The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
$1 million grant will grow tree canopy in Savannah, St. Marys
Savannah Tree Foundation plans to use money to plant 1,600 trees.
With graceful live oaks arching over its main arteries, Savannah long has been lauded for its trees. But as development continues in and around Savannah and a large portion of the city’s street trees are reaching the end of their natural life faster than they are being replaced, the urban canopy has suffered. Enter a $1 million cash infusion to the Savannah Tree Foundation in the form of a four-year grant from the Georgia Forestry Commission to boost the number of trees planted in disadvantaged neighborhoods and to enlist trainees to grow and plant trees.
“What this project does is three-fold,” Zoe Rinker, executive director of the Savannah Tree Foundation, said in an email. “One, it targets areas that are lacking tree coverage with strategically planted trees to help provide the benefits of shade, cooler and cleaner air, and stormwater mitigation; two, it recruits people who may not usually be exposed to the arboriculture industry to give them a set of employable skills in a growing industry; and three, it engages community members with our urban forest, highlighting the benefits of trees and helping to spread the message about why this large-scale tree loss is so problematic.”
In all, the program aims to plant 1,600 trees over four years. Rinker is aware that the number doesn’t make up for the tree loss in the area. A 2022 report put tree canopy loss in Chatham County at the equivalent of three football fields a day since the turn of the century.
“This project is in no way a silver bullet to the larger issue of tree loss in the Chatham area,” she said in the email. “To truly counteract that loss, we would need to talk about the reforestation of acres of land, which is just not feasible given the current business and leadership trends. What STF can focus on is improving microclimates for the communities that are currently most impacted by urban heat island effect and the negative impacts of lacking tree canopy.”
The project also will facilitate the growth of the nonprofit, allowing it to add staffers, grow its own trees and ultimately plant more trees each year. It’s aiming to plant 1,400 trees outside of the scope of the grant-funded project over the next four years, bringing its four-year total to 3,000 trees planted.
“To put that in context, it took us 16 years to plant our last 3,000 trees, so we’re increasing organizational capacity by 400%,” Rinker said.
The grant application spells out the benefits of trees and which communities are missing out.
“Trees absorb air pollution and particulate matter, provide noise buffers, mitigate stormwater runoff, and can reduce utility costs,” the grant application states. “Due to tree inequity, many low-income and BIPOC (Black, indigenous and other people of color) communities in Savannah do not have access to these benefits. Addressing tree equity in these neighborhoods is often complicated by the fact that their public right-ofway is limited compared to the extensive tree lawns and public parks in more affluent neighborhoods.”
The grant is one of 16 awarded through the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Trees Across Georgia Program, funded by $9.75 million in Inflation Reduction Act money. STF received the largest of those grants. It’s also the largest grant the nonprofit has received since it was founded in 1982, more than doubling the foundation’s annual budget, Rinker said.
The other coastal grant recipient was St. Marys, which received a $43,170 grant for a program which also includes tree education and planting.
In addition to the $1 million grant, the STF effort got a boost from Dulany Industries, which donated use of land, water and electricity for irrigation for a tree nursery at its SeaPoint Complex. The nursery will be adjacent to a ground-mounted array of 4,000 solar panels off East President Street.
STF is targeting 40 neighborhoods for planting, focusing on a different area of Chatham County each year. Those neighborhoods include Cloverdale, Liberty City, Hitch Village and Dale Terrace.
STF intends to plant native species. The species initially targeted for growing at its nursery site are live oak, white fringe, persimmon, bald cypress and tulip poplar.
“Overall, the goal is to grow native species that are less common at garden centers. And we wouldn’t be a southeast Georgia tree nursery if we didn’t grow live oaks,” Rinker said.
Fruit trees, which Rinker calls “a gateway tree,” appeal greatly to many homeowners. While Savannah has a large inventory of street trees, the STF project expects to plant most of its trees on private property, in part because many of the lower-income neighborhoods lack trees lawns and other public areas for tree planting.
Amid the faded grandeur of the historic Strand Theatre on the downtown square in Marietta, Earl Smith stood in the early 2000s as a hero, and along with his wife, Rachel, is credited with resurrecting the art deco gem after years of neglect.
