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4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, September 7,2022
Church serves refugees with help of dealership, Rotary
Kemp allocates $62 million to address
homelessness and housing insecurity
By Rebecca Grapevine
Capitol Beat News Service
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday
that his office will provide $62 million to
help Georgia communities address home
lessness and housing insecurity.
The governor’s office will award the
funds to 20 organizations who applied via a
competitive process. The funds will be used
to build affordable housing, improve exist
ing housing, and provide mental health ser
vices to people who are homeless.
“As Georgians faced the unprecedented
challenges and economic downturn of the
pandemic, COVID-19 robbed some of their
financial stability, expanding the homeless
population in vulnerable communities,” said
Kemp. “Those who were already homeless
faced even greater difficulties, with many
already struggling with mental health or
substance abuse issues.”
“By investing these funds in those who
are already making a difference around our
state on these fronts, we will provide those
most in need with resources that will aid
them on the road to personal and financial
recovery,” Kemp said.
“I’m thrilled to see a number of Georgia
ACT [Advancing Communities Together]
members receiving funding for affordable
housing development,” said Bambie Hayes-
Brown, the president and CEO of Georgia
ACT, a statewide coalition of affordable
housing groups.
“We know the work that our mission-
based developers do is very important to
providing housing opportunities for the low
est income of Georgians,” said Hayes-
Brown.
Hayes-Brown said Georgia ACT mem
bers awarded funding include Mercy
Housing Southeast, Quest Community
Development, and SUMMECH
Community Development. These groups all
work to provide affordable housing, mostly
in the Atlanta area.
“We would like to see more outreach to
those small mission-based developers out
side of metro Atlanta and [those groups]
also given technical assistance to apply,”
said Hayes-Brown.
Dawson forum to teach community about
solar power, EVs, protecting environment
By staff reports
This week, a forum at
the Dawson County Public
Library will teach commu
nity members about solar
power, electric vehicles
and other ways to protect
the environment.
The event, which is
sponsored by the North
Georgia Conservation
Coalition, will take place
on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 6
p.m. and feature speakers
talking about solar power,
electric vehicles and practi
cal ways that anybody can
be more environmentally
friendly in their own home
or business. There will also
be materials available to
take home and use with
family and friends.
For more information
about the upcoming event,
go to https://www.dawson-
countyga.gov/pr/page/
north-georgia-conserva-
tion-coalition-community-
meeting.
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
For the families who’ve
fled Russia’s war against
Ukraine, congregations like
New Life Church in
Suwanee have made all the
difference as these refugees
work to rebuild their lives.
The church now has one
more crucial tool to serve
those families thanks to
John Megel Chevrolet and
the Rotary Club of Dawson
County.
Representatives for John
Megel and the Rotary Club
presented a KIA Soul to
New Life Church Senior
Pastor Vasily Lantukh and
Associate Pastor Aleksandr
Gerasimov at the car deal
ership on Aug. 26.
“It’s quite a humbling
experience,” Gerasimov
said. “Your generosity, it’s
just overwhelming. Thank
you for helping us out...
[and] for helping people
who are in the middle of a
crisis. They come to this
beautiful land like I did 25
years ago and experience
true genuine care and gen
erosity.”
Since Russia’s war
against Ukraine began in
late February, there are
now more than six million
Ukrainian refugees across
Europe. About seven mil
lion are displaced internal
ly, and 13 million more are
unable to escape contested
areas, according to an Aug.
24 New York Times report.
About 9,000 Ukrainian and
up to 25,000 Russian sol
diers are estimated to have
died, and 5,587 Ukrainian
civilians have been con
firmed dead, though the
NYT report notes the true
number could be in the tens
of thousands.
The conflict has been
costly not only in terms of
territory and the damage to
Ukraine’s economy, but has
also impacted food, fuel
and medical supply mar
kets at an international
level.
Service projects chair
Randy Wells explained that
the district level of Rotary
awarded the Dawson
County chapter with a sev-
eral-thousand-dollar grant,
as derived from a Ukraine
disaster relief fund, to
cover the cost of the car.
Lantukh said that the car
will help at least one refu
gee family now as they get
established in the area.
When that family settles
down and is able to buy
their own car, the church
will take the car to a main-
tenance shop to be
checked. Then, the car will
be gifted to another refugee
family who can’t yet buy
gees who are living in
Europe or coming to the
Atlanta area.
