Collective Impact is a structured approach to solving complex social problems. The key is to use collaboration across government, business, philanthropy, and non-profits to achieve significant and lasting social change. Partners unite around a common agenda, coordinate activities, share data, and measure their performance to improve outcomes. Quest seeks to serve as the catalyst for community change for Atlanta’s Westside. Serving in this way will position Quest as a premiere CDC with the capacity to bring people and agencies together to improve service delivery, affect policy changes, and ultimately, create lasting community resilience.

The term, "affordable housing" implies you must be able to afford a home to live in one. At Quest, we believe that everyone should have an opportunity to create a life for themselves from a strong foundation -- a safe and secure home where no family is cost burdened (i.e., paying more than 30% of their income for rent/mortgage).

Housing conditions should support good health. A healthy home environment is clean and dry, pest-free, well ventilated, safe, and well maintained. Healthy housing should be affordable. The high cost of housing can drive financially challenged families into substandard housing in unsafe neighborhoods where there is typically inadequate health care and lack of access to fresh foods. Quest seeks to expand its healthy housing initiatives by integrating physical and mental health services within its developments, which includes on-site health and medical professionals, and direct referrals with follow-up to local health providers.

Economic inclusion is a function of social injustice which, in turn, is a direct result of systematic racism. The last several years have revealed multiple manifestations of the devastating reality of structural racism and inequity in our country. This inflection point in our history creates an opportunity for community-based organizations to improve our work and interactions in a meaningful way. Consistent with its deep commitment to community change, Quest plans to engage in deeper, long-term transformation. Quest has boldly chosen to address the systemic economic inequality and racism that have plagued Atlanta for decades. In partnership with members of the community, Quest proposes a process to systematically design and implement concrete plans for dismantling the systems that perpetuate inequality, poverty, and racism throughout the Westside community.

Since there are always unresolved issues in low income communities, there must be a community leader who can convene the right people to resolve it. Likewise, there are a seemingly endless current of “calls to action” that emerge, most notably the police killings of African Americans throughout the nation. A new opportunity or crisis necessitates a sense of urgency. Quest will play a larger role as facilitator, educator, and advocate for emerging issues that affect the Atlanta’s vulnerable populations.

Transforming neighborhoods requires an intentional approach that shifts the organizational mindset from focusing solely on providing services to a focus on improving outcomes within neighborhoods. This requires extending the principles of collective impact to a specific geographic area and developing local capacity to achieve lasting community-level outcomes. Quest is committed to developing place-based strategies in the English Avenue/Vine City neighborhoods and adjacent communities that are tailored to each neighborhood’s strengths, assets, and conditions.