Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO)

On Thanksgiving Day, Jo-Anne's House hosted our very first community event, providing care bags to veterans experiencing homelessness at the Veterans Empowerment Organization in Atlanta.

This event will always be special to me because it was the first time I saw the vision for Jo-Anne's House come together in the community. I developed a partnership with the VEO, reached out to hotels and local businesses for donations, organized volunteers, collected supplies, and somehow managed to pull all the pieces together for our first event.

It was a huge undertaking, especially because I was figuring things out as I went. But when everything came together, I was incredibly proud of what we accomplished.

More than anything, we felt privileged to serve veterans who had served our country. The care bags were a small gesture, but being welcomed into the VEO and given an opportunity to support the men they served meant a great deal to us.

That first event showed me what was possible when community organizations, businesses, and volunteers came together around a shared purpose.

It was our first event, our first partnership, and the beginning of Jo-Anne's House showing up in the community.

And nearly nine years later, as I think about this experience, I'm still proud that this is where we started.