It all started when...

A small team of concerned real estate professionals in Southwest Atlanta decided to try and do something about the high number of vacant properties after the mortgage crisis left the area looking and feeling depressed.

This team, led by Derrick Duckworth, created a monthly Neighborhood Open House Tour event aimed at encouraging residents to strengthen and stabilize their own neighborhoods, to eradicate vacancies and increase homeownership. These Open House Tours garnered the attention of the Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and representatives at the city and even state level. Committed to Communities was initially created to showcase affordable, single family homes in various stages of renovation while inviting neighbors to show off the beauty and uniqueness of their Atlanta Beltline neighborhood.

Today, some 5 years later, Committed to Communities has grown into a full-service, not-for-profit social enterprise dedicated not only to showcasing these same neighborhoods in Sotuhwest Atlanta but also to educating the local community, helping empower renters to become homeowners and experience the wealth in experience and possibly the actual wealth that can be gained, through owning a home.