Rodney Bullard has lived in Atlanta all of his life, so he is quite familiar with the legacy, words and work of the late Civil Rights leader and United States Rep. John Lewis. But there was one phrase that always stuck with him.
“We all live in the same house,” Lewis said in a 2010 speech, parts of which he repeated throughout his career.
“We are one people, we are one family, we are one house. Maybe we all came to this country in different ships, but we are all in the same boat now. We must walk together and never leave that house of the beloved community.”
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
“He was an awesome soul,” Bullard said of Lewis, who died in 2020. “This notion that we all live in the same house is an allegory we need to remember. We would not let one room burn down while we are in the other rooms. We all can do our part, whether small or big. We don’t have to all agree, but we do have to recognize that there are issues.”
In 2023, using Lewis as an inspiration, Bullard started Same House, a new nonprofit aimed at reducing the effects of the social and economic gaps within the city of Atlanta.
Since its inception, the organization has raised about $45 million, which in turn has been donated to other nonprofits, who are working to build communities.
Same House has also been instrumental in launching Tables Across America, an initiative which Bullard says helps communities find common purpose and bonding, as well as forming a leadership program for Georgia high school students called Youth LEAD Georgia. In November, the first class of Youth LEAD Georgia students graduated from the University of Georgia-backed program.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
The Same House was launched in January 2023 by Bullard, the former vice president of corporate social responsibility at Chick-fil-A.
Bullard’s initiative grew out of Chick-fil-A’s annual Beloved Benefit, an annual gathering of business leaders and neighborhood residents, who symbolically represented that “same house.”
At the 2019 Beloved Benefit, whose past attendees and performers had included Usher and Maroon 5, Lewis reminded the audience, “we are all from the same house.”
Bullard, who left Chick-fil-A in 2023 to start Same House, said he wanted to continue Beloved Benefit’s mission to “bring Atlanta together to help us understand the needs of our communities.”
That same year, the Beloved Benefit, featuring John Legend, brought in more than $8.8 million for groups working on increasing economic mobility in the city and addressing mental health challenges.
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Now part of Bullard’s Same House, the Beloved Benefit has raised more than $12 million for a wide range of community organizations in the city, including: AtlantaCareerRise, Center for Employment Opportunities, The Goodr Foundation, Goodwill of North Georgia, Latin American Association, Quest Community Development Organization, The Village Market, and Westside Future Fund, Boys and Girls Clubs of metro Atlanta, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship, First Step Staffing and the Urban League of Greater Atlanta among others.
The 2025 event is scheduled for August at the Woodruff Arts Center and will focus on housing, education and employment, Bullard said.
Kwame Johnson knows the effect.
The president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of metro Atlanta was recently notified that the organization will soon be getting a grant from the Same House.
Johnson said the money will be used to help develop and enhance mentorship programs for the more than 2,700 young people they serve across 12 metro Atlanta counties.
“For years we have been admirers of what the Same House was doing,” Johnson said. “This will expand our work to help young people get to the next level. Organizations like the Same House are vital, because they provide us with the resources to do more.”
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