Right now, a kid in Atlanta is one steady adult away from making it — or one bad week away from gone. One steady adult away from making it. One bad week away from gone.

Building Bridges & Hope walks alongside young people who've been counted out — a meal, a bed, a paycheck, and someone who shows up every week. We don't fix kids. We back them.

The gap

Marcus was 16, couch-surfing, skipping meals to stay invisible. Smart enough to know nobody was coming.

We don't hand a kid a brochure. We build the bridge — one plank at a time.

Every kid who crosses needs all five. Marcus walked every plank of this arc. The widest one changed his whole direction.

A warm meal

Nobody plans a future on an empty stomach. We start with the table.

A safe bed

Stable housing so a kid can stop surviving the day and start building one.

Mentoring

The weekly check-in. The adult who keeps showing up — the reason to keep going.

04The widest plank

Barbering

A real trade, a real chair, a real skill that pays. Where Marcus found his reason.

Employment

A first paycheck, a license, a way to stand on his own — and reach back.

meals → housing → mentoring → barbering → employment

The chair

I open the shop now.

He came in arms crossed, hood up, dragged by a friend. He didn't say a word for three weeks. Then someone put clippers in his hand. Eight months later, Marcus is 17, opens the shop most mornings — thirty regulars and a waitlist for his fade. He tests for his license this spring. Nobody fixed him. He just needed one thing that was his.

Marcus is a composite — a portrait drawn from the kids who walk through our door.

A student barber's hands working clippers through a fresh fade — close, focused, steady.

The other side

Marcus made it across. He's not the exception — he's the proof.

$40 is a week of meals for a kid who's skipping them. Build his next plank.

Back a kid today →

Pick what you can do. Watch what it does.

$25Fills the table Hot meals for a week. Nobody learns on an empty stomach. Give $25 → $50Stocks the chair Clippers, guards, capes for a student barber's first month. Give $50 → $100Pairs a mentor A month of the weekly check-in that becomes the reason a kid keeps showing up. Give $100 → $250Funds a first license State board exam & starter kit that turns an apprentice into a paid barber. Give $250 →

Givebutter covers our processing fees, so 100% of what you give reaches the kids.

The pattern

One kid is a story. This many is a pattern.

kids housed

trades learned

100%

of them, somebody's reason to keep going

Our founder

The man who keeps showing up

Eddie Meredith has spent his life walking Atlanta's hardest blocks — a pastor, an organizer, the guy serving hot meals and sitting with the people the system forgot. In 2025 he carried that work to the ballot, running for Mayor of Atlanta on housing and what he calls systemic healing. Building Bridges & Hope is that same mission, pointed at the kids: meet them where they are, walk with them, and build the bridge that gets them across.

"My mission is to serve the people of Atlanta with integrity, vision, and action. I am committed to building a city where every resident feels safe, supported, and empowered to thrive."

— Eddie MeredithFounder, Building Bridges & Hope · Atlanta

@meredith_for_mayoratl Read Eddie's story →

Be the reason

Somewhere in Atlanta, a kid is one plank away from standing on his own. Hope

He's missing one plank — and you're holding it.

Monthly or one-time. Every dollar stays in Atlanta. Cancel anytime — no guilt, no phone calls.

Back a kid today →

Givebutter covers our processing fees, so 100% of what you give reaches the kids.

No cash to spare? You've still got something a kid needs.

Mentor

One hour a week. Be the steady adult who keeps showing up.

Volunteer

Serve a meal. Cut hair. Show a kid the room is glad he's in it.

Partner

Hiring, supplies, or space — open a door a kid can walk through.