Midtown Assistance Center celebrates 40 years of helping those who ‘struggle to make ends meet’

ATLANTA — A new outfit, nutritious food and hygienic help are just a few of the basics that remind Dorothy Chandler of the impact she can make in others’ lives. Chandler served as executive director of Midtown Assistance Center from 1994 to 2018. The nonprofit has served as a lifeline for 40 years for folks living in Atlanta, providing food, clothing, rental and utility assistance. 

“When I think about Midtown Assistance Center, I think about kindness and I think about how every person who comes here is treated so kindly,” Chandler said. “That has made all the difference in the world in people’s lives. People think I couldn’t get help from people I know, and here you are total strangers assisting me, helping me and becoming someone I can count on.”

Jenny Jobson now serves as executive director of Midtown Assistance Center. She said just missing a couple of days of work, a chronic condition or sudden health scare, or even a job loss can prove catastrophic for families just trying to survive.

“They struggle to make ends meet,” Jobson said. “Living in poverty means you probably don’t have a nest egg or support system that can help you when you have a crisis. These are major obstacles for people living paycheck to paycheck and don’t have extra funds to fill the gap when there’s a crisis.”

Jobson said she started volunteering at the nonprofit in 1997, then joined the staff the following year after she took a mission trip to Haiti and saw the poverty there. 

“It was a reminder that there was poverty in my own backyard here in Atlanta, and so I reached out to find out what different opportunities were available for service in the community,” Jobson said. “There’s always going to be a community member experiencing a crisis, job loss, a sick family member where they’ll need support from their neighbors to get them through those trying times.”

Jobson said she’s noticed a housing affordability crisis get worse, driving many of the people they’ve helped over the years even further from the city center. Despite a generation of assistance, Jobson said there’s still a long way to go to ensure Atlanta families find stability.

“There have been some important cuts to programs, changes in the requirements for people to receive SNAP benefits, and then the threshold for food stamps or SNAP benefits is actually very low,” Jobson said. “So there are a lot of working people who don’t even qualify for SNAP benefits because they make just too much to qualify for that supplemental support. We’ve provided more than $14 million in direct assistance, but every single time we’ve kept a family housed or we’ve provided food to a family experiencing food insecurity, those are wins.”

To celebrate 40 years of service, Midtown Assistance Center is throwing a Big MAC Bash Saturday at The Temple in Midtown. From past to present, Jobson, Chandler and dozens of volunteers continue to work to leave a lasting impact, whether it’s in the food pantry, on the clothing rack, or in someone’s heart.

“It’s not always about the rent check they get,” Chandler said. “That’s always appreciated, the utility assistance, food, whatever material things people receive, it’s really the kindness and the people they interact with.  When they come in, they know they’re special and that they’ll get that special treatment. We’ve got to prevent homelessness, prevent people from losing their job. That is so important. It’s so much easier than having someone start over again.”