ATLANTA — In the East Lake neighborhood, not all homes are created equal. Some houses show their age. Others stand out due to their recent renovations. Ilham Askia, president and CEO of the East Lake Foundation, said that's where the game of golf comes in to drive home the message of legacy.
"The purpose is to invest in a community that was once, almost 30 years ago, completely ignored, and a lot of disinvestment happened," Askia said. “We’re able to take a portion of the proceeds donated to the East Lake Foundation and reinvest them in the community, which means affordable housing, quality education, physical and mental health wellbeing, and economic mobility for families.”
Askia showed 11Alive The Trust at East Lake, a new 40-unit affordable townhome community that will allow people to build wealth. Askia said it will serve as the first opportunity for many to become homeowners, achieve economic mobility and stay in the community where they grew up. For longtime residents of the East Lake community, it comes down to preserving a legacy and leaving a legacy.
Over the last decade, the Tour Championship has donated more than $54 million in proceeds to the Atlanta community. A lot of that money has sparked the construction of more than 850 affordable rental homes and 40 townhomes.
Rick Baldwin, the president of the East Lake Community Association, has seen change at the ground level, from the newly renovated golf course next door to graduation rates at Drew Charter School skyrocket.
"It has more of an identity than it did before," Baldwin said. "It was a sleepy little Eastern outpost of the city of Atlanta, a little residential neighborhood people didn’t know much about. The city has done a nice job of working with those legacy residents to have their property taxes frozen because they're on fixed incomes. This is a good example of how public and private money can come together and raise the profile of a neighborhood.”
Some of those who call East Lake home now may feel as though they are trapped in the bunker. But Askia is working to instill legacy and make sure that even those in the rough can benefit from the game of golf, even if they're not playing it.
"We're not East Lake if we don't continue to talk about the important work of those that came before us," Askia said. "We know there's still work to do. We know some of our families see the outcomes or the outputs of what's happening. They see these new developments and they're not quite sure how they fit in. Our responsibility is to still reach out to families. It is really important that we continue to amplify those voices and we tell people who move here about the legacy of the community.”