This year marks 25 years of FCS (Focused Community Strategies) living, working, and neighboring in Historic South Atlanta. From the beginning, the vision was clear: lasting community change doesn’t come from quick fixes or outside interventions—it comes from being rooted. From proximity. From relationship. From walking alongside neighbors, not ahead of them.
Over the past quarter-century, that vision has taken shape through hundreds of moments. New homeowners planting gardens. Youth leaders mentoring the next generation. Small businesses opening their doors. And behind it all, a steady commitment to presence and partnership.
Among those who helped bring that vision to life are Leroy and Donna Barber. When they moved into the neighborhood in the early 2000s, their goal was simple: to be good neighbors. They didn’t know it then, but they were planting roots that would grow a legacy.
The Barbers had already been working with FCS in the East Lake neighborhood when community leaders in South Atlanta—Jay and Nellie Springs, Lisa Haygood, and Kathy Taylor—invited FCS to partner with them. These leaders weren’t just looking for an organization; they were looking for neighbors. People who would put down roots, raise families, and build something together. Leroy and Donna said yes.
As parents to three young children, they began by asking what it would look like for their kids to grow up in a neighborhood where they felt safe, welcomed, and supported. For Leroy, that meant sweeping glass from a neighborhood basketball court and installing new rims. “My daughter Jessica loved basketball,” Leroy explains, “but it wasn’t just for her. It was for every kid in the neighborhood.”
Donna launched a youth group, linking young people in South Atlanta with those from East Lake. Summer camps, after-school programs, coaching, and mentoring grew out of those connections.
But the Barbers weren’t just building programs. They were building a home and a future. On an empty lot purchased by FCS, their dream of homeownership became a reality. “For us, the idea of owning a home felt almost unreal,” Leroy recalls. “It was incredible, but even more than that, it felt dignifying because we were a part of the process.”
The Barbers sat down with the foundation funding the build and shared their story. “They met our family, learned about our work, and understood how we planned to connect with the neighborhood,” explains Leroy. “They knew I was a pastor, and Donna was an educator, and that meant something. That sense of dignity has stuck with me. And I think that same spirit still lives in South Atlanta 25 years later.”
The Barbers’ home is one of more than 200 homes that FCS has renovated or built since beginning its affordable housing work, many of which are located in Historic South Atlanta. Drawing on lessons learned from our work in East Lake and Grant Park, FCS came to South Atlanta with a plan grounded in relationships, built with intentionality, and homeownership was a key piece.
“FCS was very strategic,” Leroy says. “Before we even moved in, we worked with the South Atlanta Civic League to secure land. Charis Community Housing, under FCS, purchased vacant lots and partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build affordable homes.”
We prioritized homeownership as a way to keep neighbors in place, protect affordability, and ensure that those who helped shape this community could continue to call it home.
“That’s why, 25 years later, this neighborhood hasn’t gentrified like others have,” Leroy reflects. The difference, he says, is simple: “Neighboring held us. Hands down. No question.”
Today, Leroy and Donna’s sons, Josh and Joel, continue the legacy their parents began in South Atlanta. Josh serves as President of the South Atlanta Civic League, stepping into the same leadership role his father once held. Joel lives at Haven Apartments, where he invests in the next generation through youth group mentorship and support for neighborhood families.
“It’s unbelievable,” Leroy says. “We never imagined that not only our kids, but also our granddaughter would grow up here too. That’s four generations of Barbers, including my mother who lived with us, calling South Atlanta home.”
As for FCS’s impact? Leroy is clear: “What FCS believed about neighboring, we were able to embody, and it actually worked. And, we did it without compromising being a neighbor. Community development without neighboring is just a precursor to gentrification. Neighboring made all the difference.”
Looking ahead, Leroy’s hopes for the next 25 years are rooted in the same values: strong schools, thriving local businesses owned by neighbors, and an unbreakable community spirit that resists disconnection and displacement.
“Our hope for South Atlanta is to be a place where every child can get an excellent education, where economic opportunity grows from within, and where neighboring — the real, messy, beautiful work of living life together — remains at the center.”
