The History of Street GRACE
In 2000, Fulton County Chief Juvenile Court Judge Nina Hickson was appalled as she presided over the 1,000th case of child prostitution that had come before her. She considered this situation an epidemic of tragic proportions.
And she was right. This issue was brought to the attention of Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, who became a champion in the fight against this horrible injustice. In 2005, she commissioned a report known as “Hidden in Plain View,” which revealed to a broader audience the pervasiveness of commercial sexual exploitation of children in Atlanta. The report mentioned a few intersections that at the time were hotspots for this kind of activity. One of these hot spots was the corner of Peachtree Street and North Avenue — the very intersection at which North Avenue Presbyterian Church (NAPC) sits.
Dr. Scott Weimer, NAPC’s senior pastor, was shocked. Together with Rev. Dr. James Milner, senior pastor of Chapel of Christian Love Baptist Church and chairperson of the Mayor’s Faith-Based Roundtable, Dr. Weimer co-hosted two faith summits (March 2007 and January 2008). With the support of the Regional Council of Churches, these summits were organized in response to Mayor Shirley Franklin’s appeal to the faith community to join with her in the fight to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC).
While the faith summits were gathering in Atlanta, other groups began talking about the subject as well. One of these groups was Unite!, which is a non-denominational network of churches in and around Atlanta, whose focus on impacting the community includes issues of justice. It became clear through the discussions at the faith summits and the conversations at Unite! that, if the situation for commercially exploited children in Atlanta were to change, it would take all of the faith-based groups working together with community groups and elected officials.
A group of 8 churches hired a strategic consultant (Triaxia) and developed a Strategic Plan for churches to work together with the public, private, and social sectors to bring an end to CSEC in Atlanta. Street GRACE was formed as a result of this plan. In 2009 Street GRACE received independent 501(c)3 status.
Street GRACE (Galvanizing Resources Against Child Exploitation) is a non-denominational alliance of churches dedicated to supporting, enlarging, and allying with those individuals, and organizations, working toward eliminating CSEC. Street GRACE mobilizes the resources of churches, financial, human, and material, toward those organizations and individuals who have demonstrated effectiveness in battling CSEC in the areas of advocacy, aftercare, and mentoring. Our ultimate goal is the elimination of this problem in Atlanta and duplication of these efforts in other cities across the United States.
