week Honorees
Former special-needs educators and founders of the Exceptional Foundation of Atlanta, Lauren Marks, Susan Keeney and Renee Smith recognized a gap in social and recreational resources for adults with physical and mental disabilities once they aged out of the public school system. To fill this gap, the women founded the Exceptional Foundation of Atlanta in 2018 to offer a variety of special leisure and recreational programs geared towards creating opportunities for adults with disabilities to socialize with their peers and be part of their community.
The program focuses on providing inclusive, accessible, and affordable opportunities for members to engage with their community through volunteer work, social gatherings, and the chance to learn new things.
With the goal to address the challenges that at-risk youth face in Georgia, Gracie Hamlin founded W-Underdogs in 2014. W-Underdogs works to teach children and teens to manage, care for, and train dogs and cats at the adoption shelter while providing them with a comprehensive toolbox of skills that translate into other parts of their lives.
As an Officer at the Atlanta Police Department, Veronica Campbell has dedicated her life to public service. Each year, Campbell organizes a toy drive for the families of 50 underprivileged children so they can have gifts to open at Christmas. Campbell does not hesitate to help when she sees a resident in need. In 2020, when the veteran officer met a 29-year-old mother of five looking to escape an abusive relationship and start again, Campbell gifted her personal SUV to the mother.
Founded in 2008, Veterans Empowerment Organization is a local non-profit established to address the lack of services available to veterans experiencing homelessness in Atlanta. VEO serves veterans and their families through a holistic approach, meeting them where they are and providing needed resources to help restore them to a life of self-sufficiency.
As CEO, Tony Kimbrough is the backbone of the operation. Kimbrough is an Army Veteran who served eight years as a military intelligence officer and spent a year with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan, where he led an embedded training team.
Founded by Fredando Jackson, Flint River Fresh is a non-profit, community garden located in Albany, Georgia. With a combined 4 acres of urban farms, 237 garden beds and ¾ acre of urban orchards, Flint River Fresh addresses the need for fresh, quality produce in food deserts by meeting their neighbors close to where they live. Jackson works with the local housing authority, public health department, city government, and local farm cooperatives to bring fresh produce directly to those in need.
Flint River Fresh is dedicated to the stewardship of natural resources for future generations through the exploration of conservation-driven technologies to enhance agricultural sustainability. Additionally, Flint River Fresh teaches youth how to grow food in community gardens that can then be distributed through pop-up farm stands, served in their school cafeterias, or donated to hunger-relief organizations.