We’re excited to introduce you to Streetwise Georgia, a nonprofit located in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Their mission is to offer the necessary physical, emotional, and spiritual tools to help an individual stabilize their lives, improve their environment, and move out of a state of dependency and into a state of well-being and self-sufficiency.

They serve more than 600 families a month and distribute over one million pounds of food a year to families in need!

To get involved at Streetwise, visit their website at www.streetwisegeorgia.org. You can fill out an application to volunteer individually, or if you are part of a group and would like the group to volunteer, there is a group volunteer application as well.

Can you share some impact stats or comments about the work being done by your organization?

Streetwise serves approximately 100 - 125 families each week. This averages 725 families monthly. On the second Saturday of every month (except for November and December), we serve approximately 270 registered families. Additionally, we hold several special events throughout the year.

What’s the history of your organization? How and why did it get started?

Streetwise was founded in 1988 by Terry and Pat Powell who left the corporate world to help low-income Atlanta residents. Their heart was to bring hope and provision to people in several inner-city projects by supplying food, clothing, personal hygiene items and by sharing the Word of God.

What kind of programming do you offer to the community?

Streetwise takes a holistic, 360-degree view of healing a family or individual. We address, greet, and strive to heal body, soul, and spirit. The largest programming focuses on meeting the physical needs of a family or individual with food, clothing and hygiene items. Also offered are a number of wrap-around programs and partners that address addiction, recovery, abuse, grief care, financial literacy, cooking, and counseling. We also have dedicated programing for widows and teens.

What problem is your organization trying to solve, and can you tell us more about the issue?

The mission of Streetwise supports and strengthens the safety net for our community's most vulnerable members. By offering both immediate crises relief support to those experiencing homelessness and hunger, as well as a variety of services designed to help families achieve stability and wellness in all aspects of their lives.

“We are very excited to have improvements to our facility that will provide greater room and options to hold events, store supplies, and give more to our neighbors in need. We are eager to expand the capacity within a cross-section of distributions to serve more families and include more volunteers to the Streetwise family.”

— Streetwise Staff

How do volunteers support your mission? What impact do they have on your work? What difference do they make?

Volunteers are an integral part of the of Streetwise's success. We have six staff members of which only four are full-time. With the help and dedication of its volunteers, they served 39,704 volunteer hours which enabled Streetwise to serve 8,285 families and 33,885 total individuals last year.

What’s your biggest highlight or success from the past year?

Streetwise held its first annual fundraising gala last year and it was a huge success. It also added a Working Families Pantry that occurs every other Thursday evening.

How many volunteers do you need every month, and can you describe the experience of serving with your organization for the volunteer? What do they do? What’s a day in the life as a volunteer with your organization?

Streetwise averages 750 volunteers per month. There are a number of areas in which to serve. They serve at check-in, as client advisors, in the warehouse, the Sunshine Room, Heaven's Grocery Store, or Cedar's Clothing Closet. They also serve in the admin area helping to schedule client appointments, data entry, and/or maintaining the client file room.

What types of projects do you offer? What are your biggest projects available, and needs from volunteers? Tell us about a few different offerings.

We offer a variety of projects from cleaning/organizing walk-in coolers to building and packing event boxes, consolidating, stocking and organizing inventory shelving. We need volunteers to stock the market daily, work in the clothing room, and load food boxes into vehicles.

Who is your volunteer manager, and what’s their favorite thing about working for your organization?

Dawn Kemp is the Volunteer Coordinator. She enjoys meeting the people that come to Streetwise. That starts with the staff, the volunteers, as well as the clients that we serve.

What do volunteers love about working with your organization?

The volunteers are always impressed with the warmth and welcoming they receive when they come to Streetwise. Some that come for the first time often return and become regular volunteers.

Feeding Families with Streetwise