Hands On ATLANTA | COVID-19 COMMUNITY PLAN

Updated March 25, 2020 at 7:00am

Like many organizations across metro Atlanta, we are closely monitoring the COVID-19 news and updates from the CDC and the World Health Organization. In an effort to be proactive, prioritizing the health and safety of our staff and our community, we have put together the following continuity plan.

Until further notice, we are following guidance from the State of Georgia and Atlanta’s Mayor Bottoms, and are postponing all “non-essential” volunteer projects. We will remain focused on fighting food insecurity and supporting essential nonprofit organizations and community needs. We’re also requesting all nonprofit partners and volunteer projects adhere to safety guidelines requiring a minimum of 6 ft distance between volunteers and projects less than 10 people. We’re working hard to ensure our calendar of volunteer projects and internal programs are updated accordingly and following these new safety guidelines.

A summary of our response and current activities is below.  We'll provide further updates as things evolve, but in the meantime, thanks for doing your part to ensure the safety and well-being of you and those around you!   

our internal plan

This kind of pandemic planning is new for everyone, especially us. However, we’re lucky to have the support of our fellow Points of Light Global Network Affiliates and have leaned on what others are doing across the globe to deal with the crisis. We are sharing our internal game plan, as it might be helpful for you or your organization. Our friends at the Georgia Center for Nonprofits have also created a contingency plan template. Until further notice we have:

• Closed our office from Monday, March 16 - 27. This will cancel any volunteer projects and events happening at our office location (600 Means St.) within that timeline.

• Created an internal response team to plan and implement the necessary actions for our team and greater community of partners and volunteers

• Suspended all nonessential travel outside of GA. 

• Reinforced our flexible work from home policy to accommodate staff during the time our office will be closed. 

• Asked that anyone on our team who has a fever and/or symptoms of acute respiratory illness must stay home and not come to work until they are free of fever (e.g. 100F or lower) or any other symptoms for at least 24-hours, without the use a fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicine (e.g. cough suppressants).   

• Asked teammates if a family member is sick with an acute respiratory illness, the employee may not return to work until 14 days after the family member became symptomatic.   

• A mandatory 14-day quarantine for all staff if in the event someone at Hands On ATL tests positive for COVID-19/Coronavirus.

Our Community Plan

We are working on contingency plans with all of our partners to keep the community’s best interest first. We have:

• Created a Community Relief landing page with available volunteer opportunities, resources for those in need and more.

• Postponed our Discovery and TeamWorks! programs until further notice

• Posted all activity within the Civic Leadership Program

• Sent safety guidelines and restrictions to Starbucks Service Fellows projects - focused on food insecurity - and are updating our calendar accordingly

• Host Talk With Me Baby @ Work sessions digitally. To sign up for these email abisgaard@handsonatlanta.org

• Asked volunteers (or volunteer family members) that have been exposed to COVID-19 self-quarantine and NOT volunteer with us for at least 14-days. 

• Been listening carefully to our nonprofit and school partners, and promoting their urgent needs on our calendar and via our social media, in addition to our Relief landing page.

If any of the following conditions apply to you, we ask that you not sign-up for any project at a Community/Nonprofit Partner location and stay at home for the safety of everyone:

1. If you currently have a cough, fever, or any respiratory illness

2. If you currently have a heart condition, lung disease, diabetes, or any other serious health condition, or are over the age of 65

3. If you or anyone in your household have traveled to China, Iran, South Korea, Japan, or Europe in the past two weeks

4. If you or anyone in your household have been in close contact with anyone who is confirmed to have COVID-19

If none of conditions 1-4 apply to you and you are comfortable volunteering, you may sign up for a project.

Before you begin a project, we’ll ask that you wash your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds with soap and water or use an alcohol-based sanitizer. Supplies are limited for sanitizer, gloves and masks, please bring your own to projects if possible.

If you must stay home for the safety of our community, we have remote/digital volunteer opportunities (see Volunteer From Home below) that you may sign-up for.

