Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of North Atlanta
Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta
EP #119: Agape Youth and Family Center with Nell Benn
Discover how one nonprofit is reshaping futures in Atlanta with our inspiring conversation featuring Nell Benn, the CEO of Agape Youth and Family Center. For over 27 years, Agape has been more than just a support system; it's a lifeline for over 200 students from kindergarten and beyond, offering programs in reading proficiency, academic excellence, and character development. Nell shares her compelling journey from social work to leading a transformative organization, revealing the deep relationships built with both students and families. But Agape's impact doesn't stop with youth; it also extends to senior citizens with a comprehensive day program, creating a holistic community impact that truly changes lives.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at how Agape keeps its doors open and programs thriving. Discover the diverse funding sources that fuel their mission, from private donations and corporate support to faith-based contributions and civic group partnerships. We bust the myth that nonprofits are run solely by volunteers, highlighting Agape’s team of dedicated employees funded through these donations. Learn about their exciting fundraising events like the Agape Spring Benefit and a lively 5K, and explore opportunities to get involved—from becoming a "homework buddy" to engaging in corporate volunteer days. Tune in to find out how you can play a part in Agape's mission and make a lasting impact on the Atlanta community.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta, where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, stacey Risley.
Speaker 2:Hello, friends and neighbors, welcome to North Atlanta's Good Neighbor Podcast. Today we have a special episode for all of you. We are here with a nonprofit that we've recently started partnering with, and Nell Ben is the CEO of Agape Youth and Family Center here in Atlanta, and we're so happy to have you on with us today, nell.
Speaker 3:Hi Stacey, Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:Well, I just Atlanta knows, I'm an Atlanta native, I've been here my whole life and I had never heard of Agape. And the first time I met with Nell she said, you know, we're kind of Atlanta's best kept secret. And I was like, well, we are going to change that because this organization I've just so just I can't I can't even express just how impressed I am by you know all of the work that you're doing, and I was really shocked that I had not heard of them and so I am making it a mission to change that. And our team here at North by Good Neighbors Good Neighbor Podcast, dunwoody Neighbors, we are just determined to get the word out. So we are so happy to have Nell with us and Nell with that. If you will go ahead and tell us a little bit about your organization, tell us about Agape Youth and Family Center.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely Stacey. Well, so Agape is a nonprofit organization and we have been in existence for 27 years. Our mission is to help students and families discover, embrace and achieve their full potential by focusing on reading proficiency by third grade, academic achievement, character development, high school graduation and post-graduation placement. So, in a nutshell, that is our mission and that is who we are. I will say that we are serving over 200 students, kindergarten through 12th grade. We've recently launched a college and career program and I think we'll talk a little bit about that later, but we are serving seven Atlanta public schools, and so I've been here for 22 years and it has been an incredible journey.
Speaker 2:Well, that was a perfect segue right into the next question, which is I want to hear now about your journey into this. You know you are clearly passionate about what you do, which is just. It just shines through in communication with you. So tell, tell our listeners what got you into this and tell us about your journey into this.
Speaker 3:I'm sure. So I have a master's in social work. So a master's in social work, I thought I wanted to be a school social worker and but actually started my career in outpatient mental health, so spend about four years in outpatient mental health in Huntsville Alabama four years in outpatient mental health in Huntsville Alabama. I'm actually from Georgia, but my first job out of grad school was in Huntsville Alabama. I moved back to Atlanta in 1999, and that was when I discovered nonprofit. And I have to tell you, when I discovered nonprofit, I knew that this was it. I absolutely knew it.
Speaker 3:And so, as I mentioned, I've been with Agape for 22 years and I absolutely love what I do. I will say I've had the honor and privilege of seeing many students grow up. So, seeing that I've been here so long, there were children who were in elementary school when I started who have now graduated from college. So there's never a day that I don't feel like coming to Agape because I can see the impact that we're making in the lives of children the impact that we're making in the lives of children.
Speaker 2:Well, as a former educator myself, that so resonates with me. Because you really are making lives, you know, are making the difference in lives, you're molding lives, you know every day. And what more rewarding, you know. There's just nothing more rewarding than being able to help people change lives for the better and empowering their future.
Speaker 2:Nell and Agape have recently partnered with our North Buckhead Neighbors publication and in our current December issues they have a wonderful article just telling all about their organization and what they are doing. It's in, it's titled and I just loved the title was Ape Atlanta, empowering futures since 1997. And and that's what you do you empower futures and as a result of that you're changing so many lives and changing the community. You know really and that's kind of going to move us into the next question and normally I'm asking you know the business owners?
