Casey Welcomes New Members to Atlanta Community Investment Fund Advisory Board

Six new mem­bers have joined the Com­mu­ni­ty Invest­ment Fund Advi­so­ry Board. They will work with an exist­ing group of vol­un­teers to deter­mine which res­i­dent-led improve­ment projects to fund through­out Atlanta’s Adair Park, Mechan­icsville, Peo­plestown, Pitts­burgh, Sum­mer­hill and Capi­tol Gate­way neigh­bor­hoods, known col­lec­tive­ly as NPU‑V.

All 12 mem­bers of the board either live or work in the com­mu­ni­ty. Over the next year, they will receive a series of train­ings and help over­see the select­ed projects in part­ner­ship with Casey’s Atlanta Civic Site.

New mem­bers include Jacar­ruem Brad­ford, Desir­ae Dil­lon, Mar­garet Hook­er, Elsie Lee Sul­li­van, Rus­sell McCray and Quin­tavi­ous Yarbrough.

McCray, one of the new mem­bers, and his fiancé decid­ed to move to Mechan­icsville in 2009. They were intrigued by the ​“rich his­to­ry of the area” and its prox­im­i­ty to down­town attrac­tions. The cou­ple decid­ed to ren­o­vate an aban­doned home and have been liv­ing there ever since. ​“We believe in this area, have invest­ed in this area and want to be a part of the sto­ry of Mechanicsville’s rebirth as a diverse and safe neigh­bor­hood at the city’s core,” McCray says. ​“Part of that sto­ry, I believe, is tak­ing part in com­mu­ni­ty efforts such as this one.”

Serv­ing on the board pro­vides res­i­dents with oppor­tu­ni­ties to strength­en man­age­ment, net­work­ing and lead­er­ship skills. That was a main draw for Jacar­ruem Brad­ford, anoth­er new mem­ber, who says he is excit­ed to learn from the group. ​“Not only am I an edu­ca­tor, I am a stu­dent of life as well,” he says. ​“I love any oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn from oth­ers and their expe­ri­ences. Any capac­i­ty in which I can sup­port fam­i­lies, improve schools, sup­port youth, beau­ti­fy the com­mu­ni­ty and save resources, I apply myself.”

This is the third year Casey will award grants rang­ing from $500 to $5,000 each through the Com­mu­ni­ty Invest­ment Fund. The Foun­da­tion received appli­ca­tions rang­ing from cleanup and beau­ti­fi­ca­tion to men­tor­ing and art projects, and plans to announce the 2017 recip­i­ents in late May once the advi­so­ry board has com­plet­ed its review.

Watch a video about past projects