VOLUNTEER FROM HOME

Here are some really easy ways you can do something good, without leaving your house:

• Answer college and career readiness questions from students using CareerVillage

• Make the world more accessible for the visually impaired and download Be My Eyes

• Give refugees and people in need of humanitarian assistance on-demand language access with Tarjimly

• Connect low-income youth with live academic support to help them on their path to achieving upward mobility with UPchieve.

Keep an eye on this page (it will be updated regularly) for news, updates and changes in our plan based on recommendations from the CDC and our community partners. Thank you for helping us tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs!

---

Please share what you or your organization is doing to keep our community safe from COVID-19 in the comments below.

Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows: A Mission Put Into Action

There is no doubt that hunger and poverty plague all parts of the world, but here at Hands On Atlanta, we make it our mission to mobilize the Atlanta community to tackle our city’s most pressing needs - providing opportunities to help serve the thousands of families who are in need of food and other essential resources. Each year, an estimate of 755,400 (1 in 7) people in Georgia turn to Food Bank partner agencies for food. 1 in 5 kids in Georgia live in food-insecure households. While we can’t solve all of the hunger problems facing our community, thanks to an impactful partnership with the Starbucks Foundation, Points of Light, and the Atlanta Community Food Bank, we’re now able to get more food to those in need.

Towards the end of May 2019, The Starbucks Foundation and Points of Light announced the expansion of the Starbucks Foundation Service Fellow Program, following a successful six-month pilot in 2018. As a result of the good news, we were able to welcome two new members to the Hands On Atlanta team, Shelly Banks and Steen Stuckey in September of 2019! 

““I’ve always been interested in community service, and Starbucks continues to create new opportunities to stay within the company and get involved in new ways like this program, and I felt like it was a perfect fit!”  ”

— Steen Stuckey, Starbucks Service Fellow  

Here’s how the program works.

The goal of the Starbucks Foundation Service Fellow Program will do 2 things:

1. Enable local food pantries to provide more food to those in need.

2. Provide the Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows a unique opportunity to address a pressing community need.   

The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows work 20 hours in their store, while spending another 20 hours with Hands On Atlanta, helping build volunteer capacity at Atlanta Community Food Bank affiliate food pantries.

Shelly and Steen will provide training and consultation on volunteer management to 8 food pantries around metro Atlanta. Stretching from Lithonia to Newnan, more people will have access to more food, thanks to the help of their work! By helping the food pantries better engage volunteers in serving more food to their clients, our amazing fellows (Steen and Shelly) are tackling one of Starbucks’ global social impact priorities: hunger.  

“The ultimate goal, from the Starbucks lens, is that these partners [Starbucks employees] are truly catalytic in their communities and that they inspire more partners to get engaged” ”

— Virginia Tenpenny, Executive Director of The Starbucks Foundation

Thanks to the program that the Starbucks Foundation and Points of Light have delivered, we can now strengthen our storied partnership with the Atlanta Community Food Bank by  providing customized 1:1 support to their food pantries.

---

Meet the 2020 Hands On Atlanta Starbucks Fellows

Shelly Banks

“And now I’m doing this service fellowship, so it’s truly a great experience to work for a company that lets me explore so many different possibilities.””

— Shelly Banks, 2020 Starbucks Foundation Service Fellow 

Shelly has been a partner at Starbucks since 2013, and enjoys working for the company because they provide so many different opportunities that she’s been able to be apart of. She went to college through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan program and obtained her degree. Shelly also completed the Coffee Master program, which provided her with a higher level of coffee knowledge and a cool black apron!

Steen Stuckey

“I think one of the best things about working at Starbucks is how much we focus on helping people develop professionally. And I think this is a very, very cool opportunity for that. I hope that more people get to take advantage of it.””

— Steen Stuckey, 2020 Starbucks Foundation Service Fellow

Arkansas native, Steen, moved to Atlanta about 2 ½ years ago with her wife of three years. Since the big move, she has been apart of the Starbucks family. After hearing about the Starbucks Service Fellows Program, she was excited to be apart of the fellowship since it aligned with her idea of a fulfilling life: giving back to the community. In the future, Steen hopes that the program continues to expand so that more opportunities are created for those interested in becoming a service fellow. 

