Envision Athens, an Athens based nonprofit that works in partnerships with local government, business and service agencies to improve the lives of Athenians, hosted its annual Good Neighbor Awards at the Envision Athens Wellbeing Event, October 20^th at the Classic Center. 

Envision Athens’ Good Neighbor Awards, which began in 2019, publicly honor its recipients by acknowledging their contributions to the Athens community and recognizing them as excellent examples of good neighbors. Community members nominated those who they feel exemplify a good neighbor in each of four categories: Create Athens (Arts & Culture), Healthy Athens (Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder), Abundance Athens (Food Insecurity) and Educate Athens (Workforce Development). The winners are as follows:  

Create Athens Winner: Bob and Melody Croft.  The Crofts are both artists and were recognized for beautifying their community. Bob picks up litter and he and Melody make art from the trash, including art with a social message. 

Healthy Athens winner: Drew Bowen. Drew was recognized for this work helping men and women in the Athens recovery community. He volunteers for the Family Treatment Court team, is a sponsor to many, leads recovery meetings, and has helped many find their way into residential treatment programs.   

Abundance Athens Winner: Lauren Towe. Lauren was honored for her work fighting food insecurity. Currently she leads Concrete Jungle's Athens branch, where she organizes hundreds of volunteers to harvest thousands of pounds of the freshest fruit and distribute it to families in need.  

Educate Athens winner: Susan Fontaine. Susan is the founder of LoveCraft, a nonprofit that provides job training and an artistic outlet for young adults with disabilities.  

In addition to presenting the Good Neighbor Awards, Dr. Grace Bagwell-Adams from the Athens Wellbeing Project presented highlights of the organization’s most recent research, which focuses on identifying the needs facing Athenians at this time. The nearly 100 attendees of the event also participated in a listening session where community needs were further discussed.     

Envision Athens Executive Director, Sally Kimel-Sheppard said this information will be incorporated into a new strategic plan for Envision Athens. Of the event, Kimel-Sheppard said: “It was so great to honor some of Athens’ many wonderful helpers, community activists and leaders and to gather to work together to discuss the pressing needs of our community and how we can improve the quality of life for all Athenians.”