Hosea Helps Hosts “Health & Jobs First” To Serve Hundreds in ATL

• Free health screenings, job support, and family services provided to hundreds of underserved residents.
• Organizers emphasized the importance of meeting people's needs year-round, not just seasonally.
• Community members encouraged others to seek out and tap into available resources to improve their wellbeing.

Delta Air Lines and Hosea Helps Inc. teamed up with UnitedHealthcare and Grady to move Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy from words to work, delivering real, life-changing resources to the community.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the 100th birthday of the late Rev. Hosea Williams, Delta Air Lines and Hosea Helps Inc., alongside community partners UnitedHealthcare and Grady Health System, transformed service into action with Health & Jobs First, a free mobile wellness and career support event for Atlanta families.

Held Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, at Hosea Helps headquarters, the annual MLK Day activation delivered critical health screenings, employment readiness resources, family support services, and hot meals to hundreds of residents.

Timed to honor Hosea Williams’ century-spanning legacy of direct service, the event reflected the foundation’s longstanding mission of “meeting people where they are”, especially when health and economic stability feel out of reach.

“Health & Jobs First is more than an event, it’s an investment in people,” said Landis Rush, National Vice President, Public Sector, Labor and Trust at UnitedHealthcare Employer and Individual.

“By joining forces with Grady and Hosea Helps, we are meeting communities where they are and offering the tools, resources, and support needed to thrive. Our mission is to help people live healthier lives, and when individuals have access to quality care and real job opportunities, families and whole communities grow stronger.”

Designed as a one-stop resource hub, Health & Jobs First offered free medical screenings provided by Grady Health System, including mammograms, HIV testing, cholesterol checks, blood pressure screenings and glucose testing.

Families also received assistance with employment screenings, benefits enrollment and renewal for SNAP, TANF, WIC, CAPS and Medicare, as well as rent, utility and emergency housing screenings.

Raffles, Groceries, And Hot Meals On Deck

To ensure the experience extended beyond services, organizers made the day family-friendly, offering free haircuts and hair braiding, school supplies, bounce houses, face painting, and games.

Attendees received fresh produce boxes, family-size grocery boxes, and bottled water, while raffles throughout the day featured prizes including Sony PlayStations, new laptops, and $50 Visa and Walmart gift cards.

Food was available throughout the day, with the first 100 families receiving special meals from Big Daddy’s Restaurant and hot meals continuing for the remaining attendees.

“This Is What Hosea Williams Did With His Life”

During the event, Dr. Elisabeth Omilami emphasized that the activation reflects Hosea Helps’ ongoing mission to serve consistently, not just seasonally.

“Hosea Helps, which is international year round organization has partnered with United Healthcare and Grady Hospital, Grady services to be able to bring people into a community that is safe and resourceful,” Dr. Omilami told BOSSIP.

She specifically highlighted the medical resources available, including screenings that provide immediate results.

“The resources include mobile mammogram units, and that is very important, even for women age 35 they have blood screenings, glucose, HIV, all these medical screenings that you get the result right away,” she said.

Dr. Omilami said the services are essential for families facing rising costs and limited access to care.

“This is so necessary for the families that don’t even have money for their food, they don’t even have money to pay their rents, as the landlord’s going up on the rent,” she said.

“They don’t have money to buy goat school clothes for their kids. So you know, health is the last thing they think of. But today, at Hosea health, we’re providing the services that will help them understand their bodies and help them understand who they need to follow up with thanks to Grady health systems and United Healthcare, we are here.”

Dr. Omilami also tied the moment back to the foundation’s roots and the example Hosea Williams set in Atlanta.

“But this is what Hosea Williams did with his life,” she noted to BOSSIP. “He used to pay people’s rent so they wouldn’t get evicted. He was always giving money to feed somebody. He fed the first 100 men at the Wheat Street Baptist Church in 1970.”

A Survivor’s Reminder That Health Can Not Wait

Dr. Omilami also shared a personal reason she believes access to free screenings matters, especially for women.

“Well, you know, I am, I am a survivor of breast cancer, and if I had gotten the mammograms on time, I would have known that,” she said. “So I want to tell whatever woman that is here that they can get a free mammogram at the mammogram.”

She continued by stressing that health is the foundation for everything else.

“Even if you’re a billionaire and you don’t have your health, what does it serve you?”

A Community Member Says The Help Is Out There, You Just Have To Tap In

Atlanta resident Geneva Peters attended the event with her nieces, grandchildren, sister and nephew after learning about it through a Hosea Helps email alert.

“It was a good experience,” she told BOSSIP. “The kids learned some MLK history, got activities, food boxes, hair braiding. There is a lot of help out there. You just have to tap in.”

Peters added that the experience was meaningful for both the kids and adults in her family.

“Well, today, it was a good experience. We got a little history on MLK. My grandkids got to learn some more history that they didn’t know. We got activities and we had food boxes at the end,” she said. “Some of the kids got their hair braided and lines and stuff.”

When asked what she would tell someone who may feel nervous about asking for help, Peters encouraged people to seek out resources by staying connected and subscribed.

“Well, I would say that in Atlanta, I have noticed that there’s a lot of help out there,” she said. “You can go on the local  news website. You can go on Eventbrite, or the Mayor’s website. It’s a lot of help out there and you just have to subscribe, put your phone number out there and you just got to get out there because they do have a lot of help.”

“Get Up Off Your Butt And Do Something”

For Omilami, that call to action is the true meaning of MLK Day.

“What good are Martin Luther King successors doing if we don’t follow up with service to each other?” Dr. Omilami asked rhetorically.

“His main message was love. So in our communities, as we teach our children, we need to let them know that Martin Luther King was not just a civil rights leader, which is what they’re taught. He was a man of love. He was a man of sacrifice. He was a man of strategy and tactics that they used during the movement and Hosea helps exist today because we’re standing on their shoulders.”

She added that for those wondering how to help, Hosea Williams would have had a straight-to-the-point message.

“If Hosea were alive he would say ‘Get up off your butt and do something! There’s always a place for you to help,’” Dr. Omilami said.

Community partners supporting Health & Jobs First included Delta Air Lines, UnitedHealthcare, Grady Health System, V-103, Big Daddy’s Restaurant, Healthcare Resources Staffing, and Insights Marketing, reinforcing a shared commitment to health equity, economic opportunity, and dignity-driven service.

For those interested in volunteering or supporting Hosea Helps’ year-round efforts, additional information is available through the organization’s community service portal at 4hosea.org/qr/community.