This has been an incredible couple of days, friends!! Yesterday I was delivering food to Frontline Ministry for the 10 people they had staying there, reflecting on the progress the group has enjoyed. This past winter, Frontline partnered with the City of Decatur and DeKalb County to act as a warming shelter. Frontline's programs are now in the process of expanding, as they begin to enroll unhoused individuals into a residential program that allows them to stay at their facility, while working through the program.
It was calm and quiet. People were sitting in different areas of this huge room, watching tv, reading, listening to music. I asked Greg White, Outreach Director at Frontline, about the storm and if they were going to bring other people into the shelter. He said they were waiting to be activated by Chief Cox, Director of Emergency Management for DeKalb County. A Home For Everyone In DeKalb's winter weather committee chair, Ellen Gallow had also been in attempting to coordinate with Chief Cox on efforts to support the community.
While I was standing there, Frontline got the "go" call from Chief Cox. The team there had a meeting on the spot, coordinating a plan. Greg White jumped into a van (yes, the man is a real life super hero!) and went to the downtown library to pick up individuals needing shelter. A Home For Everyone In DeKalb was asked to help with food coordination for the people expected to arrive . At that point, there were about 25 people to be served.
By 9pm Wednesday night, with the help of Ellen Gallow, we emailed out a link for volunteers to sign up and provide meals for the following day. The next morning, we were bombarded with phone calls and texts from so many different churches and individuals who all wanted to help! Someone ordered pizza and lemonade, I picked up homemade chili, cornbread, and brownies from another individual. A group from the Medlock neighborhood donated $500 in supplies that Frontline requested including two large first-aid kits, socks, underwear, Depends products, masks, and more. Oh and there was more: chicken dinners, lentil stew..the list goes on.
Meanwhile, the team at Frontline is amazing! They had 70 people by Thursday evening and were expecting more. All the guests were just so happy to be inside during this terrible storm. A worker there named Kimberly told me how grateful everyone had been. There were beautiful beds, lots of food, and one unhoused individual from Decatur, agreed to come to the shelter, even though she had NEVER agreed to go to a shelter before! When I saw her there, she was holding two plates of food in her hands! I just want to say how amazed and grateful I am for the experience of watching the community come together to help one another. Oakhurst Baptist Church committed to ordering dinner the following night. (The day the hurricane arrives!)
Our amazing volunteers were really shining bright and we can't thank everyone enough!
As if that's not enough, I also got to see our volunteer group move one of our clients out of Snapfinger House, to his new residence. The whole group moved so fast that by the time I went in the house to grab my camera, they had finished moving all of the client's belongings and were off! Now the house is ready for a new client!
Natalie Snedden 8:11 PM
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