THE CHELSEA FUND.

It should’ve been a turning point for the better.

When residents of Chelsea Gardens... many of them elderly, disabled, veterans, or families with young children began raising concerns about the deteriorating and hazardous conditions of their apartments, they weren’t asking for much. They asked for safety. For dignity. For accountability.

Instead, they were met with betrayal.

In early 2025, rather than holding the property owner accountable for years of neglect, the City of College Park abruptly condemned the entire complex, giving residents mere days to vacate. No formal relocation plan. No sufficient aid. No real regard for the human cost. Families were forced to pack up their lives overnight, with nowhere to go and no help to get there.

To make matters worse, the same city government that ignored the growing cries of its most vulnerable residents entered into a partnership with the slumlord, furthering the harm. And while a handful of residents with special circumstances like disabilities, advanced age, or being a veteran were given some assistance through a nonprofit the city contracted, many of those residents and nearly all of those who did not fit the cities specified guidelines for assistance are still struggling to recover.

And the most appalling part?

Whatever funds the property owner offered to help the displaced were returned to him by the city. Instead of leveraging every available resource to repair the damage, the city doubled down on its indifference, leaving families displaced and traumatized with no apology, no justice, and no plan.

Hope Hub didn’t wait for a press release. We didn’t wait for an emergency meeting or a photo op.

Before the city even acknowledged the full scale of this crisis, Pastor Wallace was already on the ground meeting with residents, listening to stories, and responding to the heartbreak with help and hope. Pastor Wallace had become privy to what was happening weeks before the city got involved dropping off an Uber rider in the community. Something he does often in his spare time to connect with people throughout the city. Pastor Wallace was ministering to this young man of great potential; he prayed with him.

But Pastor Wallace was not prepared for what he would witness as he drove through the community to drop the young man off. Broken and worn-down buildings, some even leveled. Navigating holes through the parking lot as if it had been a war zone. High vegetation and unkept grounds, people who were noticeably distraught by the circumstances and conditions they had no choice but to live with. It was in this moment the young man would alert Pastor Wallace of what was happening, he said that new ownership had just taken over and served the entire community notice to leave.

From that day forward, Pastor Wallace showed up. In whatever way he and some of his close ministry friends could help, they did. Groceries, gift cards, transitional assistance, transportation, outreach to communities that might help with intake, hotel costs, and prayer. And he hasn't stopped.

With little to no external funding and minimal support, Pastor Wallace stood in the gap, walking with these families from eviction notices to temporary shelter, from despair to a sense of direction. This work has been deeply personal, painfully sacrificial, and wholly necessary.

The Chelsea Fund is not just a program; it is a moral response to civic failure. It is a prophetic act of repair. It is Hope Hub’s declaration that even when systems fail, the people of God will not.

This fund exists to meet the ongoing needs of those displaced in the Chelsea Gardens crisis and to build a permanent emergency response fund that will support future cases of housing instability and displacement throughout the Tri-Cities and Southside Atlanta.

We are committing the first $50,000 of this fund directly to families affected by Chelsea Gardens. But the long-term goal is bigger: to ensure that never again will our communities face this kind of crisis alone.

When you give to The Chelsea Fund, you are not just donating—you are choosing to be part of a righteous response. You are helping families reclaim stability. You are helping rewrite what dignity and justice look like in our city. You are saying never again will we be silent while the vulnerable suffer.

We invite you to stand with us, to sow into this work, and to help ensure that Hope Hub can keep showing up where others fail to.