Lydia's Place Ribbon Cutting

Description

Please join the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce as we celebrate the ribbon cutting for Lydia's Place.  In 2017, April Farlow uncovered a hidden crisis in our community: young adults working hard to attend school and hold jobs, but with nowhere to call home. Many came from unstable backgrounds or had aged out of foster care, leaving them to sleep in cars or on friends’ couches. These precarious situations often led to dropping out of school and homelessness. Shocked by the lack of support for these vulnerable youth, April rallied a group of eight women to pray and take action. Together, they founded Lydia’s Place. What began as a passionate volunteer effort with a single storage unit and a shoestring budget has grown into a thriving organization. Today, Lydia’s Place employs six paid staff, is supported by 13 board members, and engages hundreds of volunteers. Their Elevate program offers housing, life skills training, and trauma-informed support to students aged 17–24 as they pursue education and employment. They also run Provisions of Hope, which supplies dorm essentials to hundreds of college students across Georgia, and their new Step Down program, which helps Elevate graduates transition to independence with reduced rent and financial support for a year.