Overview
The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta and Morehouse School of Medicine have forged a unique partnership to work on a comprehensive community initiative known as the Atlanta Promise Neighborhood (APN).
The Atlanta Promise Neighborhood is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education that seeks to improve the educational achievement and healthy development of children in a 1.7-mile radius area west of downtown Atlanta. This community effort will serve children and families in Vine City, Washington Park, Ashview Heights, Bankhead, West End, Adair Park, Mechanicsville and English Avenue. The area was selected based on a need index that took into account income, education, housing issues, population density and signs of community distress.
The initiative is modeled on the America’s Promise Alliance, Harlem Children’s Zone and other programs designed to significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of all children in the nation’s most distressed communities.
The federal stimulus grant process was highly competitive with more than 300 applicants. There were 21 grantees and two awarded in Georgia. The grant seeks to combine the efforts of five agencies’ place‐based programs: the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhoods, which funds the transformation of distressed public and assisted housing into mixed‐income housing; the Department of Education’s Promise Neighborhoods, which funds cradle‐to‐career education initiatives; the Department of Justice’s Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program, which fosters partnerships between law enforcement agencies and community organizations; and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Community Health Centers, which provides free health care, psychiatric and addiction treatment to low-income communities.
Activities within the planning grant began in September 2010, when the award was announced, and will continue through June 2011.
Click here to view the APN Map.
Upcoming Events
May 18, 2011
Film Screening: Waiting for Superman
Analyzes the failures of American public education by following a group of students attempting to enter the charter school system.
Morehouse School of Medicine, Louis W. Sullivan Center for Primary Care, Auditorium
5:30 p.m.: Light Refreshments/6:00 p.m. Movie and Dialogue
RSVP by Mon., May 16 to Carolyn Rhodes at grhodes@msm.edu or 404.752.1976.
May 20-21, 2011
Generations Together
Simpson Street Church of Christ
For more information, please contact apn@unitedwayaltanta.org or 404.527.7220.
Please note all participants must be able to attend both days of the event to participate.
Previous Events
Friday, May 6, 2011
Family Engagement Roundtable
Monday, May 9, 2011
Atlanta Promise Neighborhood Community Huddles
March 25, 2011
Family Engagement Roundtable No. 1
Click here for an event summary.
March 4, 2011
Leadership Session – Strengthening Partnerships
Click here for an event summary.
APN and United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta
The purpose of Promise Neighborhoods is to significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth in our most distressed communities, and to transform those communities by:
- Identifying and increasing the capacity of eligible entities that are focused on achieving results for children and youth throughout an entire neighborhood.
- Building a complete continuum of cradle-to-career solutions of both educational programs and family and community supports, with great schools at the center.
- Integrating programs and breaking down agency “silos” so that solutions are implemented effectively and efficiently across agencies.
- Developing the local infrastructure of systems and resources needed to sustain and scale up proven, effective solutions across the broader region beyond the initial neighborhood.
- Learning about the overall impact of the Promise Neighborhoods program and about the relationship between particular strategies in Promise Neighborhoods and student outcomes, including through a rigorous evaluation of the program.
United Way supports children from birth to age 21 through our education focus; therefore our partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine to truly impact the Atlanta Promise Neighborhood lines up with our long-term strategic goals around education.
For more information on the Education work of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, please visit www.unitedwayatlanta.org/education.
Additional Information
Please click here for additional information on the federal Promise Neighborhoods program.
For media coverage, please visit:
Morehouse School of Medicine Awarded a Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant
Obama Administration Awards Two Grants to Atlanta Community
Federal Government Announces Promise Neighborhood Grant Winners
Atlanta School Gets $500,000 Grant
Want to get involved?
Support local Atlanta Promise Neighborhood nonprofits who partnered with United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta for our annual Campaign Celebration this year:
Atlanta Community Food Bank
732 Joseph E. Lowery Blvd., N.W., Atlanta, GA 30318
City of Refuge
1300 Joseph E Boone Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30314
Good Samaritan Health Center
1015 Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy., Atlanta, GA 30318
Herndon Elementary School
350 Temple Street Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30314
House Proud
1744 S. Olympian Way SW, Atlanta, GA 30310
Salvation Army West End Warehouse
1070 White Street, Atlanta, GA 30310
Sheltering Arms Early Learning & Literacy Center at Dunbar
404 Fulton Street SE, Atlanta, GA 30312
The Center for Working Families, Inc.
477 Windsor Street, SW, Atlanta, GA 30312
Contact Us
Need more information? Please email apn@unitedwayatlanta.org