“As time goes by, we often ask ourselves how and what we are doing in this world.”  This is the first line of a poem written by Larry Hood, an adult participant at the Frazer Center.  No one knew Larry could communicate until he was exposed to adaptive computerLarry Hood's collection of poetry: "The Time Is Now" technology for people with disabilities. Obviously, Larry had some very deep thoughts and is now able to share his talents with the world. Like Larry, Atlanta has a hidden strength you can discover: Set amongst old-growth hardwood trees in a forest just inside...

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With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound He pulls the spitting high-tension wires down Helpless people on subway trains Scream, bug-eyed, as he looks in on them He picks up a bus and he throws it back down As he wades through the buildings toward the center of town Oh, no, they say he's got to go Go go Godzilla Oh, no, there goes Tokyo Go go Godzilla Lately, I've been doing frequent battle in Atlanta with a monster that lurks in many of our minds. He's huge, toxic and nefarious. Lets give him a four letter name: ENVY. There, said it. Green eyed monsters barrage our unconscious minds...

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Huge, enormous, behemoth... Early in the morning April 3, 2012, 35 hardhat wearing Atlanta friends boarded the big, dark cargo elevator at the heart of the largest brick building in the Southeast. At 2.1 million square feet, the almost 90 year-old Sears buildings provide Jim Irwin and Jamestown Properties a solid structure to bring up to modern, efficient and eco-friendly standards. Across America in the roaring 1920's, Sears built 16 regional, railroad connected, retail, warehousing and distribution buildings like the complex that is becoming Ponce City Market.Jim Irwin welcomes CityLights friends before touring the site.One need only visit the Westside Retail area...

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How bad does a neighborhood have to get for the liquor store to up and move out? For the Historic South Atlanta Civic League they could tell you the tide was lowest in November 2000. On that rainy first Tuesday, under a loaned mortuary shelter in the parking lot of that abandoned building, Charis Community Housing hosted CityLights to share the neighborhood's vision for rejuvenating  their amazing part of Atlanta. Last Tuesday, March 13, 2012 CityLights got an update from Charis Community Housing's executive director Jim Wehner. Jim told us about how at that same derelict liquor store corner in 2012 you...

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Alongside I-75/85, 1 block Southeast of the 10th Street bridge, there are miracles being performed many days a week. At 75 Peachtree Place in a modest red brick building, men & women struggling through the adversity of homelessness have a place of encouragement, strategic counsel, and personal vision melded with practical long-term goal setting.Through a program called CareerWorks, Monday-Thursdays from 7am-3pm, residents from many Atlanta homeless shelters are referred to receive career assessment, meaningful training and immediately actionable direction for getting a paying job. OUTCOMES: 350 graduates enrolled in CareerWorks Program last year with 94+% graduation rate, 70+% job placement rate...

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