“Without his guidance, passion and commitment, the Strand would not exist in its current form,” said Andy Gaines, executive director of what is now the Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre. “His legacy is woven into the very fabric of our organization, and his impact on the community is immeasurable.”
Earl Smith was a successful businessman, community leader and philanthropist. But his legacy as the first Republican county leader in modern times can be appreciated more broadly as he laid a foundation for transportation and water projects of regional importance as Cobb County rapidly began its transition from sleepy suburb to an urban center. He died Tuesday, Jan. 30. Smith was 93.
A celebration of life service was Monday, Feb. 5, at Marietta’s Eastside Baptist Church, where Smith and Rachel were founding members.
One of eight children of sharecroppers in rural Whitfield County, Smith “wanted to get stuff done,” said Sam Olens, who was chairman of the Cobb County Commission from 2002 to 2010.
Smith never sought elected office until he was voted in as chairman of the Cobb County Commission in 1984 in a Republican sweep of Atlanta’s burgeoning northern suburbs attributed, at least in part, to the popularity of President Ronald Reagan.
Olens said the change of party leadership at the top was significant for Cobb, which had long been controlled by Democrats, who also ran state government from Reconstruction to 2003.
Out of the gate in his role as commission chair, Smith pushed through a controversial bus transit service that county voters narrowly approved and continues today as Cobb Linc.
Many of Smith’s priorities were big-ticket items that he said at the time were vital to keeping up with growth. They including a massive road building program, new libraries, expansion of the local airport, and substantial upgrades to the county’s water and sewer system. He wrangled voter approval of local taxes to pay for the upgrades.
Smith failed in his bid for a second, four-year term as commission chair in 2008 and resigned 45 days before his term expired. Some said he lost due to poor voter turnout. Others said he was caught up in a backlash against all the growth and problems, such as traffic, that hit the region.
“I hope the commissioners will rise above the personal bickering we have had for the past two years,” Smith said as he bowed out early.
He never sought elected office again.
With his wife of 63 years at his side, he spent the next few decades deeply involved in the community on appointed government boards and civic organizations.
Smith also worked with developer John Williams on creating the Galleria as a county convention center. He was adamant that there should be a performing arts center in the complex, but there wasn’t the money to build one at the time.
Later, during Olens’ tenure as county commission chairman, the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre was developed, and Smith worked to ensure that some of the county’s more needy students would have the artistic experience offered by the center, Olens said.
Smith was also a fundraiser for numerous community causes, including The Boys Club and Calvary Children’s Home.
Debbie Abernathy, Smith’s eldest daughter, said her father never asked anyone to contribute to a cause that he hadn’t already given to himself.
Friends of the Strand, which Smith and his wife started in 2004, raised $4.5 million to renovate and reopen the theater as a nonprofit venue for concerts, plays, weddings, private gatherings, and, of course, movies, in homage to the golden age of cinema in the 1930s.
“He learned he was pretty good at asking for money,” Abernathy said. “He contacted people that he knew through business or personal affiliations to carefully twist the appropriate arms.”
Smith “felt a real kinship” for Marietta and Cobb County, where he and his wife moved in 1959 and started a successful heating and air conditioning company that continues to operate and carry the family name, Abernathy said.
While serving as chair of the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority in his post-county commission days, Smith helped push through the development of Hickory Log Creek Reservoir in Canton.
Smith spent a lot of time bringing that project to fruition, said Olens, who also served as Georgia’s Attorney General from 2011 to 2016.
“The ability to start that reservoir and now have it operational was huge because of what it did for the region,” he said. “Because Cobb is able to use that water, the less reliant it is on the Chattahoochee, which is of regional significance.”
Smith graduated from Varnell High School, and attended classes at Southern Tech College. After graduating, he served in the United States Air Force and then moved to Atlanta.
He met his wife, the former Rachel Mattox, at a boardinghouse in the Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta, where they both were living. They married in 1953 and had two daughters, Debbie and Cheryl.
Abernathy, who serves on the board of trustees of the Strand, said she believes her father was driven to give back to the community out of gratitude for all he had been given.
