From a bilingual library to a music studio, Athens organizations are committed to creating safe and helpful spaces for the community.

Evelyn Rushing is one of the individuals who recognized a need for change and took action.

“We’ve been connecting a lot of different organizations with this library since we started with the community, and that’s kind of what makes it important or special,” said Rushing, branch manager and director of Pinewoods Library. 

The Pinewoods Library, located within the Pinewood Estates mobile home community, is a bilingual library focused on connecting the Athens Hispanic community with free resources, classes and programs to support both children and adults.

When Rushing stepped into her role as director in July of 2023, she quickly noticed a disconnect between the Pinewoods community and the resources intended to serve them.

“There is always a big wall between a school or organizations and the community. It’s always taboo to approach them,” Rushing said. “And I was thinking there are so many resources outside, and you guys are missing so much. So let’s put things together.”

Rushing never imagined herself as a librarian; for her, the work she was doing for the community mattered most.

“I never thought about it, but it was a new experience, and it was a need that the community was having. And it was something that I really wanted to do,” Rushing said. “It was very hard for them to find someone to stay, someone that was bilingual, someone that wanted to do something positive.”

She knew she had her work cut out for her.

Now, the library hosts multiple events a month, where members of the Pinewoods community are introduced to members of the police department, the Department of Public Health, neighborhood leaders, and insurance agencies — seeking help, guidance or simply friendship. 

The small changes contribute significantly towards building lasting relationships and feeling welcomed in the Athens community.

“There has definitely been a change since Evelyn has started here,” said Sandy Rivera, library assistant at the Pinewoods Library. “We have more events and more people.”  

Rushing’s mission is to continue expanding the library and connecting the community with the opportunities available for families and their children, such as adult English classes, citizenship exam preparation, and help in school.

“One of the moms said, ‘Now I feel confident sending my kids here because I know someone is here to teach them or help them. I love coming to the library now because I can find the resources and assistance I need,’” she shared. 

UGA’s International Students

There are also organizations doing this work at the University of Georgia, specifically with International Student Life.

At International Coffee Hour, it is more than just learning about culture. It is about immersing yourself in someone’s cultural environment.

“When it comes to coffee hour, really it’s to showcase all the different elements,” said Dylan Schell, one of the Arab Cultural Association’s Event Coordinators. “What I really like about events like this is that you kind of get a little bit of a window into many different facets of a culture.”

UGA’s Arab Cultural Association hosted their coffee hour on Sept. 20. at the Victor K. Wilson Ballroom in Memorial Hall. Between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., 268 students experienced vibrant parts of Arab culture.

“This is really one of my favorite events at UGA because International Coffee Hour is probably one of the biggest events,” said Maggie Zou, the senior programming coordinator for ISL at UGA. “We can get all the international students all together, and we can also attract all the domestic students as well.”

This event featured different aspects of Arab culture, including homemade food, a guessing game to place different Arab countries on a map, calligraphy and scented items.

 

With all of these ways to celebrate culture, students enjoyed time engaging with a new experience.

“I think this is a great opportunity to make a relationship or communicate with different people from a different world, and that’s going to help you expand your understanding,” Zou said.

Conversations in Sexuality and Sensuality

Beyond the UGA community, Athens locals are also creating supportive programming to hold conversations about topics that are not discussed often.

Inside the small upstairs yoga studio of Revolution Therapy and Yoga, one Athens group has come together to promote confidence in sexuality. 

“The point is to create community,” says Amanda Auchenpaugh, a sex therapist and licensed clinical social worker. “It’s really important to me to build a community around sexuality because there aren’t spaces where that’s super safe to talk about, or there aren’t enough of them.”

One Night Stand is a monthly sexuality “edu-tainment” series hosted by Auchenpaugh through her Shameless Sexuality program. Through the event, she invites speakers to present any topic related to sexuality to a small group during this two-hour period.