---

Learn more about this unique partnership happening in 20 cities across the country!

The Georgia Commission of Service and Volunteerism Awards Hands On Atlanta $460,000 AmeriCorps Grant

2018/19 AmeriCorps members pack meals for students during the winter break.

Earlier this month, Gov. Brian Kemp announced that Georgia has received $3,341,944 in AmeriCorps funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency responsible for AmeriCorps and other national service programs. Of that, Hands On Atlanta will receive $462,767.00 (the second largest grant awarded in Georgia) to support our school-based AmeriCorps program!

The Hands On Atlanta AmeriCorps program is an engaging 10-month commitment in which AmeriCorps members impact Atlanta’s most vulnerable youth. Members serve on a diverse, task-oriented team to provide math and literacy tutoring, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and college readiness coaching, curriculum enrichment, and community engagement to over 1,000 K-12th grade students attending low performing schools across metro Atlanta.

“Building on a strong tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, AmeriCorps members will change lives, improve communities, and build a safer, stronger, and more united Georgia,” said Chester Spellman, director of AmeriCorps. “For 25 years, the AmeriCorps members who pledge to ‘get things done’ have represented the best of America while demonstrating the great promise and ideals of our country. I salute all the AmeriCorps members who will join them, and thank those who help make their service possible.”

These grants will put more than 500 AmeriCorps members on the ground to serve with nineteen (19) organizations to tackle some of the toughest problems in Georgia including education, economic opportunities, healthy futures, veterans and military families, homelessness, people living with disabilities, financial literacy, and environmental issues. Hands On Atlanta will deploy 40 AmeriCorps members directly into the community through our school and nonprofit partners.

“Hands On Atlanta is thrilled to receive nearly half a million dollars from the Georgia State Commission of Volunteerism and CNCS to support our 19/20 AmeriCorps program. We are excited to place AmeriCorps members at schools and nonprofits across the greater Atlanta community. Hands On Atlanta has received a record breaking 500+ applications for 40 positions and is energized by the caliber and commitment to service our incoming cohort brings,“ said Lindsey Baker, Hands On Atlanta Director of Programs.

AmeriCorps’ unique model means that the grants announced will leverage an additional $3 million from the private sector, foundations, and other sources – further increasing the return on the federal investment.

In addition, CNCS will provide over $2 million in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards for the AmeriCorps members funded by these grants. After successfully completing their service term, full-time AmeriCorps members receive an Education Award of approximately $6,000 that they can use to pay for college or graduate school or to pay off student loans.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of AmeriCorps. Since the program’s inception in 1994, more than 1 million Americans have served, providing more than 1.5 billion hours of service and earned more than $3.6 billion in education scholarships, more than $1 billion of which has been used to pay back student debt. Those interested in joining AmeriCorps can learn more at AmeriCorps.gov/Join.

---

Every year, 75,000 AmeriCorps members serve through 21,000+ schools, nonprofits, and community and faith-based organizations across the country. These citizens have played a critical role in the recovery of communities affected by disasters and helped thousands of first generation college students access higher education. They also tutor and mentor young people, connect veterans to jobs, care for seniors, reduce crime and revive cities, fight the opioid epidemic, and meet other critical needs.

If you’re interested in learning more about joining the Hands On Atlanta AmeriCorps program visit https://www.handsonatlanta.org/americorps. For companies, organizations, and foundations looking to sponsor or match funding, please reach out to our team at americorps@handsonatlanta.org for more info.

Hands On Atlanta Awarded $500,000 Grant from The Marcus Foundation

Hands On Atlanta has received a 3-year, $500,000 grant from The Marcus Foundation to engage the next generation of Atlanta changemakers.

