This is a March 24, 2022 article from Macon-Bibb County's website, reposted with permission from the author.
Nearly twenty local organizations will receive grant funding to feed thousands of people in our neighborhoods. On Tuesday, March 15 the Commission unanimously approved $500,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds for household assistance for food programs by supporting neighborhood food distribution.
Among the 17 organizations receiving a portion of the $500,000 is CQUL, which stands for Choosing A Quality Life. The goal of the nonprofit is to eliminate barriers to effective mental health services.
“We believe that the impediment caused by residing in a food desert negatively impacts long term mental health outcomes. There is a direct connection between lack of access to good quality food and increased negative impact on the mind,” said CQUL Executive Director Andrea Cooke.
CQUL will receive $35,225 which will be used to provide market services in both the Napier Heights and the Pleasant Hill communities. They plan to have a dedicated market manager who will run, advertise, and educate the community on healthy food options. The markets will all be walkable and bikeable and will encourage people to have a healthy, more informed relationship with food.
The Mentor’s Project will also receive the same amount of grant funding as CQUL. The Mentor’s Project aims to make a difference in a child’s life, improve the graduation rate, and provide wraparound services for students. The nonprofit also feeds children and their families during holiday and summer breaks. During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the Mentor’s Project fed more than 12,000 students and their families.
“We will be able to deliver and provide food, not only to students in the Mentor’s Project, but to other students as well,” said The Mentor’s Project Executive Director June O’Neal. “We are so thankful to receive this money because we’ll be able to expand our feeding program.”
“We are so grateful to have these wonderful organizations take the lead in addressing food concerns in our community, to make sure no one goes hungry,” said Mayor Lester Miller. “I am confident that these groups will do what’s right and help make a difference in our neighborhoods.”
The other organizations who received funding include:
Living Sacrifice Fellowship Ministries – $35,225
Melanated Community Stimulation Project – $20,000
The Mentor’s Project – $35,225
Keryx Ministries – $35,225
Macon Housing Moving to Success, Inc. – $35,225
ATAP Family Services – $25,000
Fathers Among Men – $35,225
Backpack Ministries – FHUMC – $35,225
Vision Personal Care Home – $35,225
Georgia SUNS Youth Empowerment – $8,225
Jericho Road Community Center – $35,225
Lincoln Guard Group – $9,700
Ash Street Church of God in Christ – $33,600
U Create Macon – $35,225
Elm Street Baptist, Inc/Ebenezer Baptist Church – $16,000
Community Church of God – $35,225
CQUL – $35,225