One presenter, Sam, was a returning speaker this month as she felt drawn to the importance of One Night Stand’s messaging. Sam is a sex and kink educator who presented her experience in an intimacy coordinator training program. 

“As a queer person who feels sometimes that it’s difficult to find a community of folks who want to share, like really go deep, I would say,” Sam said. “Things like this feel especially important because it feels like folks just really want to be seen and also see one another.”

One Night Stand held its first program in March of 2023 and has increased its audience significantly since. Auchenpaugh is excited to see her series grow, but she has also struggled with retention and funding.

“Budget is a limitation. I haven’t been able to pay the speakers, and I’ve wanted to do that. This event does not make money,” Auchenpaugh said. “My goal is to create a mutual aid fund that comes out of the money that comes from One Night Stand and use it to put right back into this micro community.” 

Even with such struggles, Auchenpaugh sees the program gaining momentum and support from the local community.

Emma Hilleary, a first-time attendee, applauds the program for the space it provides to hold important conversations surrounding sexuality.

The recent University of Georgia graduate is also an intern at Revolution Therapy and Yoga where she first heard of the program. She is now set to become a speaker at the December edition.

“It made me feel excited that there are other people that recognize how important it is to hold conversations about sex in a society that in some ways is increasing the stigma that surrounds it as a conversation,” Hilleary said.

Mental Health Support in Music

Shameless Sexuality is not the only group providing support on overlooked topics of conversation. 

Nuçi’s Space uses music as a tool to help individuals struggling with mental health.

“It was the first time I felt like I could talk about things that are more in my generation and my parents’ generation, so taboo to talk about,” says Debbie Watson, executive director of Nuçi’s Space.

Watson herself dealt with depression for many years, from her teens into her 20s and 30s. 

She felt she grew up in a culture that never addressed these issues, so instead of getting help, Watson just pushed through those times.

After learning Nuçi’s story and the cause behind Nuçi’s Space, Watson was touched and felt a part of herself drawn to the organization and its people.

They never crossed paths, but Debbie Watson and Nuçi Phillips share a story that aligns more than one might expect.

Nuçi was a student at the University of Georgia and a musician battling severe depression. Despite both his parents working in health care, he struggled to receive timely mental health services.

Nuçi’s medication was not working and due to a lack of resources, his therapy appointments would sometimes have to be made five or six months in advance.

For this reason, Linda Phillips, Nuçi’s mom, sought to create an obstacle-free place that merged both music and mental health services to support those struggling with mental illness.

Linda created Nuçi’s Space in honor of her son who passed away by suicide in 1996.

Watson was working on an assignment as a UGA music business student when she first stepped foot into Nuçi’s Space.

She immediately felt the open and inviting atmosphere Linda dreamed of creating.

Nuçi’s Space made Watson feel like she was able to learn about mental health the right way and finally allowed her to face her struggle with depression head-on.

William Tonks, the ReWired Gear Coordinator at Nuçi’s Space, was also inspired by the supportive atmosphere it created for him. 

“I retired from the University of Georgia. An interesting, weird, long career that was cool, but then I got a job here which is much more fun,” says Tonks. 

After working at UGA and the State Botanical Garden of Georgia for more than 20 years, Tonks walked into Nuçi’s Space and felt like he could finally embrace his passion for music. 

Each and every face behind Nuçi’s Space has a unique journey that brought them to where they are today.

“Music is something that brings people together and gives people what they need,” says Watson.

It is the founding mission of Nuçi’s Space to let everyone who walks through their doors to know that “it’s okay to not be okay.” 

Now, 10 years after discovering Nuçi’s Space, Debbie Watson leads the organization that taught her to embrace her battle with mental health and put passion into her career. 

Watson helps struggling musicians, just like herself and Nuçi, find their way because she knows the power of music is an unbeatable force.

Shweta Krishnan, Miraal Siddiqui, Lilly Stone and Jennifer Xia are journalism majors in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.