Giving Voice To Us

Profile: Ida Brunson

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:42:09 +0000

By Regina Smalls

Profile: Deborah Browne

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:33:55 +0000

By Jenna Monforte

Profile: Joe Lawrence

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:25:29 +0000

By Amanda M. Davis

Profile: Russell McBain

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:17:33 +0000

By Titilayo Olamide Akinkanju

Profile: Remi Chew, a.k.a. Stiles J.

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:08:34 +0000

By Elizebeth Tucker

Profile: Selena Dunn

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:22:43 +0000

By Jane Skinner

Bringing the Love Back into Rocksprings: William Hill, Jr.

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:27:26 +0000

Born and raised in the Rocksprings Community, Will Hill remains in the two bedroom home he shares with his mother in order to “take care of those who took care of me.” During his more than 50 years here, he has seen many changes. As he reflects on the transformation of the once tight-knit community, he works to help bring back the neighborly love that he so fondly remembers from his childhood.
By Lesley Onstott

Profile: Jennie Mattox

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:53:38 +0000

By Josie Bunster-Kunard

Profile: Gloria Jones

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:43:40 +0000

By Laurie Reyman

Selena Dunn: Working Mother

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:44:04 +0000

Selena Dunn has been living in Parkview Extension with her two daughters Eboni, 8, and Semaria, 4, for six years. Dunn works at Home Depot to pay rent and bills on her own while still trying to balance time for her children. Dunn aspires to own her own home one day yet knows that this cannot happen with the income she makes at Home Depot as a sales associate. In order to make her transition into owning a home, Dunn hopes to go back to nursing school at Athens Technical College. However, she knows that she will have to sacrifice time with her daughters as well as time at work.
By Beth Cooper

Jennie Mattox: An Educating Experience

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:38:52 +0000

Miss Jennie Mattox, resident of the Athens Housing Authority, has reared a whole community. She says tough experiences have been the most important part of her education. However she’s not done yet. As a recent retiree, her plans include studying for the SAT and trying to get into college.
By Danielle Moore

Ida Brunson: Bless His Name

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:26:18 +0000

Ida Brunson was diagnosed with lupus in 1993 and given 10 years to live. Due to the debilitating nature of the disease, she was unable to work, and eventually was forced to move into public housing to live. Now, she has outlived her expected lifespan, and credits her faith in God for the fact that she’s still alive.
By Seth McKelvey

Giving Voices: Yvonne Sims

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:07:32 +0000

After a decade as a drug and alcohol addiction, Yvonne Sims found inspiration in her role as a mother and got herself off the streets. Now a resident in a housing authority apartment, she works full-time and acts as a dedicated mother. Thinking of her apartment as a step to one day having a house of her own, Yvonne defies the stereotypes often assigned to public housing residents.
By Rachel Bailey

Profile: Yvonne Sims

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:40:54 +0000

By Alex Adkins

Past and Present: The Youth of Public Housing

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:59:28 +0000

As parents become younger with each generation, the children of public housing increasingly fall victim to a cycle of poverty and complacency. Told by a lifetime resident of Rocksprings housing, Will Hill tours the once vibrant community to show how it has now lost its communal luster. This is his story.
By Tommy McGahee

Gloria Jones: A Face to the Name

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:45:31 +0000

Gloria Jones is one of many living in public housing in the Athens, Ga., area, but she brings her own light to the area in which she lives. At 53, Jones has recovered from her alcoholic past and found herself in God. A highly educated woman, she has taken on several positions of leadership in both her church and community, and hopes to return to college in the near future for even more experience and education.
By Autumn McBride

Living on Fourth Street

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:26:48 +0000

Deborah Browne, 45, is a pre-school teacher at Winterville Elementary School. She is originally from Washington, D.C. and moved into Athens public housing with her son Anthony “Tony” Browne in August 2008. Browne talks about her experience living in Athens public housing and her plans to move out of public housing in the next five years.
By Jacqueline Reedy

Living with Lupus

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:11:02 +0000

Ida Brunson came to public housing in 1992 when she found out she had lupus. She has continued to battle with her disease ever since. The disease has debilitated her and she has had so many surgeries that she says she “looks like a jigsaw puzzle.” Brunson is very involved in the community and says that she is thankful for public housing because it allows her to be able to pay for her medical expenses and not be homeless.
By Laurie Moot

Remi Chew: I am who I am.

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:01:18 +0000

Remi Chew is a 37 year old man living with schizophrenia in a senior citizens environment, Denny Towers. In order to occupy his time he creates his own artwork. He is positive about life, but longs for companionship with someone his own age.
By Allison Carter

Remi Chew: Coping & Creativity

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:57:56 +0000

Remi Chew has always lived by his creativity. At a young age Remi’s creativity manifest itself in the form of schizophrenia in order to cope with emotions he could not understand. Today Remi uses his creativity as an artist, creating works of art that help him put the pieces of life’s puzzle back together again.
By Patricia Andrews

Looking for a Better Future

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:51:54 +0000

Selena Dunn is a 29-year-old mother of two daughters. She moved into income-based housing so that she could support her family. While she acknowledges the stereotypes about public housing residents, she intends to break them by going back to school and creating a better future for herself and her family.
By Brian Miller

Thank you and God Bless, Russell McBain

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:00:27 +0000

Russell McBain lives in an Athens-Clarke County public housing senior building development. At 75 years old he finds happiness in his church, Faith Temple. Every Sunday his voice rings loud as he sings in the front row of Faith Temple’s choir.
By Jim Diffly

Just Travelling: Life in Public Housing

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:52:31 +0000

Deborah Browne and her son, Tony, live in a government-subsidized housing complex in Athens, Ga. This project is designed to let recipients of public housing share their stories and dispel stereotypes. Debbie is a highly motivated woman, who hopes to help her neighbors take pride in themselves and their shared community.
By Beth Farrar

Miss Jennie: Living to Serve

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:48:27 +0000

Miss Jennie, 74, thrives on serving her community. Whether it is through the public housing community, her church, or her hometown, Miss Jennie keeps herself busy, and by playing a strong leadership role in every one of her activities, she debunks the negative stereotype that public housing residents are lazy and unmotivated.
By Dorothy Kozlowski

Gloria Jones: Life in Athens Public Housing

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:41:57 +0000

Gloria Jones is a resident of Broadacres, a neighborhood within Athens, Georgia’s public housing system. She is disabled and cannot work enough to support herself. This is a small glimpse of her daily life here.
By Charles-Ryan Barber