Information: tcmatlanta.org
After hearing about Willis Reavis, a homeless veteran who benefitted from Trinity Community Ministries, a group of 10 young Atlanta business leaders conceived the Trinity Combine, an athletic event founded two years ago to raise funds and awareness for the transformative work done by TCM.
The nonprofit is dedicated to enable homeless veterans to receive treatment from alcohol and/or drug addiction and reclaim their lives so they can return home with dignity, life skills and hope.
“When we began attending volunteer team dinners at Trinity Community Ministries almost 10 years ago, we saw firsthand the tremendous power of the program to empower recovery. We witnessed close to 10 classes of men heal and return to their families and greater communities as leaders,” said Will Buchly, cofounder of the Trinity Combine and vice president at SunTrust Bank. “The tipping point came when we met Willis, a veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He had just entered the program and desperately needed backing. We knew we had to do something to help Willis and generate additional funds for TCM.”
The Combine, held on May 1 at Georgia Tech, brought together over 200 people who participated in a 400-meter run, a football throw, a 40-yard dash, a 500-meter row, bench press, pull ups, dips, vertical jump, a 20-yard shuttle run and an 800-meter run. Teams aimed to raise $200,000 to support TCM’s programs.
TCM’s programs include Trinity Living, a permanent supportive housing program designed specifically to treat homeless veterans and Trinity House-Big Bethel, a 36-bed transitional housing facility, which has helped over 1,000 homeless men since 1988.
There are many ways that the community can support TCM’s mission. People can attend one of the 10 team dinners at the house located on 21 Bell St. each week or the fish fry on Fridays which runs from about noon to 2 p.m.
“The vision of the Trinity Combine is to humble the strong and strengthen the weak. We all began our service to Trinity thinking we were going to help the men it serves,” added Buchly. “What we realized is that the men of Trinity have helped us more than we have helped them due to their courage, humility and vulnerability, which inspires us to take responsibility in the areas we fall short.”
In other news: The Ford Motor Co. Fund, Ford's philanthropic arm, and Allan Vigil Ford donated a brand new Ford Transit Connect cargo van to the Summerhill Community Ministries, which will be used to transport kids to the after school program and other activities. As part of the Ford Driving a Brighter Future effort, Summerhill is one of 10 at-risk youth organizations supported by local dealers and the Ford Motor Company Fund. Summerhill reaches neighborhood and surrounding area kids providing after school, summer camps, summer job training and sports programs.
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