PAWKids, local community hub empowering Grove Park neighbors

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Each month, Atlanta News First donates to an organization doing good in our community as part of our Three Degree Guarantee program.

The amount of money we donate depends on the accuracy of our First Alert Weather Team. The donation is then matched by our partners at Coolray.

This month, Atlanta News First is in the heart of Grove Park highlighting the work of PAWKids, a neighborhood vommunity hub on Atlanta’s Westside.

Along a busy stretch of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, in the heart of Grove Park, sits a campus like no other.

“We bought one of the largest trap houses in this neighborhood, a decade ago” Latonya Gates said. “Just to see what’s taking place right here on the corner of Hortense and Donald Lee Hollowell, we are rebuilding a house.”

Gates is the founder of PAWKids.

The organization’s name reflects the two congregations supporting it from the beginning, Paradise Baptist Church and Atlanta Westside Presbyterian.

“We are a holistic hub,” Gates said. “We do it through community outreach, community behavioral help, and community enrichment. Ninty-eight percent of the people you see on this campus, serving here and working here, they stay here. I stay here.”

Gates oversees the food pantry, enrichment programs and after school activities.

She walked Atlanta News First through the campus. Where on any given day, the campus serves food, faith, and fellowship.

“A typical day here looks like my neighbor is coming down and getting a bowl of soup, or cereal. Everything we provide is free,” Gates said. “Or you may just see some of our seniors hanging out, to a kid being helped with homework at a table.”

Rochelle Adams is just one of the many faces on campus.

“I love meeting people,” Adams said.

Adams said the work done inside the campus can be felt all across the community.

“I’ve never seen an organization that does what PAWKids do,” Adams said. “In this neighborhood, whatever they need, PAWKids tries to help them get the help they need.”

In year 12 for the organization, Gates said, the campus along Hollowell Parkway serves as a constant reminder of what’s ahead for her community.

“My mom was a heroin addict. This is where she did a lot of her drugs at, up and down this same highway. I take it personally that I’m over her. We are back here helping the same people that I grew up with,” Gates said.

For more information about PAWKids, click here.