“He never lost sight of the fact that he had been given a lot, even though others might have thought differently,” she said. “I think when people are thankful, that builds in us the capacity for generosity.”
Smith was preceded in death by his wife, Rachel Mattox Smith. He is survived by daughters Debbie (Barry) Abernathy and Cheryl Forrester (Richard); three granddaughters; three great-grandchildren; and siblings Betty Lynn Masters, Kathleen Ellis and Hoyt Smith.
During the height of the pandemic, Black churches played a vital role in COVID-19 testing and vaccination efforts. But before and after the pandemic, through both formal and informal methods, churches have connected congregation members to health services, provided health education and even brought medical providers into sanctuaries.
At his church, Saint Peter Missionary Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta, Thomas has worked on addressing hypertension, diabetes prevention, HIV testing and treatment, insurance coverage and more with his parishioners. It shows, he said, that every church can start with small steps to address health needs, starting in their own congregations.
Oftentimes, Black churches also take part in addressing and advancing issues connected to social determinants of health, ensuring members have transportation, housing, access to healthy foods and more. By doing so, they are actively promoting health equity and meeting needs within their communities.
During the pandemic, Thomas helped coordinate a faith-based community vaccine drive sponsored by Walgreens where 17,000 vaccines were distributed, and he partnered with Humana to distribute over 200,000 masks among church communities in Atlanta.
“You’re going to find more churches in any one community than you will health centers, or even urgent cares or primary care for seniors,” Thomas said. “We’re, by my estimation, the only pillar that stays in the community. The Black church doesn’t leave and go to the suburbs because our congregation can’t get there.”
Ministering to the whole person
Dr. Frank Jones, a professor of surgery at Morehouse School of Medicine and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Suwanee, said that even before the pandemic, Black churches both large and small have been invested in the health of their communities.
“Black churches have played a pivotal role in addressing chronic disease and health disparities,” he said. “All of our Black churches have a health ministry. It might be small, it might be large, but it functions in the same way.”
According to a 2021 Pew Research study, 64% of regular worshipers who attended at least once a month in historically Black Protestant churches say their pastors encouraged them and others to get at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Among all U.S. religions, the number who say their clergy encouraged COVID vaccines was 39%.
At Morehouse School of Medicine, medical students are required to take two semesters of community health classes. In these courses, students work directly in communities, often with Black churches, learning to recognize and combat bias that arises in clinical settings.
In an article published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s journal Preventing Chronic Disease, Morehouse’s community health courses were used as an example of how to combat racism and the inequities that racism creates in public health. By doing so, students learn how to recognize and address shortfalls in health care access and delivery that underserved communities experience.
“When we think about health, we need to think about the fact that faith-based organizations represent trust in communities where they can access people and resources that can support their needs,” said Dr. Tabia Akintobi, chair of Morehouse’s community health and preventive medicine department. “Also they are important beacons for policy and advocacy to take place, literally.”
For more than two decades, Ray of Hope Christian Church in DeKalb County has operated a free mobile health clinic in underserved communities in DeKalb and in rural areas in the state.
Pastor Cynthia Hale said the church initially relied on medical professionals and volunteers who were members of church to do the work. Now the program has expanded, and the mobile clinic also offers dental and vision care along with routine tests for blood pressure and cholesterol.
“It’s definitely part of our social justice ministry,” Hale said. “It’s my philosophy that the church ministers to the whole person.”
Improving outcomes
Still, hurdles remain as some African Americans remain distrustful of the medical community, testing and vaccines. They are more likely to have a history of being underserved by medical doctors, and less likely to have transportation to medical care.
Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Atlanta) has introduced legislation that could give financial support to Black churches working to improve access to care in their communities.
“There is a lot of skepticism, and rightfully so when it comes to who you’re receiving information from, especially around health care in the South,” Williams said. “We have to make sure that we are utilizing and lifting those trusted community voices in partnership, like the Black church.”