The grant will help Hands On Atlanta deliver several volunteer focused initiatives, with a goal to make serving Atlanta more accessible than ever. Currently only 24% of Atlantans volunteer, placing the city 36th among the 50 largest metropolitan areas. With this grant, Hands On Atlanta will expand digital and virtual volunteer offerings, as well as “pop-up” service projects in high-traffic areas, like the Atlanta Beltline.

“The issues facing our community continue to change, and the ways Atlantans can solve these challenges continues to evolve. Our volunteers want to use all their skills to do something good. It’s our responsibility to provide these opportunities and meet Atlantans where they are. The opportunity The Marcus Foundation has given us is an incredible lift for metro Atlanta as a whole,” said Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO.

The Marcus Foundation has been a long-time supporter of Hands On Atlanta and other organizations that seek to improve the greater Atlanta community.

“On the 30th anniversary of our organization, we are grateful for the support and leadership from Bernie Marcus, who has been with us since the beginning. Being awarded this grant will significantly impact our ability to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs, while positioning us to lead Atlanta in becoming one of our country’s most civically engaged cities,” added Cranman. 

Points of Light and The Starbucks Foundation Expand Innovative Service Model in 20 Cities Across the United States

Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, and The Starbucks Foundation announce the expansion of The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows Program, an innovative service model inspired by national service.

Following a successful six-month pilot last year, the full-scale program will expand to 7 new markets, reaching 20 cities and engaging 100 Starbucks partners (employees). The program is designed to provide needed day-to-day support to local nonprofit organizations while providing an opportunity for Starbucks partners to pursue their personal passion to get involved in their communities.

“The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program is a promising model that provides companies with a new way to think about the role they can play in promoting and enabling service opportunities,” says Natalye Paquin, president and CEO of Points of Light. “We believe that by partnering together, the Service Fellows will significantly enhance the capacity of nonprofit organizations to effectively leverage human capital to meet their missions. We are excited to see this program grow and look forward to supporting fellows as they unlock their own potential to create meaningful change through service.”

Points of Light received a $3.5 million grant from The Starbucks Foundation to expand the infrastructure and impact of The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program by 2020, which includes direct support of Points of Light’s commitment to strengthen the capacity of the nonprofit sector through resources, programs and partnerships.

The Starbucks Foundation will fund support for local nonprofits affiliated with the Points of Light Global Network. As part of this service model, Points of Light will match the 100 fellows with their local network member. During their service term, the fellows will work part-time for Points of Light, expanding the capacity of the local nonprofit and their community partners to meet their missions, while continuing to work part-time at Starbucks. This experience plays an important role in exposing the Fellows to future civic and community engagement opportunities, while expanding their professional skills and experiences.

“Each Starbucks store is part of a community, and we’re committed to strengthening the neighborhoods we serve,” says Virginia Tenpenny, executive director of The Starbucks Foundation. “We believe service goes hand in hand with our mission to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. This program is an evolution of Starbucks long-standing commitment to serving our communities, year-round.”

Following an application process that kicked off this week, the first group of 50 Starbucks partners across 20 cities will be selected as Service Fellows, to begin in September with sector education and organizational onboarding, and their service terms will run from October 2019 through March 2020. The second group of Service Fellows will serve April through October 2020.

Members of the Points of Light Global Network that will host Service Fellows are: Hands On Atlanta, HandsOn Bay Area, HandsOn Birmingham, Boston Cares, HandsOn Broward, Chicago Cares, VolunteerNow, Spark the Change Colorado, Volunteer Fairfax, Volunteer Houston, HandsOn Miami, Hands On Nashville, New York Cares, HandsOn New Orleans, United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey, HandsOn Twin Cities, HandsOn Greater Phoenix, HandsOn San Diego, Seattle Works, United Way of King County, and United Way of Greater St. Louis, as well as Points of Light headquarters in Atlanta.

To learn more about the impact of The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program, visit the Points of Light blog or Starbucks Stories for impact stories.

About Points of Light

Points of Light – the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service – mobilizes millions of people to take action that is changing the world. Through affiliates in 250 cities across 37 countries and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 5 million volunteers in 20 million hours of service each year. We bring the power of people to bear where it’s needed most. For more information, go to www.pointsoflight.org.

About The Starbucks Foundation

Established in 1997, The Starbucks Foundation strengthens communities around the world by advancing opportunities for youth, veterans, refugees and coffee, tea and cocoa farmers and their families, supporting communities affected by disaster, and promoting civic engagement. The Starbucks Foundation is a U.S. 501 (c)(3) charitable organization under U.S. law, and receives funding primarily from Starbucks Corporation and private donations. Learn more at https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/community/starbucks-foundation.

Looking Back at the Hands On Atlanta 30th Birthday

From left to right: Mayor Shirley Franklin, Jay Cranman, Danny Shoy.

Way back in the spring of 1989, 12 friends got together to try and figure out a better way to solve some of the challenges facing our city. After a few drinks and a few ideas, this gathering led to the start of Hands On Atlanta. 30 years later, on Saturday, April 13, more than 300 long-time (and new) friends packed into Manuel’s Tavern for an evening of celebration and fundraising at our 30th Birthday.

We celebrated visionaries like Elise Eplan, Kent Alexander and Michelle Nunn who helped make Hands On Atlanta one of the largest community engagement organizations in the world. How big? Since 1989, we’ve engaged 500,000 changemakers to serve more than 4 million hours in communities across metro Atlanta!

We celebrated changemakers like Ms. Genora Crooke, who spent 24 years as a teammate at Hands On Atlanta, and Mayor Shirley Franklin, our 2019 Holly Palmer Rhodes Changemaker of the Year. With the help of guest emcee, WSB-TV’s Fred Blankenship and Mayor Franklin, and the support of our sponsors and attendees, we pulled in $150,000 in donations!

Our history, our community, our impact, and those who continue to support our work… now, that’s worth celebrating!

Mayor Shirley Franklin, accepting the 2019 Holly Palmer Rhodes Changemaker of the Year award!

Capping off the night of fundraising, Fred and Mayor Franklin announce our raffle winner!

All-in-all, it was a throwback party we’ll be talking about for years to come. Thanks to all who came out in support of 30 years of service to the Atlanta community. Thank you to all of our Civic Fellows for volunteering and to our team for producing such a fantastic event! Thank you to all of our host committee members and all of our generous donors and sponsors: The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Publix, The Coca-Cola Company, UPS, Points of Light, Cognizant, Datum Sofware and BBDO Atlanta. Our work does not exist without your help. THANK YOU.

Hands On Atlanta Awarded National Education Grant

Hands On Atlanta was awarded a competitive, national grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service to support Hands On Atlanta’s school-based AmeriCorps program

Hands On Atlanta is honored to announce that they have been awarded grant from the GA Commission for Service and Volunteerism (GCSV)  The GCSV receives funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Hands On Atlanta’s AmeriCorps program, which has been running for over 20 years, was one of only two Georgia organizations to receive the national, competitive funding from the CNCS.

At Hands On Atlanta, AmeriCorps members support the academic, social and emotional, and basic needs of economically-disadvantaged elementary and middle school students in City of Atlanta, Fulton County, DeKalb County, and Cobb County, Georgia through two main programs.

First, AmeriCorps members serve with teachers and instructional coaches to provide small-group literacy and math tutoring during school hours for grades K-8. Second, using accredited curricula, AmeriCorps members help students increase social skill development, with a focus on peer-to-peer relationships, and teach students how to manage emotions such as anger or frustration.

In addition to these two programs, many AmeriCorps members also support Hands On Atlanta’s weekend enrichment program, Discovery, in which students in grades K-5 receive mentoring, STEM training, and fitness/nutrition lessons every other Saturday morning.

