The Novak family, who lives outside Senoia, started Project 586 to help provide household goods, including furniture, appliances and linens, to people in poverty.

The project got its start when Anthony and Karhma Novak and their kids, Scarlett Grace and Jude, sponsored a family for Christmas.

“The house was literally six minutes from mine. We went to go drop off the presents. And there were rat holes in the wall, plastic over most of the windows, boards missing where we could see the crawlspace from underneath,” Anthony said. “There was no heat, most of the doors were replaced with sheets and blankets. The plumbing wasn’t working.”

Seeing that “kind of blew the comfort of being a middle-class American Christian right off us,” Anthony said. Read more: