Hundreds of volunteers from around the Detroit region participated in four KaBOOM! playground builds Saturday. Two sites, Starlight Baptist and Jude Baptist, are faith-based organizations with strong community ties. The Jude playground is connected to a community center that includes a daycare for residents on Detroit’s east side.
Focus Hope chose Paul Robeson Academy to partner with and the place was packed with children from the school doing their part in the build. The school band entertained the volunteers and the cheer team motivated folks to proceed even with the threat of inclement weather. Congressman John Conyers told a story about knowing Paul Robeson, the actor and political activist for whom the school was named. Other elected officials were in attendance including Wayne County Commissioner Keith Williams. Commissioner Williams contributed the match funds to support the project build.
At ACCESS in Dearborn, the build had a hip hop flare. The music kept the volunteers in an upbeat mode while their spirit for supporting their community was shared by all. Mothers brought food and a local firefighter brought the fire trucks and entertained the small children.
Some of the people who volunteered got so excited they volunteered to do more for the organizations building the playgrounds.
Knight Foundation is funding volunteers to build 13 playgrounds in five cities this year in an effort to engage residents in strengthening their community.
Video: Tattnall Square Park will get a new design with funding from the neighborhood challenge.
It’s been just over a year since the Knight Foundation trustees approved a five-year, $3 million grant to the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to fund an innovative program, the Knight Neighborhood Challenge. The program funds residents best ideas for making the historic College Hill area a vibrant place to live. The second round of recipients was announced this evening, and what a great year it has been!
When the grant was approved, some said “Do you REALLY think you can find $3 million worth of resident-driven ideas to improve the College Hill neighborhood in Macon, Georgia?” I never had a doubt.
This second round of investment reflects the great ideas of this community….large and small. There were proposals totaling over $1 million for the $200,000 that the community foundation ultimately distributed. While of course it is wonderful to see innovative ideas generated by our friends and neighbors, the most gratifying part of the Knight Neighborhood Challenge is that the improvements will benefit everyone in Macon.
Check out the list below.
This investment that Knight Foundation is making in the College Hill Corridor and Macon is a tangible expression of Knight’s commitment to this community.
I can’t wait for round three. Macon residents are invited to learn more and apply.
To employ a local artist to create an agility course, furniture and sculpture for Tyler’s Place Dog Park.
College Hill Alliance $18,500
Second Sunday Brunch
To offer free live concerts, one Sunday a month, which will continue to attract a diverse audience to the College Hill Corridor.
Macon Outreach at Mulberry $10,000
Macon Outreach Community Garden
To establish a community garden and compost area that will bring a vibrant new use to an empty lot. The harvest will be dedicated to feeding the hungry in Central Georgia.
ELucas Consulting, Inc. $6,500
Cotton Avenue Revival Festival
To remember and relive the rich history of the historic Cotton Avenue area with a festival offering music, arts and entertainment.
Centenary United Methodist Church $6,190
Beall’s Hill Garden: Safe, Clean and Branded
To install historically appropriate fencing, raised beds and signage in Beall’s Hill Garden.
Nathan Dees $5,000
Cops on the Hill
To establish a fund to provide down payment or deposit assistance for law enforcement officers who choose to live in the College Hill Corridor.
Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission $3,716
Corridor Event Recycling Bins
To purchase recycling bins for use at events within the corridor. The bins will be orange and feature the College Hill Corridor logo.
Mercer University $3,200
Energy Audit of Tattnall Square Presbyterian Church
To conduct an energy audit of Tattnall Square Presbyterian Church by Mercer University School of Engineering faculty.
To help light the way efficiently while making people feel safe by giving residents energy-efficient, fluorescent lights to display outside their homes from dusk to dawn.
James E. Waldron $1,000
Composting Analysis and Design for Mercer Village
To design an appropriate, user-friendly and adaptable composting facility for the Mercer Village area.
Mercer University $890
Energy Audits for College Hill Corridor
To offer energy audits of homes in the College Hill Corridor area performed by Mercer University School of Engineering students.
Heather B. Cutway $700
Urban Hikes in the Corridor
To provide guided, one-hour walks in the corridor with an expert on the College Hill area.
Pam Thomasson $689
Ocmulgee Bird points the way to Macon’s Indian Mounds
To provide a better sign leading to Ocmulgee National Monument.
Lee A. Johnson $528
Graffiti Control Patrol
To paint over gang graffiti on buildings, streets and traffic signs.
Aaron Zaritzky $450
“No Trash Dumping” Sign in Beall’s Hill
To help neighbors in Beall’s Hill install a “No Trash Dumping” sign near an entry to their neighborhood
Nathan Dees $450
College Hill Graffiti Cleanup
To initiate weekend volunteer graffiti clean-up projects.
Today, it's busier than ever - even though the library is open fewer days and fewer hours. At a time when more folks need libraries, their services and the Internet access they provide, our library system is more challenged than ever.
As a member of the Charlotte Catalyst Fund committee, I was pleased to support a request to help the county and library explore the library's future. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg library is not a county department though it gets the bulk of its funding from the county. That puts it in a precarious position during budget discussions.
