Reporting and Writing Across Platforms
Event Preview
West Broad Farmers Market Hosts Drive-Through Pick-Up
Athens Land Trust is hosting their West Broad Farmers Market Drive Through-Pick Up on March 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This event brings the community together through local small businesses and works towards producing affordable housing in the Athens community.
By Sophie Difusco
Bags set up for Drive-Through Pick Up at the West Broad Farmers Market on Feb. 26.
Photo Credit: Sophie Difusco
The West Broad Farmers Market will be hosting a Drive-Through Pick-Up on Saturday, March 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 300 S. Rocksprings St. in Athens. Due to Covid-19 and the colder weather, orders for the farmers market are currently placed online at https://wbfm.locallygrown.net/, and picked up on Saturdays at the Drive-Through Pick-Up.
The West Broad Farmers Market is put on by Athens Land Trust to support local economic development and community wellness. The market benefits all members of the community. It allows local small businesses to grow by selling to community members who buy these easily obtainable goods at a lower price. The goods offered include fruits, vegetables, coffee, flowers, soaps, and lotions. They must be organic and created personally by the seller.
Market Manager Missy Wilson says the market “brings that community aspect back to these neighborhoods.” She explains how the market allows the residents nearby to buy their goods sustainably within their community, to have a walkable option for those without private transportation methods, and to bring necessary business back to the neighborhoods, how it was before big corporate food sources came into Athens.
Wilson describes the work of the West Broad Farmers Market and Athens Land Trust as “remembering the communities that sometimes get forgotten.” She says that Covid-19 has brought about demographic changes and the real estate has gone crazy in Athens, so they want to ensure that the people who have been in these communities for their entire lives can continue to enjoy them.
With all of these great farmers and vendors in Athens, Wilson wants more of the community to experience them. The market only sees one or two students per Saturday.
The large student population can start shopping locally and sustainably, and pick up their goods on Saturday, March 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and every following Saturday.
The market plans to open back up in person with the warmer weather so vendors can interact with their customers and keep that sense of community growing stronger.
News Conference
ACC Mayor Kelly Girtz highlights housing improvements before the upcoming election
By Sophie Difusco
Mayor Kelly Girtz speaks with JOUR3190 students at a news conference held on March 18.
Photo Credit: Sophie Difusco
Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz tackled tough questions about affordable housing at a press conference on March 18, held at the University of Georgia. Girtz is running for reelection in the Athens-Clarke mayoral race on May 24.
Five other candidates qualified in the race, but Girtz said he is not running as an opponent to a group of people; rather he is running to continue to do great work as mayor.
Girtz faced numerous questions about safe and affordable housing options in Athens.
“We know we have more work to do,” Girtz said. “We are very honest about that.”
He introduced the idea of developing affordable senior housing units downtown. However, he also admitted that the luxury housing projects downtown are for students, to move them out of single-family neighborhoods and to bring them closer to campus. This information from Girtz did not clarify whether these developments would actually reach those who need downtown living and the walkable distance to necessities, or if the developments would only be filled with more students.
Girtz also challenged the scrutiny on homelessness in Athens by discussing the First Step Alternative Housing Community which 11 Alive describes as a “government-sanctioned encampment of 50 tents in an open lot off Barber Street in Athens.” Athens-Clarke County's government sanctioned homeless encampment | 11alive.com
Girtz said that this encampment funnels people toward mental health and employment resources. While the housing is only made up of tents in a parking lot, it moves those in need one step forward with the end goal being permanent supported housing. The tenants are at least moved off of the street, given a roof above their head, and placed in a community.
He also praised the work that has been done in his term.
"We are doing the greatest outreach around capital expenditures that we’ve ever done.” He explained that government staff and county commissioners took the time to meet with constituents directly to figure out what each community needs in order to create specialized neighborhood reform plans.
Girtz is proud of what he has been able to accomplish in his previous term. Public appreciation for his efforts shall be revealed on May 24 when he is either re-elected or completes his time as mayor.
Profile Story
Esther Kim: lending a hand to homelessness
The Backpack Project in Athens is an organization that works to physically ease the burden of homelessness on those affected in the community by delivering them backpacks with necessary supplies and hot cooked meals. Vice President Esther Kim is a hero in the community for her work with The Backpack Project.
By Sophie Difusco
Esther Kim Headshot
Photo Credit: John Weatherford
The Backpack Project in Athens cooks hot meals every Saturday to deliver to people experiencing homelessness. Vice President Esther Kim describes the connections she has made, the lives she has changed, and what she has gained as a leader of this organization.
“I think anyone that I work with says that their eyes have been opened because you go directly into these encampments. And you can see people on the streets downtown, but if you don't go in, you never truly know what exactly they're going through,” says Esther.
Homelessness in Athens has been a large political debate recently, especially with the opening of the First Step Homeless Encampment. Following the impact of COVID-19, shelters had capacities and many people without homes found themselves in illegal encampments.
The Backpack Project (TBP) of Athens is a completely student-run organization that enters these encampments, finds out what these people need, provides them with the legal information they need to obtain, and delivers backpacks and hot meals to ease the burden that comes with homelessness. Since 2019, The Backpack Project has distributed over 4,000 hot meals to their clients, along with other necessities.
Esther found TBP through the involvement network before she came to the University of Georgia. She expressed her interest before she got to campus, then went out on a meal delivery with them before classes started. “They were opening applications for the exec board, so I went on as a volunteer coordinator, and then I interned with them over the summer, and then ended up becoming vice president.”
Esther is now a second-year on the pre-med track, adding a public relations major. She wants to work with medicine and help people in disadvantaged populations and communities. She also thinks about opening up her own clinic in an area with limited access to healthcare.
Esther and her family lived in Turkey before moving to the U.S., where her plans for a future in service developed. “When we were living in Turkey, we were helping a lot of Syrian refugees. And so I think that's kind of almost the same concept, where they didn't have a home.”
Esther now touches local lives, providing these services through The Backpack Project.
“This couple, they have been homeless for a while. And we've just been building that connection with them. And then they were trying to apply for housing and get that permanent housing, and they needed verification to indicate that they are, in fact, homeless. And so we were able to provide that for them, and they were able to get housing and move into a new apartment. Seeing where they started to where they are now and just being able to support them along the way, it's really cool.”
TBP faces the challenge of being a completely student-run organization. Esther says it is easy to forget that they are only students with a limited amount of power and experience, because the organization functions as a nonprofit. “I think it's helped me grow as a leader,” Esther says. “Being able to lead in that capacity was definitely a big learning curve. It was like, do I deserve to be here? Do I even know enough to be here?”
“In every experience, she’s really carried the club,” says Claire Grant, the current Director of Community Engagement for The Backpack Project. “We’re in a transition period right now where the people who founded it are leaving, and she has been the bridge between us and them.”
Claire says Esther has the mind for managing. She understands all the different sectors that makeup TBP and knows how to fit them all together.
The two of them work together on Saturday mornings when the organization cooks and distributes meals to their clients across Athens. Together they direct the cooking and volunteers, drive around to deliver the meals, answer questions from newer volunteers, and manage the interactions between their clients and members of the organization.
Esther is continuing to lead next year as executive director.
