ATLANTA — A church in Atlanta’s Adamsville neighborhood is working to combat crime with compassion.
According to the Atlanta Police Department’s crime data, Adamsville and neighboring community Fairburn Mays had 159 crimes against people in 2023 when looking at the murder, aggravated assault, and simple assault categories. For comparison, the Fairburn Road/Wisteria Lane neighborhood, which is next to the two neighborhoods, had one crime when looking at the same categories.
“I've seen this community change. I've seen businesses come. I've seen businesses go,” said Rev. Douglas Stowers, who’s lived in the area for more than 50 years. “And we've seen a lot of things that may be not for good that’s happening. Gangs, drugs, gun violence is inundating our community.”
The 30-year pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta said they started an outreach program, Love in a Bag, to help feed kids from L. P. Miles Elementary.
“Because I think it's important that we start at the earliest level that we can,” said Stowers. “We can't wait until those children get in high school to try to change their character and change their morals. You can't do that. You have to start early.”
Once a month, volunteers meet in the church’s basement to put together 150 bags of food, filled with drinks, meals, snacks, and some extra treats.
“And some other things that will tell somebody that, ‘hey, we love you and we're here. We're here for you,’” said Stowers.
The pastor said it’s a way to reach out to kids, in hopes of getting them involved in the church instead of them finding involvement elsewhere.
“That's why these children are joining gangs is because they want a sense of belonging,” said Stowers. “And somehow or another, we've got to tell them you can belong to this family where we call each other brother and sister, and you will be loved.”
Stowers said the church used to have much larger children’s presence, but, over the years, it’s dwindled.
“Parents take their children everywhere else but church. They take them to all the basketball games, the football games, Six Flags,” said Stowers. “They take them everywhere except church on Sunday morning. And I think that has a great impact on what we're seeing now.”
The pastor said this is the first year providing food for the kids. He along with the volunteers and those that head up the program at the church said they hope Love in a Bag continues.
“You can't tell folks you love them. You got to show them that you love them,” said Stowers. “And that's a way to show that we care about them.”