About – Westside Future Fund

Why the Westside?

Westside Future Fund was launched by the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP) in December 2014, with the strong leadership support of former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Recognizing the long-term inequity in Atlanta’s Historic Westside, the ACP committed to fostering long-term transformational change through a collaborative approach to be led by the Westside Future Fund. The ACP, a coalition of top CEOs and leaders from Atlanta’s private sector, universities and nonprofits, made WFF one of its top priorities, and provided early board leadership along with early philanthropic support.

A Vision for Collaboration and Engagement

The vision was set in early 2013. Partnering with Atlanta Falcons owner and The Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, Mayor Reed announced that the new Falcons stadium would be located adjacent to the Historic Westside and serve as a catalyst for growth and change in the storied neighborhoods of Vine City, English Avenue, Ashview Heights and Atlanta University Center.

Cementing the commitment, the City of Atlanta and The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation made catalytic lead investments of $15 million each.

Chick-fil-A Chairman and CEO Dan Cathy and the Chick-fil-A Foundation were also early, momentum-building investors and have devoted significant philanthropic capital and leadership resources. In fact, Vine City is now home to the community’s first Chick-fil-A. The restaurant will not only contribute to the economic development of the area, but will create a minimum of 50-60 new job opportunities for area residents.

Many other major Atlanta-based companies have made significant foundation-setting contributions in support of the vision, such as Mercedes-Benz USA, Georgia Power, Equifax, SunTrust Bank, Novelis, AT&T, The Home Depot, American Family Insurance, The Coca-Cola Company, Chick-Fil-A, and NCR.

A Groundbreaking Approach to Transformation

Westside Future Fund is committed to creating and curating an eco-system that disrupts the cycle of poverty. Based on best-practice research in community revitalization, the Westside Future Fund has identified and developed plans for four areas needing simultaneous attention: safety and security, cradle-to-career education, health and wellness and mixed-income communities.

The Westside Future Fund seeks to coordinate and accelerate initiatives contributing to the overall collective effort. Some of these efforts include:

City of Atlanta winning the highly-competitive $30 million HUD Choice Neighborhood Grant to support the development of affordable housing options
Reducing crime by 43% since the launch of the Atlanta Police Foundation’s Westside Security Plan, which also includes the opening of the AT-PROMISE Center, a community youth crime diversion program
Training hundreds of residents in real-world, career-path jobs via Westside Works, which has resulted in more than $16.2 million in wages earned by program graduates to date
Improving financial health and wellness for Westside families and small businesses as a result of the opening the “On the Rise” Financial Center
Adding green space and environmental infrastructure with the groundbreaking of Cook Park
Adding 21 new faculty members at Hollis Innovation Academy as a result of the Westside Future Funds’ partnership with Atlanta Public Schools
The YMCA's recently announced new headquarters, the Leadership and Learning Center, which will contain six model Head Start classrooms serving 70+ neighborhood children
Launching the Westside Volunteer Corps, which has already deployed thousands of volunteers across the four historic neighborhoods
Completing the Atlanta Beltline’s Westside Trail, a $42 million, 14-foot-wide multi-use trail that opened September 2017 with 14 access points and more than 40 acres of greenway

A Commitment to the People and History of the Westside

At the core of the Westside Future Fund’s mission is its dedication to the past, present and future residents of the four Historic Westside neighborhoods. These neighborhoods include the world’s largest consortium of historically black colleges and universities, have a rich historical narrative of black Atlanta academic, religious, political and business leadership, and were home to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Julian Bond, Maynard Jackson and other luminaries of the Civil Rights Movement.

The award-winning Westside Land Use Action Plan is a tangible outcome of the commitment to preserve this rich history and ensure current residents can benefit from future development. The plan calls for initiatives that reduce blight, incorporate sustainable practices and balance affordable, market-rate housing.

The commitment is also being put into action through the Westside Future Fund’s Anti-Displacement Tax Fund, funded completely by philanthropic support.

Charting a Path Forward

As the revitalization efforts gain momentum, the City of Atlanta and The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation continue to set the pace. On Sept. 8, 2017, Mayor Reed and Arthur Blank announced an additional $32 million worth of investments, bringing the Blank Foundation’s total commitment to $30 million and the City of Atlanta’s total to nearly $115 million.

“What we’re doing is putting a stake in the ground for the active development of the most challenged part of the City of Atlanta. The Westside Future Fund will be vital to the future development of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive corridor and West Atlanta community. Backed by a dynamic public-private partnership, the Westside Future Fund will work to secure a stronger, healthier future and spur job creation, civic engagement and business investment for historic Westside neighborhoods.”
– Mayor Kasim Reed

As the Westside Future Fund looks to foster the holistic transformation of the Westside’s four historic neighborhoods, it will take the support of all Atlantans, working together, to make that happen.

Browse our site for opportunities to join the collective effort to revitalize one of the City’s most treasured communities and honor the words of former Vine City resident Dr. King:

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly ... I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”