Meet Myra Miller...

Myra has joined the Grant Park Dwell house and is part of the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Myra is not new to our ministries at DOOR; she served on our summer staff last summer and lived in our Capitol View Dwell house. This past year she worked at Calvin Center, the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta’s Camp and Conference Center. One of Myra’s favorite ministries while on summer staff was The Friendship Center at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church. She is now serving at that ministry for the next year through our Dwell program. Myra says that “throughout my life I want to serve because I believe it is one’s responsibility as a human on earth to give back and help other fellow human beings. The only way to feel alive is to spread compassion and kindness where there is suffering and pain in the world. There is a common unity that forms around healing and helping others.”

Meet Sarah Bellacicco...

Sarah has joined the Grant Park Dwell house and is part of the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Sarah just graduated from Presbyterian College where she served as the Student Volunteer Services Intern. Sarah has traveled both to Germany and Africa; trips that have had an impact on her faith journey. Sarah says that “Looking back on my month in Malawi, I can see what a large role God played in my time there. Through the people I met in Malawi, God showed me what it means to live with few earthly attachments, loving and caring for all those I came into contact with, and trusting fully in God for protection and sustenance – a lesson I will spend my life trying to fully understand and replicate.” This year Sarah will be serving at the Central Outreach and Advocacy Center working with those who are homeless and the working poor.

Meet Megan Warley...

Megan has joined the Grant Park Dwell house and is part of the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Megan is from Erie, Pennsylvania and just graduated from Penn State. Megan says that she is interested in living in intentional Christian community for several reasons. “Living in community allows you to grow as an individual. When living with other people you are often forced to examine aspects of yourself that are selfish or unloving. Whether this examination occurs as part of a disagreement or differing opinions, you are given the opportunity to see another perspective and learn more about that person. Living in intentional Christian community also provides a supportive environment in which to go through a new experience. It is comforting to know that as I live in a new city and start a new job, I would share that experience with other people in the same situation. By living in intentional Christian community we would be able to encourage one another and share insights so as to enrich one another’s experience." Megan will be serving with DOOR as the coordinator of our Spring and Summer Mission Trip program.

DOOR Opens for Intergenerational Fun!

The following article was in the Calvin Court newsletter, The Messenger. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Calvin Court in the future.

~Jannan Thomas, DOOR Atlanta City Director

It's hard to tell who had more fun this summer - the seniors or the youth - when teens from DOOR Atlanta visited Calvin Court each Tuesday to interact with and enjoy the company of residents.


A faith based network in six U.S. cities, DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) provides youth with opportunities for service, learning and leadership development within an urban context, explained Sally Stephenson, Assistant Coordinator, DOOR Atlanta. Volunteers can participate from a weekend to a week or longer. They stay at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Atlanta and take part during the day in a variety of service opportunities. At the end of the day, we ask participants, where did you see the face of God in the city today?" she said.


This summer was the first time DOOR and Calvin Court teamed up, giving two generations of people who normally wouldn't have the opportunity to interact a chance to get to know one another. Both sides found the partnership inspired and inspiring. Every Tuesday, a group of youngsters, ages 12 - 19, and young adult leaders visited Calvin Court residents to play Wii bowling, join together in exercise classes, participate in pool tournaments and more. Some youth even judged a best T-shirt contest.


"Of all our stops, Calvin Court is my favorite," said Charlayna Braxton, a DOOR youth leader and student at Mercer University. "I'm an athlete, and I loved walking into the exercise classes and seeing 84 year old residents exercising, lifting weights and keeping fit. I know people 20 or 30 years younger who don't have the energy of the Calvin Court residents! They truly embody the saying you are only as old as you feel."


The youth also asked residents to share their life stories, asking questions about faith and family and inquirng about the best and most trying times of the seniors' lives. Resident Willard Odenwelder enjoyed the time with the teens. "It was refreshing having the kids participate in our activities," he said. "They visited with us and got a little of our stories and we, in turn, asked questions about their lives. It has been a great experience. I hope they can come back next summer."


"The interaction is so natural, so genuine between the generations," Charlayna said. "The seniors might see in the young people's faces the faces of their own children when they were young, or maybe the faces of their grandchildren or even great-grandchildren."


In the faces of the seniors, Sally added, the young can often discern the face of God. Drawing from a number of biblical passages, including the Good Samaritan story, the ministry's theme this summer was Welcoming the Stranger. "This was truly the experience between the generations at Calvin Court," she said. "For both the younger and the older generation, the partnership was a living example of offering hospitality to a stranger and leaving not as strangers but as good friends."

