Building Opportunity with Atlanta Roots

Rosalyn Merrick reflects on the impact of her D.C. trip attending Vistage on the Hill 2026

When I returned home from Vistage on the Hill 2026, I came back with more than new ideas. I returned with a renewed conviction that housing is economic infrastructure — and the people closest to the work must have a voice in shaping the policies that affect our communities.

During the gathering in Washington, D.C. last month, business leaders from across the country met with policy experts at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for candid conversations about small business, artificial intelligence, international trade, and the federal legislative agenda. I was honored to join those discussions and bring a perspective grounded in my experience as the CEO of a thriving nonprofit affordable homes developer serving metro Atlanta.

From affordable housing and workforce development to economic mobility, I see firsthand how vital it is that we create opportunities for the people who have long called this city home.

Building Opportunity

That message felt especially timely on the heels of the 2026 Carter Work Project. From May 3–8, volunteers, partners, homeowners, and supporters came together to build 24 homes in only five days at Langston Park, Atlanta Habitat's newest planned community.

In those five days, streets began to feel like a neighborhood. Walls were raised, relationships were formed, and the promise of long-term stability took shape. Langston Park is a powerful, tangible reminder of what is possible when people unite around a shared purpose.

It also reinforces why public policy matters.

The housing challenges facing Atlanta cannot be solved through construction alone. Building a more equitable city requires collaboration among residents, nonprofit organizations, businesses, community leaders, and policymakers. It requires policies shaped by the real experiences of families and practitioners — the people who understand how housing affects employment, education, health, wealth-building, and a family's ability to remain connected to its community.

Rooted in Atlanta

For me, this work is deeply personal as a native Atlantan and a proud graduate of Georgia State University. Over the course of my life, I have watched my beloved city change in extraordinary ways. I have witnessed Atlanta's growth and expanding opportunities, as well as the increasing pressure this growth can place on longtime residents.

That decades-long view deepens my passion for ensuring that families who were born here can continue living here.

These families are rooted in Atlanta — a theme explored in Atlanta Habitat's documentary, Rooted. Their lives are deeply intertwined with the city's neighborhoods, culture, institutions, and growth. They are not separate from Atlanta's story; they are an essential part of it.

In many ways, their story resonates with my own story, because I am rooted here, too. I am a CEO whose connection to Atlanta extends far beyond my professional role. This city raised me, educated me, and shaped the leader I have become. Serving it is both a responsibility and a privilege.

Shaping Our Future

The insights I gained in Washington will help inform how Atlanta Habitat continues to shape the city's affordable housing landscape. By bringing Atlanta's perspective into national policy conversations — and bringing lessons from those conversations home — we can advocate more effectively for solutions that connect housing with economic mobility and community strength.

Atlanta's future should include the people who helped build its past and sustain its present. As our city continues to grow, Atlanta Habitat will keep working to ensure that growth translates into opportunity, and that more families have the chance to put down roots, build stability, and remain a part of Atlanta's unfolding story.