A letter from Development Director Libby King. Suddenly, it’s June – and so much has happened this year already! In just six months, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation has hosted an […]

Every day in Atlanta, landlords carry out illegal evictions. They toss their tenants out without the benefit of court filings or a hearing, often because rent is a few days late. Most of the tenants who call AVLF have no prior warning of these “self-help” evictions. They simply return home to find that their key no longer fits in the lock, and peer through their own windows to see that all of their belongings have been removed or ransacked.

“If AVLF had been around in the city that I lived as a child, my mother would have been a client.”

I could tell you about my coworkers, who are crazysmart and kind and could work anywhere but all choose AVLF every day. When I started working here, there were 10 of us. Now there are more than 30 fulltime staff members. I have no doubt that soon there will be 40. It’s awe-inspiring.

AVLF’s staff and Board of Directors have worked hard to design the 2018 AVLF Annual Campaign – a comprehensive, year-round fundraising plan – not only to sustain our successes to the greatest extent possible, but also to enhance your experience as a supporter of our work. We plan to focus on the reasons why you trust AVLF, year after year, to improve the lives of Atlantans in need. 

It never even occurred to me that My Atlanta wasn’t the Atlanta: that my perception was limited by my footprints, which were guided by my privilege.

There are three weeks left for you to make someone’s 2017 bigger and brighter than it was. Call the power company and offer to pay a stranger’s bill. Buy a toy for a child whose parents are struggling to make ends meet. Donate to AVLF.

I think we can agree that physical abuse is bad. But absent that, at what point should we be concerned?

This time of year can be a moment of excitement and trepidation – of opportunity and real challenges. With two young daughters at home, heading into Pre-K and 1st Grade, I understand this dynamic well. It is my role as a father that weighs heavily on my mind as I head to work each day. I am all too aware of the intersection of our housing and work children’s ability to go back to school ready to learn. 

My promise to you: we won’t peddle content just for the clicks. Rather, we want you to feel as inspired–and as ready to work for social good each day–as we are.

These seemingly small actions – a call to a landlord, a demand letter sent – change the lives of the people we work to help. They are already facing huge obstacles in their day-to-day: they don’t have the income to meet their own daily needs and are not respected in many spaces.