Youth Mission Trip

Joshua: Hello! Today we are here to talk about the mission trip we went on this summer. Lorelai and I participated in the Atlanta Youth Mission Co with the youth at Duke Memorial. Throughout our week we packaged and portioned food for the food insecure, sorted bags of supplies for kids who couldn’t afford uniforms, did landscaping for nonprofits, organized spaces, and learned about the history and community of Atlanta. We were happy to collaborate with organizations such as Open Hand, Midtown Assistance Center, Spectrum, Threads, Clifton Men’s Shelter, and In Town Cares. 

One place that really stood out to me was Spectrum, an autism support center. It was founded when two moms created an autism support group for parents and families. Over 100 people attended their first meeting and eventually it grew into a full nonprofit. They now provide many support groups, respite programs, camps, resources, and much more. When we went to help them replace the mulch in their playgrounds, we learned they had recently started providing training for police officers to better be able to help children with autism. It was really cool how they at realized a need in the community and met it. 

Joshua: Another place that truly stood out was Open Hand, a food assistance nonprofit organization. Open Hand was created by a group of volunteers who wanted to provide nutritious meals to people living with HIV/Aids. Which later it’s become more broad in its services helping people who may be experiencing food insecurity, health challenges, or other circumstances that make it difficult to access healthy meals.

We learned a lady recently lost her dad  and this organization is where he was getting food from so she helped volunteer to continue the providing that her dad once had.

We also received a tour of the church the hosted us (giving us a place to sleep and eat for the week), All Saints Episcopal Church, and were very interested to learn about the good they were doing. Like Trinity, they are in a downtown and positioned between power and poverty. Because of this, they are able to do a lot of good in their community. Hundreds of people worship there every week including people who are unsheltered and billionaires (which is pretty crazy). All Saints has created many organizations, spanning a whole city block, based on the needs they see. And the man, Simon, who gave us the tour of their church, said something that really stuck out to me. He said they never start projects they can see an end to… instead of putting their money into easier, one-time fixes that have a clear plan and outcome, they work to end broader issues in the community like homelessness.  Is was very inspiration to see everything they were doing, including hosting us in their youth wing, and we even got the chance to see an organ concert featuring Ken Cowen (who I hear is a big deal in the organ world) and see their Tiffany stained glass windows. 

We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve people in need and learn about what others are doing to serve their community. Thank you, Trinity, for financially supporting this mission trip for us and for all of your prayers