April 2023

Convening for Housing Justice

Tackling housing instability and dangerous housing conditions are a key priority for Georgia Appleseed, particularly in Georgia's poorest communities, like Metro-Atlanta's Clayton County. In these communities, grassroots tenant advocacy is an important part of the solution.

In late February, Georgia Appleseed partnered with Clayton County government and non-profit leaders to hold an innovative tenant education conference at Hearts to Nourish Hope. The 150 attendees participated in small legal workshops with county leaders to better understand their rights and how to exercise them. Workshop hosts included Clayton County’s Chief Magistrate Judge Keisha Wright-Hill, school social workers, Clayton County Code Enforcement, Atlanta Legal Aid, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Hearts to Nourish Hope, and Woodforest Bank.

In February 2023, Clayton County landlords filed to evict 1,716 residents from their homes. Fewer than 10% of tenants filed answers to the landlords' lawsuits with the court; the remaining 90 percent (1,540 tenants) were subject to an automatic court ruling for the landlord, and perhaps ultimately, eviction. Over the last twelve months, landlords filed enough evictions to impact 40% of tenant households. (Repeat filings against the same tenant make it difficult to determine the actual eviction filing rate.)

Tour Our New Site

Welcome to the new GaAppleseed.org! Easier to navigate than ever before, detailed information about our initiatives and our resource library is at your fingertips! Whether you are an attorney, caseworker, school staff, parent, student, legislator, government and court official, community leader, or supporter - you will find what you need!

For a short self-guided tour:

Visit our Current Initiatives with one click – School Justice, Housing Justice, Behavioral Health and the FAIR Project.
Search Resources - our library of manuals, data, policy documents, videos and reports. Sort by key word, document type, or by who you are.
Find the green icon for the accessibility tool at the lower left, which automatically adjusts content to accommodate vision impairment, seizure safety, cognitive disability, attention deficits, and other accessibility profiles.

We Roared!

We express heartfelt thanks to all who joined us for our 2023 Roaring for Justice event on April 20, an evening filled with inspiration, fellowship, and fundraising. Through sponsorships and donations, we raised more than $278,000 to fund Georgia Appleseed's critical programs reaching Georgia's children and families.

At this year's event, we hosted a special exhibit titled “See Me, Pieces of Life from Youth in Care,” which provided a powerful glimpse into the lives of Georgia’s youth navigating the foster care system. The exhibit included original artwork and videos from former youth in care, and artifacts representing their lived experiences.

We also celebrated the incredible work of our Good Apple Awardees: Willoughby Mariano from the AJC, Steve Gottlieb and Atlanta Legal Aid, and Verizon. These individuals and organizations have made a significant impact on the lives of Georgia’s children and families, and we were honored to recognize their efforts.

For those who were unable to attend but still wish to support our work, we welcome donations at www.RoaringforJustice.org. Pictures from the evening’s festivities can be found on our Facebook page.

2023 Legislative Recap

School Justice: Georgia Appleseed won important battles this legislative session to advance justice and equity for Georgia’s kids. Our bipartisan education-focused Senate Bill 169 passed out of the Senate unanimously and will start in the House next legislative session. The bill will ensure that children facing disciplinary action at school have timely hearings and appropriate instructional materials while they are out of school. Georgia’s children in foster care will particularly benefit from these reforms. Children referred to us by DFCS wait an average of 18 days (and often weeks more) before their disciplinary hearing. During that time, these students do not attend school and do not receive instructional materials.

Georgia Appleseed staff Caren Cloud and Morgan Bridgman testified at multiple hearings in support of SB 169 with bill sponsor Senator Chuck Payne.

Delayed hearings often trigger moves to new foster homes and new schools—many foster parents have full time jobs and cannot care for children at home during school hours. These moves create stress and anxiety that can trigger new behavior challenges, which can precipitate a move to a new foster home. This cycle keeps kids from graduating and pushes them into the School to Prison Pipeline.

Housing Justice: We also lobbied and won important changes to the bipartisan Safe at Home Act, HB 404, which will create Georgia’s first statewide requirement that landlords provide safe and healthy housing for their tenants—a long-term priority for Georgia Appleseed. HB 404 passed out of the House and will begin next session in the Senate.

Connect and Support

Georgia Appleseed advances justice for Georgia's underrepresented children to keep them in school, in healthy homes, and out of the justice system.

Join us by making a donation and/or becoming a pro bono partner.

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