A mama to many, Ms. Cassandra has become affectionately known as Grandma to our team at oaksATL and Peace Preparatory Academy. As a resident advocate for Oaks, whose job is to look out for her neighbors, and as a Christ follower, whose heart is to see her neighborhood thrive, she has a legacy of caring for a diversity of people who cross her path. Because of the impact she’s had on our staff and the neighborhood, Matt Maxwell, Peace Preparatory Academy’s director of community development and oaksATL executive director, asked me to get to know Grandma. Truth be told, Matt was the first member of the oaksATL and Peace family to begin calling Ms. Cassandra Grandma. “When he came out here,” she recalls, “I was staring at him from across the street. And he said, ‘Do y’all wanna send y’alls grandbabies to the school [Peace Prep]? That’s when we started sending our little baby. She go over there. So we sent her, and then we had the other kids; they going to the after-school program. They liked it over there ‘cause they had sports for them and stuff. And that’s when Matt said, ‘Can I call you my grandma too?’ And I said, ‘Sure!’” Soon, with Ms. Cassandra’s blessing, members of the Oaks and Peace team followed suit, and Ms. Cassandra became Grandma to several members of our staff. Although the title was new to our employees, it was a fitting representation of Grandma’s matriarchal presence in English Avenue for more than 30 years. As she has welcomed so many others into her family, she welcomed us as well.

Grandma invited me over to chat one rainy Monday afternoon in February. As I peeked around the open door that led into the apartment, Grandma immediately invited me inside to sit on the couch pushed against the right wall of her living room. I stepped through the door avoiding the preschool-aged kids and countless toys scattered on the floor and took a seat next to Grandma. Ms. Patrice, Grandma’s neighbor from across the building, was sitting in a kitchen chair across from us. Before I arrived, they had been having a regular afternoon chat about their other neighbors in the oaksATL units. Nevertheless, I seemed to be a welcome interruption, likely because our time together was encouraged by Matt. “I love that baby,” Grandma laughed.

“What do you like about living in English Avenue?” I asked.

“When I was over here, nobody would mess with me. And I stayed to myself. Some of the people were nice. But some of ‘em you had to get back with them,” Grandma Cassandra laughed. “Like her.” She pointed to Ms. Patrice. “Like she’s nice; I met her.”

As Grandma began to tell me different parts of her story, it was clear that although nobody messed with her, she didn’t always keep to herself. “In this neighborhood, I done took in so many people’s children... I’m talking about they slept in my floor, they ate in my kitchen; I didn’t care,” she said matter-of-factly. “And they called me mamma. They called me mamma, and they raised up with my children.” As we sat together, she laughed about the kids she had seen growing up in her neighborhood and some of their antics. She also lamented the pain she and other adults and children had endured in English Avenue. Despite the hardships throughout her lifetime, her soul so clearly still had hope for a thriving neighborhood. She believed that the fostering of children in her community could turn it’s mourning into dancing. She shared with me a little bit about the impact she saw Peace Prep having on her block. 

“Because that place done grown a lot, with all the kids you see go to class there… that is good!” she emphasized. “Cause at times they wouldn’t go to school like this. Now with Mr. Matt here, they showing these children it’s stuff you can do out here. You can learn. And [Peace Prep] take out their time to deal with children.” Grandma’s motherly care for her neighbors and grandchildren also works to see her hopes realized. She spends time talking on the phone with incarcerated young men from the neighborhood, encouraging them to impact the lives of children for the better when they leave prison. And she wants to build community with her neighbors, so they can keep each other accountable when trouble does arise. She told me she hopes for a community center, more frequent apartment barbeques, and meetings with her neighbors. 



I believe Grandma’s actions, hopes, and dreams are a picture of her motherhood and grandmotherhood to her apartment building, city block, and entire neighborhood. Now, she is glad to be able to care for her neighbors and her grandchildren alongside Matt, his team, and Peace Prep. “I know it’s just a school, but that man… they need to give him a reward,” she laughed. “He need a reward… and need a whole month vacation.”