Latest news with #HoseaHelps
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Metro Atlanta food bank concerned about USDA cuts to local food programs
Some metro Atlanta food banks and pantries are now restructuring food distribution following the U.S. Department of Agriculture's cancellation of $1 billion in funding to local food programs. 'What kind of country are we that we would take food out of the mouths of children?' asked Elisabeth Omilami of Hosea Helps, one of the largest food banks in metro Atlanta. The $1 billion in cuts will impact school programs and food banks that purchase food directly from local farmers. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] 'And some of these farmers, they've just begun to get on economic standing and now the money that would go to them to get fresh fruit and vegetables to make sure people have good nutrition is gone,' Omilami told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington on Friday. The decision came after President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency promised to slash government spending. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff said the cut will hurt Georgia farmers and children and urged the administration to reverse course. But Georgia GOP leaders said the cuts are necessary to streamline government waste. 'We spend $2 trillion a year more than we take in and that is not sustainable,' Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon said. TRENDING STORIES: Be weather aware: Severe storms likely this weekend with potential for large hail, tornadoes Julie Chrisley wants her sentence vacated - again - and wants new a judge 1-year-old hit by car, killed in Paulding County McKoon said most of the programs eliminated were created during the pandemic, when the need was more urgent. 'So, I think there's a lot of review going on of programs who may have been on the books longer than they should have been,' McKoon explained. McKoon said the cuts will only impact USDA employees not those who are food insecure. 'It's not an appropriate time to panic,' McKoon added. But workers at Hosea Helps are not convinced. 'To say that it's not going to hurt, well tell that to the kids who won't have a summer lunch,' Omilami said. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Yahoo
Volunteers cleaning up homeless camp where man killed by city vehicle
Dozens of volunteers gathered on Saturday to clean up a homeless encampment where a man was killed last month. Cornelius Taylor died when a City of Atlanta vehicle ran over this tent while clearing the encampment on Auburn Ave. Advocates for Atlanta's homeless population have called on the city to end these sweeps and find real solutions. Channel 2′s Bryan Mims was among those from volunteer organization Hosea Helps cleaning the camp who used Taylor's name as a rallying cry. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] 'When his body was crushed, that did not take the spirit of survival, the spirit of resistance, the spirit of community away from us,' Taylor's family's attorney Mawuli Davis said. Taylor's sister, Darlene Chaney, said that her brother deserved a clean place to lay his head. 'He was worthy of having a place that was clean. He was worthy of being fed. He was worthy of living a life that he desired,' Chaney said. RELATED STORIES: Funeral for Cornelius Taylor held at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta Atlanta City Council to vote on creation of Homelessness Task Force after Cornelius Taylor death Atlanta rethinks clearing homeless camps after a man is crushed inside his tent Atlanta mayor calls for moratorium on homeless encampment sweeps, organizers want more done They are calling for a city policy to provide safe and stable housing in an effort to show what it means to love your neighbor. 'I just want to make sure we can help the next person, that this doesn't happen again, for one. Hopefully at the end of the day, we can get people a home,' Chaney said. Volunteers told Mims they plan to clean homeless camps as often as needed. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