Meet Sonya Chelliah...

Sonya just joined our Capitol View Dwell house after moving to Atlanta from Miami, Florida. Sonya just finished a Masters program in Biomedical Science and is preparing to apply to medical school. Sonya is excited about living in the Dwell intentional Christian community because she wants to “grow in her walk with Christ. In Ephesians 4: 11-13, Paul talks about how the different talents that we all have prepare us to do God’s work, serve others, and grow in faith in unity as One Body in Christ. I want to learn how to contribute my talents to a community so that God is glorified.” Sonya is one of our tentmaker local Dwellers.

Meet Joel Gerber...

Joel and his wife Leslie, and their daughter Cora, just moved into our Capitol View Dwell house. Joel and his family moved from Harper, Kansas where he was a health and 9th grade PE teacher. Joel and Leslie are members of Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church. The Gerbers were encouraged by members of their church to consider a year of service. Joel says: “My home church has always had a strong connection with mission work outside of the home community. This connection has made me more aware of people in need and how good I do have it. Some fellow church members have been critical in encouraging me in this direction and I would not [have applied] if it wasn't for them.” Joel will be serving with Clifton Sanctuary Ministries, which is a homeless men’s shelter. He will also be serving as “Gardener in Residence” at Imagine Wesley Charter School.

Meet our Dwellers!

Meet Cassie Ford...

Cassie just arrived from Burlington Vermont. The past few years she worked at Howard Center Baird School. She worked one on one with students with emotional, social and behavioral disorders. This is not Cassie’s first experience of Atlanta. A few years ago she served as an intern at Rescue Atlanta Ministries and couldn’t wait to come back to Atlanta. Cassie is excited to join the Dwell intentional Christian community “because I am excited about the friendships that could be formed from living with people who are like minded and doing ministry work also. With those friendships would also come a sense of accountability to each other and to God. I find, at least in my own experience, that when I live or interact with other Christians and do Bible studies or outreach with them my relationship with God strengthens. I am also just excited to know that I would have a place to go home to where I could share my experiences of the day and be supported in areas of ministry that might not be easy.” Cassie is living in the Capitol View Dwell house and will be serving with Street Grace, which works to eliminate the sexual exploitation of children in Atlanta.

Meet our Dwellers!

Over the next week, I'll be introducing you to our Dwellers. These 12 folks have come together to live in intentional Christian community over the next year. If you or someone you know is interested in our Dwell program, please feel free to contact me for more information. We accept both local Atlanta folks interested in living in community, as well as, folks interested in coming to do volunteer work for a year or more in Atlanta.

~Jannan Thomas, DOOR Atlanta City Director

Meet Leslie Gerber...

Leslie and her husband Joel, and their daughter Cora, just moved into our Capitol View Dwell house. Leslie and her family moved from Harper, Kansas where she was teaching secondary math. The Gerbers were encouraged by members of their church to consider a year of service. Leslie says: “I grew up in a church where voluntary service was not something many people did unless they were going to be a preacher. Since then, having gone to Hesston College and now attending Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church, I know many people that serve and use it as a positive learning and growing experience. My Christian community now has played a major role in my decision to serve, talking to those who have served and those who had the chance but did not.” Leslie will be serving with Neighbors Abbey where she will be doing community organizing in the neighborhood where our Dwell house is located.

D-Lite or Dwell Neighborhood Addition

I had the privelege of meeting last night with folks from both our Capitol View Dwell house and Grant Park Dwell house, as well as folks who live in the neighborhood of Capitol View who are invested in what we are doing. The purpose of getting together to eat good desserts was to talk about how people who are interested in what we are doing, but who do not live in our Dwell house, can be a part of Dwell. What seems to be brewing is something we are calling D-lite (Dwell Lite) or Dwell Neighborhood Addition. Our Dwell house would remain the core of our ministry in Capitol View, but we would begin to have a bigger family of Dwell in the 'hood. The foundation of which would be relationships. I don't know how this will develop over the next few months, but I am really excited to be having these conversations. And in reality, I also recognize that we are just putting a name and developing some structure for something that already exists. Our Dwell houses can't be who they are without the greater community. And we hope that the houses are also able to be a support and sense of joy for those in the community. The challenge moving ahead will be around staying intentional about these relationships, but also allowing things to develop organically, as they have before.

~Jannan Thomas, DOOR Atlanta City Director