The church has put a
white bus with Ukrainian
and American flags and
signage for donations in the
parking lot of its campus,
located at 3150 Old Atlanta
Road in Suwanee.
For people interested in
contributing, a church
member will be there to
collect donations. People
interested in giving bigger
items such as mattresses
can call the church at (404)
255-5758 to have the dona
tions picked up.
Gerasimov added that
it’s a blessing for his
church to be helping refu
gees “on multiple levels,”
from their bodily needs to
soul wounds or trauma and
stress from their experienc
es.
“[It takes] effort to
address all these difficult
issues in someone’s life,”
Gerasimov said. “We’re
glad that the Dawson
County community’s step
ping in to help out. It’s just
awesome.”
During the donation cer
emony, Lantukh prayed
and thanked God for hav
ing the privilege “to give
back to Your kingdom and
the community” alongside
people working to serve
and “to be Your heart and
show Your love to people in
need today.”
The senior pastor prayed
for mercy, a stop to the war
and for peace to return in
Ukraine.
“Give them Your comfort
and surround them with
Your people so they will
feel Your family-that
they’re not alone-and they
will know that You and
Your people will take care
of them,” Lantukh said.
He again thanked the
Rotary Club and other
community members in
attendance, declaring that
“together, we can make a
difference.”
Photos by Julia Fechter Dawson County News
John Megel Chevrolet and the Rotary Club of Dawson County gift a car to Suwanee-based New Life
Church, who's been serving refugee families amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine.
insurance and so on, until
the war ends and the cycle
doesn’t have to continue.
Rotary Club of Dawson
County President Nicole
Stewart thanked fellow
chapter members, the car
dealership and the Rotary
district for all of their
efforts to help the donation
happen.
“We’re just so happy and
blessed that we could help
y’all,” Stewart said to New
Life Church leaders.
Prior to pastoring the
church, the two pastors in
attendance were them
selves refugees.
Lantukh left Ukraine
with his family more than
20 years ago, and similarly,
Gerasimov came to the
United States in 1998 with
his wife and infant daugh
ter.
In addition to his role as
an associate pastor,
Gerasimov works as an
engineer, owns two baker
ies and serves as a chaplain
for the Forsyth County
Sheriff’s Office.
Rotary Vice President
and Family of Rotary chair
Seanie Zappendorf
explained that she met
Gerasimov through one of
his bakeries and connected
over both of them being
immigrants and communi
ty servants.
Back in 2020,
Zappendorf and Gerasimov
coordinated hosting a
group of Ukrainian diplo
mats who were officers and
chaplains at Dawsonville’s
Atlanta Motorsports Park
and her shop, Discovery
Parts. Since that time,
Gerasimov has also spoken
at a Dawson County
Republican Party meeting
talking about the needs of
Senior pastor Vasily Lantukh, center left, talks about the difference the
donated car will make for area refugee families as Rotary members and
associate pastor Aleksandr Gerasimov, center right, listen to his remarks.
Ukrainian refugees and his
personal refugee experi
ence.
Zappendorf recently con
tacted the associate pastor
to ask how the Dawson
County chapter could help
Ukrainians.
“Aleks told me about the
refugees that his church is
sponsoring and they defi
nitely need immediate
assistance,” she said to
DCN. “Our community
chair, Randy Wells, fol
lowed up and got one need
after another met.”
Wells, who works as a
pilot with Delta, helped the
chapter secure eight one
way tickets for a Ukrainian
family to come to the U.S.
in August.
Rotary member Dr.
Larry Anderson with
Anderson Family Medicine
has helped provide medical
services to some of the ref-
ugees that New Life
Church supports.
The Slavic church began
contributing to refugee
relief efforts in the spring,
as reported in a Forsyth
County News article from
March 2022.
Since those efforts
began, they’ve helped
about 100 people, said
Lantukh.
Local assistance includes
helping families with tasks
like filing documents,
including work permits and
finding them housing and
furniture. There is also a
K-12 school on New Life
Church’s campus which
serves many Eastern
European families.
The church has set up
GoFundMe and
GiveSendGo campaigns to
support volunteer and refu
gee relief efforts.
Additionally, the church
is collecting donations of
clothing, household goods
and related items for refu-
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