Two nonprofits serving children in metro Atlanta are getting a big financial boost to expand services and reach more kids.
Mosaic Georgia and The Creative Academy will each receive a $100,000 Gas South Impact Investment Award. The grant money is part of Gas South’s commitment to support children in need.
Mosaic Georgia is the child advocacy and sexual assault center for Gwinnett County and has been serving adults and children for 38 years. More than half of its clientele are minors.
The Creative Academy began in 2021 to reach teens in Atlanta’s inner-city neighborhoods through the creative arts, such as film and video production, music and photography.
Founder and executive director Andre DeRamus is a Grammy-nominated music educator. He’s worked in public schools and knows that music and arts are sometimes the first to go in budget cuts. His nonprofit offers teens free Saturday workshops held in production studios around the city.
“I wanted to create something where I could reach kids, and they could have something they could come to on the weekends or school breaks where they could express their creativity,” DeRamus said.
Credit: spe
Credit: spe
Gas South gives back 5% of its annual profits to support children in need and has donated more than $16 million since 2006.
Gas South’s community affairs manager, Carley Stephens, said the company will distribute $4.1 million this year to support children.
Stephens said more than 250 nonprofits — the most ever — applied for this year’s Impact Investment Award. A trained team of 15 Gas South employees reviewed each grant application and selected the top six based on specific requests and how the funding would impact the organization.
Employees and customers voted from the list of six applicants, and more than 17,000 votes helped put The Creative Academy and Mosaic Georgia on top.
DeRamus said the grant is “monumental” and will allow The Creative Academy to expand its free creative workshops to other communities.
The money also will go toward a “lunch and learn” program in schools, where film and music professionals engage students during their lunch break.
The Saturday workshops are also led by leaders in creative industries and those accomplished in business and finance.
“The creative is the draw-in, but we also focus on financial literacy so they know how to turn it into a business,” DeRamus said.
Since beginning three years ago, more than 1,000 high school youth have participated in at least two workshops. Teens who attend at least five sessions during the year get gifts or gift cards from sponsors.
DeRamus said he wants to build community among creative youth and give them something productive to do.
“Since COVID, a lot of kids have had trouble getting back in the swing of things when it comes to education and creatives,” he said.
Mosaic Georgia will use the money to open its new facility in Lawrenceville later this year. “It will help us expand our services for more kids and families in Gwinnett. We’re just super excited,” said Executive Director Marina Peed.
The advocacy group serves over 3,000 people yearly. Two-thirds of those are 17 and under. Of the youth population, 45% are under age 12.
Peed said Mosaic advocates deal with issues like cyber-stalking and sex trafficking and provide educational information to parents, caregivers and youth to prevent these crimes from happening.
“Kids are exposed to a lot more these days, and the harms are increasing as well,” she said.
“People who want to take advantage of kids can do that from the privacy of a smartphone.”
Credit: spec
Credit: spec
Such solicitations were unheard of when the nonprofit began in 1986 as Gwinnett Rape Crisis. Initially, several women volunteers wanted to help rape victims who were hospitalized.
The nonprofit became the first center in Georgia to bring medical forensic exams outside the hospital and into a community setting.
The group rebranded several years ago as Mosaic Georgia and offers an array of services, from no-cost trauma-focused therapy and support groups to legal services to help victims navigate the court system.
The new facility will allow them to double their space for acute services and bring mental health and wellness services in one location.
Peed said she appreciates the Gas South award because it helps to lift the feelings of “stigma and shame of people who have been exposed to these things.”
HOW TO HELP
Both nonprofits will be hosting an annual fundraiser in August. Here are the details.
Mosaic Georgia
5th annual Masterpieces Art Auction & Happy Hour
6-8 p.m. Aug. 26. $55. The Lawrenceville Arts Center, 125 N. Clayton St., Lawrenceville.
To sponsor or purchase tickets: www.mosaicgeorgia.org/mosaic-masterpieces/
The Creative Academy
Playing for a Purpose
7-10 p.m. Aug. 22. $65 (includes food and drinks). Topgolf Atlanta, 1600 Ellsworth Industrial Blvd. NW, Atlanta.
For more information: thecreativeacademyatl.org/contact/
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