by Austyn Long (Chaplain Intern)
I started working at the OAC as a chaplain intern in September of 2025, and when I think back
over past five months, I can’t think of a better description for this time than “Love in Action”. 
Love means many things to many people, but in the OAC, love in action looks like hospitality, and preparing a place for every person to belong.
Hospitality has been woven in, since the first day of my internship. As I walked toward the gate, hoping I had found the right place, many of the guests were already lined up and waiting for the center to open. I asked someone if this was the Central Outreach and Advocacy Center, and shared that it was my first day working. Someone in line responded with a warm welcome, and showed me where the gate was, and told me where I could enter. Each day since, I’ve enjoyed the walk down Washington St., exchanging good mornings and conversation with the guests,
and seeing some more familiar faces as we start the day together.
Right after arriving, I was invited to join the morning circle. Here, staff and volunteers gathered
before beginning the day to share their joys and concerns and pray with and for one another
and the guests. As I heard the things that lifted and weighed on the hearts of the staff and
volunteers, and saw how deeply everyone held one another, again, I could see how much love
filled every corner of this place.
In the months since that first day, and the hundred-plus hours I’ve spent learning from the staff
and volunteers, speaking with and learning from guests, and even getting to see how
organizations throughout Atlanta are collaborating with one another, I’ve seen love in action in
a thousand different ways.
Sometimes, love looks like a conversation filled with so much laughter and connection that the
whole hallway overhears. Other times, it looks like sharing your burdens and finding comfort.
Sometimes, love in action looks like staff members collaborating to quiz a guest on the
citizenship test every time he visits, to help him study. Or, it looks like being recognized at the
door by someone who knows what you’re looking for. Often, love looks like being able to say
‘yes,’ to requests for warm hats, clean socks, shaving kits, or other much needed items, because
of the generosity of people I’ve never met.
A phrase I hear often at the OAC is, “I’m so glad you’re here.” Volunteers say this to guests, and
guests say it back. Staff and volunteers say it to each other on slow and busy days. To me, this is
what it really means to put love into action – to make the OAC a place where everyone belongs,
and where everyone is welcomed warmly, with love.