The bill, the Health Equity Innovation Act of 2023, was introduced by Williams in September. If passed, it would create a $50 million grant program to address health disparities and the prevalence of chronic disease through work with Black churches and other community-based organizations. The program would pay for medical services, support health care providers, work to increase access to care and address social determinants of health.
“I think you have to look at the history of Black churches, and our Black churches have always been a very trusted partner in the community,” Williams said. “That only heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Long-term, we want to see health outcomes (in the Black community) that are on parity with other communities in this country,” she said.
‘We’re on the front lines’
Using varying resources based on church size and finances, many congregations find ways to help promote health and wellness for their members.
The need is evident in communities surrounding the two Atlanta Medical Center hospitals closed in 2022 in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood and East Point.
Antioch Urban Ministries, the nonprofit arm of Antioch Baptist Church North in west Atlanta, has partnered with Fulton County, Walgreens, Morehouse School of Medicine and other organizations for health fairs, food banks, diagnostic screenings, housing programs for people living with HIV and other health initiatives. The need, they say, is greater since the AMC closures.
“With the closing of the two hospitals, we’re seeing more people show up for our health fairs,” the Rev. K. L. Alexander told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is an observation, and I’m not as doctor, but the people we see even at the food bank appear to be sicker and need more.”
In the past 18 months, Antioch Urban Ministries launched its S.O.S. (Serving Our Seniors) program aimed at helping seniors get to doctors appointments and afford prescriptions, and addressing food insecurity.
Alexander estimates that Antioch Baptist Church North, the largest supporter of Antioch Urban Ministries, spends nearly $1 million annually on programs related to improving access to health care for its members. While most churches might not be able to afford that level of investment, Alexander wants them to know that they don’t have to do it alone.
“Once people know that you want to help, help will show up,” he said.
The Rev. Joseph L. Williams is the senior pastor at Salem Bible Church, and a certified nutritionist and holistic practitioner. He encourages his church members to tackle health issues at the root: through healthy eating.
The church, which has campuses in Atlanta and Stonecrest, recently started a community garden, Canaan Farms, at its northwest Atlanta site on Baker Road. Salem also offers classes on micro-gardening to help others learn to grow fresh vegetables and fruits. All crops grown are given to the church’s social services department and are then included in food distribution.
Several years ago, Williams, 46, lost 110 pounds. Now he uses that knowledge to help members in his congregation and others through a free six-week course he devised, called “The 40-day Turn Up.” In addition, the church holds health screenings three to four times a year where participants can get their blood glucose levels, renal efficacy, liver function and weight checked.
“The church is still a great influencer in the community,” he said. “The local church can lead the discussion and be the motivation for members and parishioners to take their health seriously in a way that can be maintained and sustained. The church is in a position of educating and holding classes to, hopefully, close that gap of inequities.”
In November, the megachurch New Birth Missionary Baptist Church opened a roughly 4,000-square-foot multispecialty medical clinic on its Stonecrest campus, a partnership between the church and Community HealthCare of America, based in Norcross.
The clinic, the first of its kind between a church and Community HealthCare, serves the general public with urgent care and all types of primary care services, such as annual physicals and screenings.
Dr. Jason Morris, the clinic’s medical director, said New Birth was a perfect location because of its large congregation and already established outreach in the South DeKalb community. The clinic hopes to add more specialists in the future.
“We can treat people from head to toe,” he said. “Our mission is to partner with community centers or places of worship that are involved in community outreach. It allows us to get on the front lines with people much, much quicker. Churches are great with community outreach.”
Having a full-service commercial clinic on the 10,000-member church’s campus is a step beyond occasional free clinics other churches provide.
The clinic pays rent to New Birth. The total investment in the new clinic to date is about $1 million, said Morris.
Mary Harris, an 84-year-old DeKalb resident with diabetes, recently came to the clinic for a follow-up visit so Morris could examine any changes to her feet and skin. Harris was in and out in less than an hour.
“It helps a lot because if you’ve got more than one doctor, you can arrange your visit so you can see all of your doctors at one place,” she said. “With me not driving anymore I have to get somebody to take me everywhere.
‘I think you have to look at the history of Black churches, and our Black churches have always been a very trusted partner in the community. That only heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic.’ U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta