Solomon Seaborn Steps up to Fight Food Insecurity and Improve Education

Hands On Atlanta Civic Leader, Solomon Seaborn is passionate about addressing food insecurity and education inequity here in Atlanta. He’s dedicated time to support several nonprofits and has been a model volunteer leader and ambassador for the essential work being done throughout the pandemic.

We recently caught up with Solomon to learn more about where he sees the biggest needs in our community how why it’s so important for people to engage in the work.

Tell us a little about the nonprofit(s) you volunteer with and the impact areas you see the most need in addressing.

I’m passionate about nutrition insecurities and education equality. These issues deprive our youth from an equal start to building a productive life. Neglecting these two issues, will continue to support unfair and systemically flawed institutions.

I volunteer with the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) because they address both the issues I can most about. They provide a place where people can learn more about our environment and urban greenspaces on the Westside, and they provide education on Atlanta history and urban gardening.

“Every time a group of volunteers get in the thick of handing out food, I look up and see cars and people in line, warped around the building. It’s hurtful to see, but it’s inspiring to see others running, lifting and smiling to help our fellow man/woman.”

— Solomon Seaborn

Has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your volunteering efforts?

COVID has increased my participation in meal distributions. It hurts my heart to see droves of people in line for a week of food. As first world country, we have to do better. While the pandemic might be coming to an end, it's effect on many things are just beginning. I'm most worried about it's effect on education mostly and I encourage everyone to go to an underserved school and see where you can help.

“Solomon is the epitome of a Civic Leader. Every time I ask for his help whether it’s in the middle of the work week (he has a full time job by the way) at an outdoor project that requires a lot of heavy lifting and getting his clothes dirty to leading corporate volunteers in a meal pack, Solomon jumps in and gets the job done! He’s kind, thoughtful and fun person to be around. We are so grateful to have him in the HOA family!”

— Elaine Hudson, Associate Director of Nonprofit Services, Hands On Atlanta

When will you be volunteering next?

Every second Saturday at Outdoor Activity Center or the many location providing food to different neighborhoods around the city.

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Inspired by Solomon’s story?

Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like Solomon’s, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.

Taking Care of Trees with Tom Deal

Tom Deal has been volunteering with the Grant Park Conservancy for over 5 years. A self described “tree nerd,” Tom’s knowledge of trees and plants has been invaluable to the conservancy as they tackle the removal of years of invasive plant growth, and replant trees to replace ones they’ve lost.

Tom regularly hosts volunteer groups of up to 50 people and has singlehandedly tagged and entered tree data for almost the entire park’s tree canopy (over 90+ acres).

It was great to spend some time with Tom in the wild, at the park to see him in action and to learn about value volunteering brings to his life.

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Inspired by TOM’s story?

Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like Tom’s, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.

Mentoring entrepreneurs with Roxann S. Smithers, Esq.

Roxann S. Smithers, Esq. is a founding Attorney at Smithers + Ume-Nwagbo, LLC. When she’s not practicing law, she supporting and mentoring entrepreneurs through Emory’s Start:ME Accelerator. From helping with their business plans, financials and projects to connecting these small business owners to other resources and opportunities, Roxann enjoys watching entrepreneurs grow and find success.

We spent a few minutes with Roxann to get a better understanding of why she volunteers her time with the Start:ME Accelerator.

Nonprofit Organization(s) You Volunteer With

Emory Start:ME Accelerator

What impact areas or pressing needs facing Atlanta do you care about most? Why?

Educating entrepreneurs and small business owners to develop a strong legal foundation for their ventures.

What do you love most about the organization you volunteer with? Why do you volunteer with them?

Start:ME does an amazing job developing and equipping business owners in underserved populations to raise commerce and economic development from the ground up.

Volunteering in April? Share where, when and if others can join you or how they can get involved.

You can join me as a mentor or support these small business owners through the Start:ME businesses shop.

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your volunteering efforts?

The program organizers deftly switched to virtual sessions when lockdown started during the middle of last year's program.  They upped the quality of the virtual experience with this year's program.

Can you share a memorable highlight or moment you've experienced that might motivate others to volunteer?

The best moment is to see an entrepreneur go from not knowing their numbers or not being comfortable pitching their business to having a fully fleshed out business plan, with detailed financials, and a confident pitch story.

Please list anything else you think our community should know about you, your volunteer service, or your commitment to Do Something Good!

Please be sure to visit out Legal Education page and YouTube channel at https://stulawgroup.com/legal-education/. We post engaging and informative articles, videos, and webinar invites with valuable information for the business owners.

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Inspired by Roxann’s story?

Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like Roxann’s, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.

Silas Howerton Rallies students to Fights Food Insecurity

Many may assume that college is solely a time for attending classes, making memories with friends, and finding a job after graduation. But for Silas Howerton, a sophomore at Georgia Tech, that’s far from the case. Silas, a pre-health studies major on the pre-med track, is a point of light for many organizations and budding service leader in Atlanta.

Silas is an avid and consistent volunteer with Grady Fresh Food Cart, a local Grady Clinic program that partners with the Atlanta Community Food Bank and Common Market to distribute food to Grady patients. In his time serving with the Grady Fresh Food Cart, Silas has helped to distribute over 100,000 pounds of healthy food to the Atlanta community. In a time where many are struggling to provide basic food and nutrition for their families, Silas is committed to helping to eradicate food insecurity in the metro Atlanta area.

Additionally, SIlas works as an Associate Director of Campus Ambassadors for the HEAL Clinical Education Network, where he manages over 100 ambassadors around the nation to prepare and educate students about open-access clinical education. His influence has expanded to both Georgia State University and Emory University, recruiting almost 500 students to join into the critical work of empowering nutrition education and gaining experience in clinical education.

To date, Silas and his team has helped over 20,000 students to explore higher-level clinical education. Silas’ deep passion for serving folks is seen in his selfless and dedicated service to expand learning and students.

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Inspired by Silas’ story?

Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like Silas’, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.

Julie Smith Volunteers for a more equitable Atlanta

Living in an international city that is an important part of the Civil Rights Movement, Julie Smith wants Atlanta to be at the forefront of improving race relations. She educates others on the history of civil rights in our country, and how each of us have the ability to make changes to protect human rights all over the world at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. As a docent and gallery assistant, she enjoys engaging with visitors on their reactions and responses to the uplifting, emotional, and sometimes shocking exhibits at the Center.

Smith recalls a moving volunteer experience from Black History Month this past February, “The Center provided additional children's programming which included a scavenger hunt for kids to really engage in the exhibits. Another volunteer and I were working a prize table at the end of the hunt when a father came up with his young son. The little boy was asked what he had learned. He looked at me and my fellow volunteer and said, ‘Because of Dr. King, you two can be friends.’

It inspired me that this little boy learned that two women, one - a black college professor and the other - a white retired former business owner, are friends because of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. These times are heartwarming and make me happy to be a volunteer at the Center.”

Due to the pandemic, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights closed its doors in March of 2020, leaving Julie heartbroken.

“Volunteering at the National Center for Civil & Human Rights inspires me to actively work to make changes in the world,” says Smith about her volunteer experience.

Fortunately the Center has since re-opened, and you can find Julie volunteering there in April. Swing by and visit her Thursday through Sunday and become inspired to make change in the world.

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Inspired by Julie’s story?

Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like Julie’s, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.

Julie Terlemezian “pays her rent” through service and activism

Julie relates her community or volunteer services to an Alice Walker quote, "Activism is my rent for living on the planet." To her, this means we are all activists. We all live in communities and are connected to each other. There are so many ways to give back and support our family, friends, and neighbors. The key is finding the best fit for you and sharing your passion and talents.

For Julie Terlemezian, her passion is not limited to one pressing need. She is curious and empathetic on hunger, housing, education, healthcare, transportation, and income inequality. They're all connected to the same abundance of inequity thread throughout Atlanta.

“To be around, either in person or virtually, people who are committed to making a positive impact on their community, the feeling I get every time I volunteer is amazing.. Whether it’s a meal pack or a beautification project, there’s something really special about being in that energy.”

— Julie Terlemezian

Even through the pandemic, Julie continues to check out the Hands On Atlanta calendar to find ways to be engaged in person and virtually to support these causes. Finding that the people were one of the only constants in the past - very weird - year, Julie feels honored to volunteer weekly and connect with the team at Hands On Atlanta. and hear about the amazing work they do every day.

“It's been an honor to serve alongside them and hear about the amazing work they do every day. And it also feels good to laugh,” said Terlemezian.

Elaine Hudson, Hands On Atlanta Associate Director of Nonprofit Services said, “Julie allows our entire Community Engagement team to expand our work because she's able to take on sophisticated assignments that are time consuming, and she flat out loves the work.”

You can learn more about Julie’s volunteer experience with Hands On Atlanta by connecting with her through our chat window on our site! Julie helps support volunteer questions, verify service hours, place groups and whatever else a typical day throws at her.

She adds, “Check out the Hands On Atlanta calendar! There are always so many ways to get involved and they make it so easy and fun!”

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Inspired by Julie’s story?

Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like Julie’s, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.

How doing a little, means a lot for Sara Henderson

Sara Henderson’s volunteer experience is probably the most relatable one you may find. She began excited, all-in, driven, empathetic, and completely forgetting how terrifying it is to reach out and meet strangers. Reliving her first time volunteer experience with Hands On Atlanta’s TeamWorks! program reminds us all why trying something new, especially volunteering, can be so scary.

Nervous, unsure of the tasks at hand, Sara showed up late (after being lost) to A.G. Rhodes, only to find she was tasked to compete on “Nailed It” in real life. An admirer of those who do crafts, this was not the first challenge Sara faced in following through on her volunteering commitment.

“When I got out of bed that morning, I almost talked myself out of going. When I got lost, I almost turned around for home. And when I discovered we were crafting, I almost quietly snuck out the back door. But I didn't. Instead, I sat with a resident as she told me about her children who she hadn't seen in months, and their children whose names she could not recall. She regaled me stories of fame, her many adventures as an elevator operator in Atlanta's famed Biltmore hotel, and gave me invaluable Atlanta history. I gave her much-needed companionship, my interest in her life, and the least-terrible door wreath I've ever made”.

“Whether you measure your spare time in miles on the track or miles up a mountain - if we all do just a little, together we can do a whole lot.”

It’s easy to forget how much we need each other in the hustle and bustle of daily life, or to assume what others think based on what we see in [social] media. Sara’s heart and drive through her early volunteering experience embodies the point of volunteering. It’s not about making it perfect, it’s about making an impact.

In Sara’s words: Whether you measure your spare time in miles on the track or miles up a mountain - if we all do just a little, together we can do a whole lot.

You can help Sara “do a little” this month by volunteering with her through Career Village answering college and career readiness questions from students, spreading kindness with Hands on Atlanta's Kindness Cards, or by registering food pantry guests at a drive up distribution site in Newnan.

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Inspired by Sara’s story?

Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like Sara’s, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.

Adrienne White shares the impact of board service

Catching up with Adrienne White isn’t easy - literally! This part-time runner, avid Peloton rider and full-time finance and board service pro has served on various nonprofit boards ranging from the Atlanta Beltline Partnership advisory board to the Atlanta Track Club. These days she’s committed her skills and passion for a more equitable Atlanta to actively serve on boards with Hands On Atlanta, Atlanta Business League and the Grove Park Foundation. Adrienne is also the Vice Chair for Candidate Recruitment at the Democratic Party of Georgia.

It was great to spend a few minutes with her to learn more about why board service is so important to her and so impactful for the community.

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Inspired by Adrienne’s story?

Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like Adrienne’s, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.