Newsletter | November 4, 2025
In this week’s Voices:
- Today is Election Day; head to the polls to vote for local government officials
- A community member asks: Who gets to decide what public art looks like?
- Innovative housing solutions to address Atlanta’s affordability crisis
- And a rain dance for West End’s struggling arts scene
Send your feedback about this newsletter to hello@canopyatlanta.org.
As housing in metro Atlanta becomes ever more expensive, Cost of Living Fellow Iris Brooks is exploring how innovative housing solutions—like land trusts—can address Atlanta’s affordability crisis. Brooks lives in a multigenerational home, sharing space with several family members, a living arrangement that has become increasingly common as housing costs rise. She has lived in Decatur for 13 years.
As Decatur’s housing costs have soared, teachers, city employees, and other professionals have found themselves in an impossible position: earning too much to qualify for traditional affordable housing but not enough to afford market-rate homes in the community where they work. Oak Cottage Court represents an innovative solution to this housing gap, using a land trust model that makes homeownership accessible while preserving community character and preventing displacement.
“I could see myself living here for the rest of my life.”
—Linda Stapleton, Oak Cottage Court resident
In a city grappling with homelessness and affordable housing shortages, the Melody is an experiment in rapid housing solutions.
By converting shipping containers into micro-apartments, this facility addresses the immediate need for housing while providing wraparound services designed to help residents rebuild their lives. Named after a woman who died while experiencing homelessness, the Melody serves as a shelter and a stepping stone.
“I’m working towards getting me housing…I like it here, don’t get me wrong. It is amazing, but I want to be on my own and show people that I can.”
—Sherlyn Freeman, Melody resident
Today is Election Day! It's your last chance to cast a ballot in local municipal elections and the statewide Public Service Commission races, including voting for local mayors, city council, and school board members for the next four years.
Check the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page to verify your registration and polling place.
Over the past few weeks, Genia Billings has had more conversations about art and community than she ever imagined.
It began with conversations in South Atlanta and the community response to the mural commemorating the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre, but then in moved to the Grove Park community Genia has called home for more than 50 years.
In Genia’s most recent story, Genia asks, “Who gets to decide what public art looks like? Is it the artist? The property owner? The commissioning organization?
“Or should the people who live in the neighborhood have a say in how their history is depicted?”
By Brent Brewer, West End Fellow and Canopy Atlanta Board Member
Before the rain fell on the Music in the Park parade, musician and organizer Kebbi Williams placed an act of remembrance outside Gallery 992 on Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, the corridor once pulsing with West End’s most vibrant art performance spaces.
For nearly a decade, Gallery 992 was a hub for daily performances and spontaneous creativity, but its lease was abruptly canceled in May for unspecified redevelopment plans. Months later, the space still sits empty, its absence felt deeply along the stretch it helped enliven.
“Music in the Park has always been a rain dance,” Williams said as intermittent showers swept through during Atlanta Streets Alive. During the event that lasted four hours, he and a wide range of artists brought the corridor back to life—filling front lawns, sidewalks, and shuttered cultural institutions with drumlines, orchestras, spoken word, and spontaneous dance.
Want to catch up on the work Canopy Atlanta is doing and share what is happening in your neighborhood? Come out for a free cup of coffee this week.
Canopy Atlanta is popping up in coffee shops around Atlanta. We’ll share our location every week in the newsletter and on social media.
📅 Thursday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
📍 Ke’nekt Cooperative: 1492 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW, Suite A, Atlanta, GA 30310
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