“We’re incredibly thankful for the continued partnership with GCVS and CNCS. With the increased funding and national recognition, we are able to expand our program’s reach and impact across Atlanta. It is inspiring to see our nearly 40 AmeriCorps members serve at high-need schools, dedicating their time, talents, and passion to improve the educational landscape across the city. Because of this funding we were able to expand to additional districts and schools this year, ultimately reaching more children with engaging tutoring and social emotional learning support,” said Lindsey Baker, Director of Programs at Hands On Atlanta. 

---

Volunteer alongside some of our AmeriCorps members at one of our Saturday, Discovery sessions and get to know more about their work!

Atlanta top muralists join forces on MLK Day

Photo by John Spink Sr. for the AJC

Ten Atlanta artists join forces to creating mural at Frederick Douglass High School on Atlanta’s westside during the King Holiday on January 21, 2019. Organized by Atlanta artist Charmaine Minniefield, the mural is sponsored by Spelman College for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service with Hands On Atlanta.

The project will return the portrait of Douglass originally painted in 1972 by then art teacher, Mr.William Murray to the school. Mr. Murray will be present on Monday to meet the artists and to lend a hand. The project features some of the city’s most prolific artists, including Fabian Williams (Occasional Superstar), Joe Dreher (Joe King ATL), Sachi Rome, Lauren Pallotta Stumberg (Think Greatly), Michael Jones (Letter 75), Angela Davis Johnson, Krista Jones (Jonesy), Shannon Willow and Sean Irving (BlesOne aka DeeJay Rebellion).

All artists are donating their time, and leftover paint from murals past, to model community service and civic duty on the 2019 MLK Day of Service. Hands On Atlanta volunteers, Spelman College students, and Clark Atlanta University students will join the team on the day as well. Over the weeks to follow, artists will work with former Frederick Douglass HS art teacher Murray, current art teacher Dr. Mark Jones and students to complete the wall.

The Frederick Douglass High School Alumni Association, Frederick Douglass Ole School, staff and faculty will host this mural project during the 200th anniversary of the birth of abolitionist namesake Frederick Douglass to return the portrait of Douglass to the campus grounds after renovations covered its original image a few years back. Frederick Douglass High School is the alma mater of Atlanta’s Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Minniefield worked with non-profit, fiscal sponsor Culture Centers International to bring attention, support, and talent to this important effort as a continuation of its Westside Murals project which seeks to preserve important Atlanta cultural histories and legacies in the community through public art and creative programming.

This wall is the fourth wall in this series now on the Westside. The first, which honored Adrienne McNeil Herndon, was sponsored by DoSomething.org, Spelman College and Hands On Atlanta last year during the King Holiday on the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail. Since, other walls include a wall on the Adair Park Trail of the Atlanta BeltLine which honors Carrie Steel, matriarch and founder of the Carrie Steel Pitts Home for Children; and most recently the wall for Civil Right hero Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson, sponsored by the WonderRoot Off The Wall Project for the upcoming Super Bowl.

As an artist, arts administrator and producer for over 20 years, Charmaine Minniefield has worked with such arts organizations as the National Black Arts Festival, the King Center, Fulton County Department of Arts and Culture, Flux Project and the High Museum of Arts. She was a recent feature in the Mercedes Benz Greatness Lives Here Initiative and has been doing murals in schools during the King Holiday for many years with Hands On Atlanta. Minniefield states, “I am excited to collaborate with this group of amazing Atlanta artists. It is an honor to stand with as artist activists, working in communities as an example act of service during the King Holiday.

This is an exciting time in our city’s history. Each year during the King Holiday, we honor the shoulders on which we stand--the freedom fighters, the abolitionists, the suffragists, the organizers of resistance--who have come before us and are inspired by their example to use our work and our voices to affect change today.”

Participating Artists:

·       Fabian Williams (Occasional Superstar)

·       Joe Dreher (Joe King ATL)

·       Sachi Rome

·       Lauren Pallotta Stumberg (Think Greatly)

·       Michael Jones (Letter75)

·       Angela Davis Johnson

·       Krista Jones (Jonesy)

·       Shannon Willow

·       Sean Irving (Bro Sean aka BlesOne)

·       Charmaine Minniefield