Speaker 2:When it's you know a business, I'm asking them what are the myths and misconceptions about your industry? And I'm just going to go ahead and volunteer that I had the misconception that you guys only helped youth in that you know which which, which was a huge, wonderful thing in and of itself, but I was when I first got this article submit submission and the photos that were included. It's not just the youth that you're, you know, atlanta's youth that you're you're changing lives of and empowering. You know and empowering. So tell us a little bit about the families that you serve and the different communities or the different pockets of people within our community.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, absolutely so. As I mentioned, we're serving over 200 children, Absolutely so. As I mentioned, we're serving over 200 children, kindergarten through 12th grade, through our in-school, after-school and summer programs. So I wanted to mention that, and also wanted to mention the one thing that makes Agape unique from other youth-serving organizations is the fact that our current 12th grader has been with us on average for 10 to 12 years.
Speaker 3:So, in 10 to 12 years. We have time, right, right, absolutely Positively. You know, influence behavior and perspective. So, yes, we serve the children, we serve their families, but we also serve senior citizens. We have a day program for senior citizens, primarily women who live in the community. They come through, come to Agape throughout the month for a day program. So they come for a day program. During that time they are, they have lunch and you know fellowship. But the most important thing is that bingo that they play.
Speaker 2:The photos show the joy that you're bringing. I think I love. I love bingo and I'm not a senior yet, but I can only imagine how much I love it.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely Absolutely, and they do field trips and other um their other. You know educational sessions that are offered. So it's a wonderful group of of seniors that we serve, in addition to the children and families.
Speaker 2:And I think that is fantastic and that was something that I definitely, you know, had a misconception about. Are there any others that you can think of that you would like to clear up with listeners, I'm sure?
Speaker 3:You know, I think another misconception, stacey, is that underserved families don't work, and that is not the case.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we definitely need to clear that up. That is not the case at all.
Speaker 3:Yeah, our families work two and three jobs you know, so I think that's a huge misconception. The average household income for the families we serve is probably about $30,000 a year, but that could be a family of six you know five or six. So, as we know all know, $30,000 can't go very far. So a place like Agape is very important because the programs and services that we offer are all free of charge, 100% free of charge. So it's a tremendous benefit and support for the families in this community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the whole family. As you said, you're not just working with the youth, but the fact that you are working with those kids in the family helps the parents, it helps the I mean it's generational. So I love that you're helping. You know really the entire family. You know from the kids of the family to the parents, and then you're even working with senior citizens. I just you are doing it all, so super impressed with that. You are doing it all so super impressed with that. And let's chat now for a minute about some of your well, one initiative in particular, but your 2025, the year ahead, your initiatives. There's one in particular, the Navigate program, that I would love to hear more about.
Speaker 3:Okay, absolutely. We are very excited about this new college and career program that we've named Navigate. So really, as I mentioned, our students are with us on average for 10 to 12 years, so our goal is to get them to graduate and to also make sure they have a post-secondary plan so that, of course, could be four-year college, it could be a two-year technical school or it could be full-time employment. So what we've learned over the years is that our students still need us after they graduate high school. I mean, even for my kids who are, you know, in college, they still need me.
Speaker 2:I have a college senior who definitely still needs her mama. That's right.
Speaker 3:Just because they're 18 or 19 years old doesn't mean they don't need us anymore.
Speaker 3:So we realized that our students are, you know, some of them are struggling to navigate this new chapter, you know, in their lives. So we've decided to launch this new initiative that will support our students after they graduate high school, so they will continue to be a part of Agape, and so if they're in college and they're having challenges with their classes or they don't know how to, you know, figure out the campus or know where to go for tutoring, or if they need a computer, or if they need assistance with their tuition, we're still here to support them, as well as supporting those that are in technical school and those who are working full-time as well. So this program will consist of monthly coaching sessions with our college and career manager, so she's, you know, sort of like their mentor, you know, meeting with them once a month to, you know, discuss any concerns they may have. We will also have quarterly workshops, you know, things like financial literacy, so that we can warn them against those credit cards that they're going to.
