Trying to figure out how to feel less helpless and alone these days? Here is a thing you can do that will also make your belly and your tastebuds happy. home.made, on Baxter Street, will host Comida de los Nuevos Sureños, a dinner benefiting immigrants' rights causes in Athens, on Monday, Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m.

Food is family style, and featured chefs include Homero and Vianey Elizalde of home.made, Daniel Ray of the Old Pal, Pablo Rivenderyva of Polleria Pablo, Juan and Ines of Camino Real, Noe Ramirez of La Parilla and Antonio and Flor of Tlaloc. There's a kids' table staffed by Treehouse, with crafts, for those 12 and under, and their tickets are only $5. Grown-ups have to pay a mere $40. Incatepec will provide music. Here's some inspiring description:

Comida de los Nuevos Sureños is a dinner that celebrates the sacred act of nostalgic eating, a meal that believes that solidarity can be found by sharing memories and recipes from home, wherever that may be.

The translation reads as Food of the New Southerners, and those words describe not only the menu but also the ideas about Southern identity the meal should inspire.

Southern food is a cuisine steeped in nostalgia, a longing for Sunday suppers, church potlucks, and Grandma’s biscuits. Into this tradition we invite chefs who normally work outside of it, in the realm of what we unfortunately still call ethnic food.

We asked these chefs to choose a dish that represents the town and country they left behind, to prepare what they eat to remind themselves of home. Together, we can honor the journey that brought them to this community.

From the kitchen to the table, we’ll share the tradition of finding comfort in memory, and recognize we are more alike than different.

Immigrants are more than their documents. They are neighbors. They are family. Their futures are bound with ours. They are New Southerners.

Call 706-206-9216 for reservations.