The county is likely to face budget shortfalls again next year, so it's smart to be looking now for operating strategies to keep more libraries open for more hours.
A Charlotte neighborhood group recently told the Observer that it was tired of inviting speakers who gave lectures college-style. Something was missing. So instead, the group decided to encourage dialogue with the public officials who addressed them by placing chairs in a circle.
In a series of meetings sponsored by Knight Foundation - with elected officials, county staff and nonprofit leaders - Matt shared characteristics of good community engagement.
They included: Having people talk about what they care about and their experiences to create common ground; giving a fair presentation of options to be considered, not just one plan for reaction; and presenting the expectation of action so that participants see themselves as part of the solution.
Having candidates sit in a circle actually talking with folks would seem to fit into Matt's framework.
Knight Foundation is partnering with KaBOOM! to build 13 playgrounds in five communities this year - including four in Detroit on Saturday. Watch the above video to get a feel for the playground Build Day in Macon, and read a first hand account of how the community came together to make it happen by Macon Program Director Beverly Blake
A few Saturdays ago, in 90 plus degree heat, over 100 volunteers from Macon and Middle Georgia gathered at Woodfield Academy to construct a KaBOOM! playground. What a day it was! We had a DJ, lots of food and drink, and skilled and unskilled (me) labor who came together to enjoy one another's company and a build great project. Most of the folks there I had not met before. Great fellowship was in the air - along with 80% humidity.
I was assigned to the "dome" team - a great big jungle gym type of structure - and took my seat on the ground under a big tree with one of the other volunteers named Oscar Hugley. Our job was to get the nuts and bolts and washers all put together. We began chatting and I learned that his mother lived in Beall's Hill (one of the projects Knight Foundation is working on as part of the College Hill initiative) and we chatted and I learned a lot about the history of the neighborhood that I would never have known. What a small world. Fate brought us together at a playground build so I could learn about the history and people of a neighborhood that Knight is working in. It was obviously meant to be.
The dome was finished in 45 minutes. Our KaBOOM! project manager said it was a record. Usually it takes 1 and a half hours. She was amazed...until we all found out that our team leader is the head of engineering at Robins Air Force Base and brought some of his colleagues with him to work on the build. That explains it. And, amazingly, the team even read the instructions - or at least glanced at them.
We finished up the playground by 2 p.m. and had the dedication. It was a wonderful day and I have never seen folks work so hard. I thought that because it was so hot we would lose people, but not so. Everyone was hot, tired and sunburned but happy. And the kids were thrilled with the finished playground. The only downer was that no one could play on it for 48 hours until the concrete cured. I went back this week to take a look and was amazed. It is beautiful and will be such a big part of Woodfield - I learned that the students will benefit not only through recreation, but the playground will also be therapeutic. Large motor skills development is important for many of the students at Woodfield.
When I returned this week and talked with Becky Sessions, the head of school, she told me something about the build that most of us never consider. We see Build Day and all the activity and the finished product, but don't think about the eight weeks prior, when all the planning and "friendraising" and organization happens. Just think about it: you have eight weeks to raise $7500, gather over 100 volunteers, get the kids involved in the design, the families involved in the organization, sign up for committees, have weekly conference calls with KaBOOM!...a million details! Becky said the two months leading up to the build were as important to build the Woodfield Community as the Build Day itself. Parents got to know one another. Everyone who was asked for anything was thrilled to participate (I have never seen so much food in my life - thanks to Macon's groceries and restaurants). The way the business community came forward was amazing. Woodfield did not have to spend one penny of their operating funds to make sure Build Day was a success. There were even funds to hire a DJ - which really helped keep us motivated.
KaBOOM! focuses on building a great playground, but the group is about so about much more. It is about bringing strangers together to accomplish something important and learning that we have something in common, like Oscar and I did. It is about working together in planning for something on faith. Since no one had ever built a KaBOOM! playground before, no one knew what to expect. It was also about families sharing a common vision for the school that is not only helping their kids succeed, but providing new friends and relationships.
But mostly I believe it's about how people with a love for community and a willingness to give can remarkably come together - in eight weeks- to envision, plan and build a fantastic playground in only one day. Folks in Macon are still talking about it. And every time I put on my build T-shirt, I think of Oscar and Becky and the Woodfield Academy community. And I smile.
The two-year-old BioInnovation Institute will be moving into the first three floors of a county-owned building on the corner of Main Street and Perkins Avenue. The site will host a healthcare training facility offering patient-centered simulation programs.
The hub, which also will be located at the institute's new facility, will be focused on biomaterials for orthopedics and wound healing
Dr. Frank Douglas, the institute’s president and CEO explained why the BioInnovation Institute has moved to a new home. “We are creating more than just office space; we are building a 21st century hub allowing us to recruit great talent, and to provide an environment that will push discovery and commercialization forward."
The institute, named for former Knight Board Chairman and trustee Dr. Gerald Austen, was originally launched in 2008 to encourage research in biomedical commercialization and improve prevention, treatment and disease management. The project, jump-started by a $20 million grant from Knight, will also help to secure the region’s economic future by creating jobs and attracting investment.
