Metro Atlanta Project is a nonprofit organization that empowers teens to reach out in their communities by addressing needs in the Atlanta area. Their work has focused on home repair and roofing projects, and is currently involved in playground construction.
Contents
History
A youth group from Northside United Methodist Church conceived the idea for the Metro Atlanta Project while returning from a mission trip in Tennessee during the summer of 1997. They came to realize there was a great need in Atlanta for mission work, and the following summer that group recruited several others from Northside and organized various service projects in the Atlanta area.
Starting in 1999, the organization performed home repair tasks for low-income seniors through a partnership with Wesley Community Centers' Project Extend. In 2003, MAP shifted to focus its efforts solely on roofing. By 2010, the youth and volunteers from M.A.P. had provided over 143 families with new roofs in historic neighborhoods such as East Point, Bankhead, Union City, Dunwoody, and Decatur.
In 2011, MAP refocused its attention towards providing playground structures and equipment for daycare centers and children's homes. M.A.P. also worked with the DeKalb County Public School Board to construct a playground at an elementary school in Clarkston, Georgia. Since the spring of 2011, over 2,500 children safely enjoy the 22 playgrounds constructed by MAP at such diverse locations as daycare centers, schools, community churches, children's homes, and an apartment complex for families transitioning out of homelessness.
In the summer of 2013, more than 200 teenagers and scores of adult volunteers helped re-focus MAP to a wide variety of home repair tasks. MAP volunteers are excited to "meet the needs of senior citizens trying to live in a very tough economy."
Organization
By the summer of 2011, M.A.P. had grown to involve over 250 youth. These youth volunteer from Northside United Methodist Church, Covington First United Methodist, Druid Hills Church, East Cobb United Methodist, Haygood Memorial United Methodist, Uplift Ministry, and Oak Grove United Methodist Church.
Also heavily involved are hundreds of adult volunteer coordinators who provide transportation, serve food, supervise construction tasks, coordinate logistics, and mentor the youth as they are housed in Northside UMC during the duration of the M.A.P. project.