Radical Love in Action: My Journey with PAWKids

People often ask me how I got involved with PAWKids. The simplest answer is: “Westside.”

If you’ve heard of PAWKids before, you probably recognize LaTonya Gates Johnston, who founded the organization in 2015 with the support of two churches—Atlanta Westside and Paradise Baptist, a historically Black church just a block away. Together, we transformed a rundown trap house on Hollowell Blvd into a vibrant, welcoming space for the children of Grove Park. From there, LaTonya launched PAWKids’ afterschool program, serving neighborhood kids three afternoons a week and rallying her community to help.

One of the first ways volunteers could get involved was by bringing dinner for the kids on Wednesday nights. It sounds simple enough, but for me, stepping into this opportunity was anything but.

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Stepping Into Chaos

At the time, I had three young children—James (8), Drew (6), and Darby (3). As someone who grew up as an only child in a very orderly home, I often felt overwhelmed by the chaos of raising a family. Preparing dinner for my own kids was challenging enough, let alone cooking for 15 additional children. On top of that, I wrestled with the lie that my worth came from how well I performed. I thought I needed to show up at PAWKids with perfect food, perfectly behaved children, and a perfectly positive attitude—all to make a good impression. I believed I was coming to “help,” to bring something these kids needed.

My first family dinner at PAWKids was a disaster in my eyes. The lasagnas I’d bought from Costco didn’t cook fast enough, making us late. I was juggling restless kids and trying to keep 3yo Darby from wandering off. I wanted so badly to impress LaTonya, who I saw as a hero of faith and love. Instead, I arrived frazzled, sweating, and completely out of my comfort zone.

But LaTonya, in her usual way, wrapped me in a hug and said, “Stay and eat with us.” The idea was the kids in the program would serve dinner alongside us and that we’d share the meal together. Then, quietly, she added something that stopped me in my tracks: “There are a few kids here who are deathly afraid of white people and won’t stay in the house with you here. But don’t worry—they’ll learn.”

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A Radical Shift

I was floored. The idea my presence could make a child feel afraid deeply unsettled me. It challenged my self-image as a “generous helper.”

I wanted to leave—wasn’t serving them the reason I came? But LaTonya insisted we stay. She knew healing would come through love and relationships—not just for the kids, but for me, too. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I needed this experience far more than anyone needed my lasagna.

That’s the heart of what PAWKids is about: relationships. Yes, the organization empowers families, provides holistic resources, and fosters self-sustainability in Grove Park. But the true “secret sauce” is its focus on loving one another across barriers, seeing one another fully, and building a community where everyone is lifted up.

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Lessons in Love

The kids at PAWKids were scared of me because, for generations, their families have been harmed—systematically and personally—by people who looked like me, even those with good intentions. Yet LaTonya welcomed me anyway. She enveloped me in love and vouched for me in all my naivety, anxiety, and broken understanding. She loved me in my mess just as she loved the kids in her care. And that, as our Senior Pastor Walter Henegar would say, smelled a whole lot like Jesus.

Ten years later, PAWKids has grown significantly. Its programming now includes support for parents, counseling services, a food pantry, and community events. But at its core, it’s still about radical love in relationship. This kind of love isn’t efficient or tidy—it’s often messy, confusing, and challenging. For someone like me, who loves order and control, it’s a constant exercise in faith. It requires trusting God in uncertain moments and relying on His timing for healing, justice, and provision.

Through my relationship with LaTonya, I’ve learned to navigate hard conversations and distinguish between faith and fear. And now, as we step out in faith to renovate the original PAWKids house, we’re preparing for a new chapter of ministry together.

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Join Us in Radical Love

I want to invite you into this work with the same radical love that LaTonya and the Grove Park community extended to me. PAWKids is a front-row seat to the work of the Holy Spirit—to miracles of provision, healing, and the transformative power of relationships across boundaries.

Here’s how you can join us:

• Sign up for City Serve: When you visit Grove Park, strike up a conversation with a neighbor, a child in the program, or even the police officer on the corner. Be open to where those relationships might take you.
• Support the PAWKids House Renovation: On March 16, 2025, prayerfully consider donating to our congregational effort to restore the house that started it all. Together, we can create a space that reflects the love and hope of this ministry.

Let’s be a living testimony to Jesus’ boundary-breaking love. Let’s show up, pool our resources, and leave a monument to radical love at PAWKids.

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