Speaker 2:That is fantastic. I love that you're talking about financial literacy, because that is such a problem, like for all you know, our youth, but then also especially the underserved community, so that financial literacy is so important and that is wonderful that you are doing all of that.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely so. Sessions on financial literacy, sessions on our mental health right. Definitely want to make sure our kids are healthy in every way. So, yeah, it's just an extension of what we've been doing for 27 years and we're very excited about it. We have a number of our alumni who have already enrolled in the program. They are excited about it. So we had a soft launch this year, in 2024, but it will officially launch in 2025.
Speaker 2:That is perfect timing for this, and so, while you were talking, I thought of something I wanted to circle back to. You talked about how the average student has been with you, for, did you say, was it?
Speaker 3:10 to 12 years was it 10 to 12 years.
Speaker 2:Another statistic that blew my mind when I initially was looking, you know, into your organization was your graduation rate. Like it was, do you want to?
Speaker 3:share that number with our listeners. Sure Gosh, I mean for the last several years, I mean for most of the time I've been here, actually, we've had a 100% graduation rate. Now we have had a few along the way. You know that did not complete high school and we are still working with them to cross that finish line. So since 2009, which is when we officially began tracking it we've had a 96 overall, a 96 percent graduation rate.
Speaker 2:And that is astounding. You know, for those of you who don't have a background in education, that number even at 96. And you're saying for the past several years it's been 100 percent%. That is an astounding number. I wonder what that compares. I'm not abreast. I'll have to get back. Maybe on our next episode We'll talk about what Atlanta City Schools average graduation rate is compared to that, because I would be interested to compare those numbers. But even at 96, and now we know it's higher than that that's an astounding number. That's absolutely unheard of. You know so and it's not like you're helping. You know a dozen kids. This is with hundreds of kids. And how many, how many schools are you working with?
Speaker 3:Seven. We have seven schools that we're partnering with and one other thing that's really cool about you know what we do here at Agape. We have a partnership with the schools, we have an MOU with the schools that we serve and there are full-time Agape employees that are based at the schools that we serve during the school day.
Speaker 2:So every time I talk to you, my mind's blown even more. You have full time at each one of those seven schools. You have a person.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:That's amazing.
Speaker 3:And there's dedicated space at the schools. Yeah, yeah, there's space at the schools and and that employee, that Agape employee, is working closely with the teachers and the counselors and the graduation coaches to ensure the Agape kids are successful and that they don't fall between the cracks.
Speaker 2:That is amazing. So I was an EIP teacher. You know when I teach, so that EIP for those of you don't know, that's early intervention program. So this is just. You can see why this tugs at my heartstrings so much.
Speaker 2:And I just am so proud of y'all and everything you're doing. You know so, especially now that I know you have a full-time employee at all these schools. This costs money. You know, agave is a nonprofit and just because it's a not-for-profit, you do still have employees. It's still, you know, run like a business. It's just a not-for-profit business and businesses have to have, you know, working funds. And so let's talk a minute about fundraising. You know, like, how do you get your funds and your donations? And I would love for anyone listening to if you are considering, you know, investing in the futures of our community and bettering our community. This is and I come across a lot of organizations in my line of work here and yours is among my very favorite. You know, I really believe that you are a worthy cause and the more I learn, the more conviction I have in that. So tell us a little bit about how you do get the funds to be able to help this many people in our community.
Speaker 3:Sure, absolutely, and we do have quite a few employees, we have you mentioned. You know that it's a nonprofit, but we have employees. Yes, we have 45 employees.
Speaker 2:Okay, that is a lot, and they all have to. You have to put food on their tables at home. They're not all volunteers, so I think that that's a misconception. I'll come back. People often think that nonprofits are strictly run by volunteers that are not being paid, and while I'm sure that's a huge part of your program and we can talk about that in a minute too but but 45 employees, that's. I mean you've got a payroll, and quite a large one. So so how are you getting those? How can, how can we help?
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely so. Most of our funds, I would say the overwhelming majority of our revenue, is private for the most part. So we receive funding from corporations, individuals, faith based organizations, civic groups, organizations, civic groups. There are a lot of family foundations that support us fairly large percentage of family foundations that support us and we also do a couple of special events or fundraising events each year. So we have a pretty diverse portfolio. We receive a little government funding, not a tremendous amount. As I mentioned, most of our money is private. So individuals, family foundations and other groups.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and private donors, as I said, individuals and families, and so, yeah, that's something that, if you're able to, this would be a very worthy cause. I don't know that I am just like I said earlier, every time I hear more, more my conviction increases. And this is such a great, great group. So you mentioned events that you hold a few events a year to help raise money for this cause. So tell us about. Do you have upcoming events? I know that You've got one that's going to be in the end of December, but I know that that may not be out in time for this podcast, so we'll start from after that.
