Standing With Our Neighbors (SWON)®

Safe, stable housing is essential for families, students, and communities.

Yet in Atlanta, where nearly half of residents are renters, too many face unsafe conditions, constant instability, or eviction notices. When housing becomes uncertain, children's health suffers, education is interrupted, and families are left without options.

That's where AVLF's Standing with Our Neighbors® (SWON) program comes in. Instead of waiting for families to seek help, we bring legal advocacy directly into schools and neighborhoods, embedding attorneys and community advocates where they're needed most.

Our team provides on-the-ground support to prevent eviction, fight poor housing conditions, and improve housing stability because home should be a place of safety, not uncertainty.

SWON began in 2016 at Thomasville Heights Elementary School, in partnership with Purpose Built Schools and with support from the Cousins Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and the Home Depot Foundation. Today, we're embedded in nine Atlanta schools, where our attorneys and community advocates work side-by-side with educators and residents to repair unsafe conditions, stop evictions, and keep students rooted in their communities.