This past Sunday I attented a community event in Macon, GA called Second Sunday. Basically it’s an event [sponsored by Knight Foundation] and geared toward building community through entertaining. It was my first Second Sunday and I must say it was a great time. We sat in lawn chairs and on blankets and ate picnics and enjoyed music.
Somewhere around the cover band’s rendition of Sittin on the Bay I happened to look around and scan the crowd. To my amazement I noticed something very unique. In this crowd of folks who were busy talking and singing and dancing I noticed something else present. This crowd was made up of young people, old people, middle-age people, black people, white people, rich, poor, in-between, gay, and straight. Looking around we looked like the most hodge-podge group ever assembled. And yet, there were no evident signs of ill will, malice, or even hatred. It was just a group of people enjoying a 90 degree evening filled with music, food, and community.
It made me wonder: why doesn’t the church look more like this sometimes? Why do we seem so homogenous when we worship and yet when it comes to living life in the greater community many of us are able to exist and even thrive in situations where the diversity is as normal as 90 degree heat at 7pm? If God is truly God and Christ died for any and all then why is it we seem to only align ourselves as communities of faith along seemingly homogenous lines? If we look close enough I think we might actually find we share more in common than we think. We all experience pain and heartache. We all need to be loved. We all do better when a part of a community than if we were left to our own solitary devices. And, if we believe in the Gospel we say we do, we all need the life-giving and life-transforming love of a God who knows exactly how we feel. So why not the church be the place where all can find this abundant life?
I’m not really sure where to go or what to do about this. I wish we could work to create churches where all people find a place and a home no matter what superficial characteristics might seem to make them different. But I just don’t know how to help make this happen. What I do know is, somewhere along the final chorus of a familiar Otis Redding hit I looked around and I think I caught a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.
"This is a wonderful opportunity to share the knowledge, resources and connections of Knight Foundation with those in my community," Blake said.
With the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, Blake will be responsible for setting policy, strategy and active oversight of the activities and legal and ethical responsibilities of the foundation. The Community Foundation of Central Georgia serves 15 counties in Central Georgia and works with individuals, families, corporations, non-profits and private foundations to carry out their charitable objectives and address emerging community issues. The foundation is also the administrator for the Knight Neighborhood Challenge.
With the Rotary Club of Macon, Blake will serve as the Rotary Foundation committee chair. Rotary International was established in 1914 and serves more than 200 countries. It is comprised of business and professional leaders that provide humanitarian service and encourage high ethical standards.
I’m in Akron today, announcing more than $700,000 for arts projects that enrich and engage the community, as part of our national arts program. The largest grant – for $200,000 – is to renovate and expand the Summit Artspace, in order to strengthen it as a headquarters for arts and culture.
I love the idea and the space, but there is also an interesting Knight Foundation connection. The Summit Artspace is located in a 1927 Art Deco building once home to the Akron Beacon Journal, a Knight newspaper. On the day the offices opened, President Calvin Coolidge actually pushed a button in the White House, sending pulses across hundreds of miles of telegraph wires to start the presses churning in Akron.
We announced the funding in that very space – a great convergence.
Here’s a look at the other projects we funded in Akron, as part of Knight’s new national Arts Program:
Greater Akron Musical Association: $150,000 to produce and present a semi-staged performance of Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess by the Akron Symphony, along with community engagement activities, in conjunction with the University of Akron and the Gospel Meets Symphony Chorus.
Akron Art Museum: $107,500 to digitize the museum’s art collection in online archives that will be accessible via the Internet for a wide range of educational purposes.
YEPAW – Youth Excellence Performing Arts Workshop: $100,000 to expand the group’s summer programming by creating the YEPAW Institute, a yearlong arts education program for urban high school students.
Akron Civic Theatre: $50,000 to enable the theater, founded in 1929, to expand programming opportunities for community-based arts and non-arts groups who otherwise could not afford to use the venue.
Cleveland International Film Festival: $30,000 to bring underserved Akron high school students to FilmSlam, the annual student film festival presented as part of the Cleveland International Film Festival.
City of Akron: $30,000 to bring entertainment to Akron area residents through Lock 3 Live and to support the Lock 3 Summer Arts Experience for high school students who display an aptitude in the arts.
Tuesday Musical Association: $50,000 to support educational outreach that matches the classically trained young musicians and composers of the FUZE! series with school-age and college students to inspire interest in the arts. Clara Knight, mother of Jack and Jim Knight and a Knight Foundation founding donor, was an enthusiastic supporter of the association.
She also helped create the country's first online voter registration drive as executive director of Rock the Vote, Los Angeles.
Benoit Wirz, who has helped take companies from start-up to profitability, is also joining Knight in a newly created position: director of business consulting. He'll work with Knight staff to develop programs based on realistic business plans. Wirz, who recently finished his MBA at INSEAD in France, will also consult with select Knight grantees.
ShareThis
on 
on 
on 
on 
on 