On the night of January 22, 2009, WAWA was honored at Emory Universityʼs 17th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Ceremony. The event was sponsored by the Rollins School of Public Health and the Goizueta Business School to recognize and celebrate people and organizations in greater Atlanta whose work exemplifies the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. WAWA was among 8 other local organizations recognized for efforts on behalf of the community.

The key note speaker was Xernona Clayton, founder of the Atlanta Trumpet Awards program, and a long time friend of Dr. King and his family. Notables from the University staff spoke of the timeliness of occasion and the history of the award ceremony. The entertainment included an A Cappella group called AHANA and  a spoken word artist known as Abyss.

WAWA was honored with Cindy Bickman, C. Tally Wells, Safehouse Outreach, Elizabeth Hearn, Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition, The Newtown Florist Club, The steward Foundation. and Genesis New Life. For more information, visit http://www.sph.emory.edu/AWARDS/2009/index.html