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Everyday Heroes: Atlanta woman creates nonprofit to give back and break boundaries

LaTonya Gates (left) started an after-school program called PAWkids for children in Atlanta’s Westside. “Poverty is a mindset that we are working with these children to overcome,” she said. “This isn’t a babysitting club. The children who come here want to work to be better.” (Courtesy of Isadora Pennington)

Credit: Isadora Pennington

Credit: Isadora Pennington

LaTonya Gates (left) started an after-school program called PAWkids for children in Atlanta’s Westside. “Poverty is a mindset that we are working with these children to overcome,” she said. “This isn’t a babysitting club. The children who come here want to work to be better.” (Courtesy of Isadora Pennington)
By Cathy Cobbs, Rough Draft Atlanta
6 hours ago

On paper, LaTonya Gates didn’t have a chance.

Born in prison, the daughter of a heroin addict, Gates struggled with all the issues that often affect children in those circumstances, including learning and behavioral challenges.

“I was kicked out of every school in DeKalb County,“ she recalled. “Being born a heroin baby meant I had a lot of issues.”

It was only with the help of her grandmother and a group of “strong African American women” that Gates turned her life around, culminating with her being elected the president of her student body as a senior in high school. It inspired Gates to put her energy and time into the community that helped her, and more importantly, needed her.

"I wanted to give back to the community that saved my life," says LaTonya Gates. She started an after-school program called PAWKids for children in Atlanta’s Westside. It provides family services, medical and mental health care, food and wellness resources, and learning support for families in need. (Courtesy of Rough Draft Atlanta)

Credit: Rough Draft Atlanta

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Credit: Rough Draft Atlanta

With the support of a Paradise Baptist and Atlanta Westside Presbyterian, Gates bought “the largest drug house in the neighborhood,” renovated it and started an after-school program called PAWKids for children in the Grove Park community on Atlanta’s Westside. It has now grown into a community-enrichment program providing family services, medical and mental health care, food and wellness resources, and learning support for families in need.

“Some called it a crazy idea, but I wanted to give back to the community that saved my life,” Gates said. “We are forming relationships with these children that will allow them to break boundaries.”

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Most of the 50 children who attend the after-school program come from Title 1 schools that are the lowest rated in the city. But Gates said she isn’t discouraged.

“Poverty is a mindset that we are working with these children to overcome,” she said. “This isn’t a babysitting club. The children who come here want to work to be better.”

HOW TO HELP

For more information on how to get involved with PAWKids, go to pawkids.org.

About the Author

Cathy Cobbs, Rough Draft Atlanta