Speaker 3:Well, I will mention in terms of this year we do. We are wrapping up our annual fund event, so that is a campaign that we do every fall, so we're we're hoping to close that out in a positive way by December 31st.
Speaker 3:We're hoping to close that out in a positive way by December 31st, but in terms of 2025, we have an annual what we call cocktail party. It's basically the Agape Spring Benefit. It is scheduled for April 24th at the Foundry at Puritan Mills. So that's an annual event. We usually have gosh, I would say approximately 400 or so community individuals from our community who attend that event every year. So it's a really, really nice party. We celebrate the success of Agape and we, you know, celebrate our children and our families. We usually have a student or two who will share their Agape story during that event. So it's something that our supporters have grown to love. So that's scheduled for Thursday, april 24th, and then at the Foundry.
Speaker 2:Yes, at the Foundry. Yeah, that's a really neat venue.
Speaker 3:It's very close to us and just in terms of our listeners Stacey, I'm sure many of our listeners have passed Agape because we're located on Marietta Boulevard and I hear so many times oh my gosh, I always wonder what happened in that building. But we are in Northwest Atlanta on Marietta Boulevard, marietta Boulevard and Chattahoochee, I would say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is so. Yeah, people are passing you. You do have a lot of traffic and people are looking at that and not knowing what you guys do. So now you know oh, my goodness, well, so are there. If people that are listening to this and they want to get involved, whether that means become a donor or become a volunteer or just learn more, what are the ways that people can get involved?
Speaker 3:Yeah, sure. Well, there are many ways people can get involved. Yes, I mentioned the spring benefit that we'll have in April, but there's also a back to school bonanza that we do every year for our families, and so we're often often looking for groups to do school supply drives and things of that nature. So that's a great event that you know many people like to get involved in. There are also things during the day. Whether it's for the summer program or during the after school program, we're always looking for tutors. Sometimes people are threatened by the word tutor, so let me change that to homework buddy we call them, that is that is much less intimidating.
Speaker 3:So. So we're always looking for homework buddies, we're always looking for groups who can sponsor dinner for our students during the school year. So one thing about our after school program it is the typical after school program where the kids come for homework help. There's enrichment programming, but we also serve dinner. We serve a nutritious meal to our students before we take them home. So there's an opportunity for families. It's very, you know, we're very family oriented.
Speaker 3:So also providing transportation, wow, okay, sorry, I just had to insert that we pick the kids up from school and we take them home at the end of the day, Wow so. But yes, so we're looking for families to sponsor dinner as well. As I mentioned the homework buddies, we will have a 5K next fall as well. So if we have any runners out there, or even walkers I mean, I like to walk personally so another event that we have throughout the year. So there are there just so many ways to get involved. We have what we call Corporate Volunteer Day, so we could have a corporate group to come in and talk to our high school students to share, you know, share with them, share information with them about their careers, and you know. So all sorts of ways. And so if anyone's interested, please feel free to go to our website, which is agapeatlantaorg, or you can simply give me a call. I would be happy to talk to you about it.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, I think that this has been one of my favorite episodes that we have recorded in a long time, so I am so excited. I'm excited to be partnering with you, with North Buckhead Neighbors. We are going to be a sneak peek for our readers. We will be featuring an Agape legacy family in our March issue. I'm very excited about that and we're going to just do what we can to help spread the word and get the good news out there, because we're all about sharing good news and you guys are doing great things in our community. Again, I'm so proud to be partnered with you guys and appreciate Thank you from an Atlanta native who loves this city. Thank you for everything that you're doing now. This has been fantastic.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you, stacey, thank you for this opportunity. We really really do appreciate it, because we no longer want to be the best kept secret in Atlanta.
Speaker 2:Exactly right, that could be my mission. You guys have a mission that is way longer. If that's my mission, to get that no longer a secret, everyone is going to know when they drive by that building, what you guys are, what you do, who you help, all the great things you're doing for our community. Thank you so much for being here now. It has been an absolute pleasure to help spread the word about the good things that Agape is doing.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Well, that's all for today's episode, Atlanta. I'm Stacey Risley with the Good Neighbor podcast. Thanks for listening and for supporting the local businesses and nonprofits of our great community.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta. To nominate your favorite local businesses, visit gnpnorthatlantacom. That's gnpnorthatlantacom.
