Historic Oakland Foundation’s Post

Loved spending time with Sawyer Buccy and Atlanta News First talking about the cool (literally) partnership we’ve been working on with Southface Institute. (Extra kudos to Erin Gallagher and Sam Culpepper!) https://lnkd.in/evHshPeN

It's been a brilliant summer at Oakland shaping the lives of metro Atlanta kids, changing ideas of what a cemetery can (and should) be, and having a heap of fun along the way. We just wrapped up the second year of our Youth Landscape & Hardscape Team workforce development program with 11 participants (including 4 returnees in the leadership track) learning transferrable landscape and hardscape jobs and getting all kinds of professional development along the way. This program, and paying the students for their work, would not be possible without the support of some amazing partners, especially the Georgia Power Company Foundation (and the guidance and wisdom of Rita B., Amy H., and Jamal Jessie, MBA) and the Bank of America Foundation (and the support of Ellie Perry, Cherie Wilson, and Greg Farr). We also launched our first year of STEAM Summer Camps for elementary aged students and welcomed over 100 students over 8 weeks to learn about everything from Birds to Simple Machines. We were able to provide scholarships to students through the incredible support of the LIVINGSTON FOUNDATION, McClatchey Foundation, and AEC Trust. The incredible impact of these programs would truly not be possible without the generosity of our philanthropic partners as well as the amazing staff at Historic Oakland Foundation, especially Charvis Buckholts, Jessica R. VanLanduyt, Abra Lee, Ashley Shares, Erica Glasener, Melissa Bauer, and Lilly Heidari.

As we close out our second week of STEAM Camp for elementary aged kids, get ready to celebrate Juneteenth at Oakland with a free family festival tomorrow, continue our Youth Landscape & Hardscape Team workforce program for high-school kids, and celebrate Membership Month, it was fun to spend a sweaty afternoon with our amazing council member Liliana Bakhtiari touring our new Visitor Center. Councilmember Bakhtiari has been such an amazing supporter and friend to Oakland as we've grown and expanded our community impact and it was a blast showing her the progress on this game-changing facility that'll open to the public in early 2025. 📸 All photo credits: Kerri Phox (Phoxtography/Atlanta City Council)

Moving office spaces gave us the chance to partner with local nonprofits in a whole new way. In our effort to divert as much from the landfill as possible, we brought 50 cardboard boxes and 15 bags of Styrofoam to Live Thrive, Inc to be recycled. And thanks to our friends at Historic Oakland Foundation, Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta, and Terra School at Serenbe portions of our office furniture, workstation equipment, paper supplies, and kitchen furnishings have found a new home—and purpose.

Check out this WSB TV news report featuring details on Historic Oakland Foundation's new green Welcome Center and how Southface helped it come to life. The building is targeting net-zero at the completion of construction with upgraded insulation, mechanical systems, and solar panels.