The Mercer Center for Community Development (MCCD) was established in July 1998 to facilitate educational, social, and economic improvements in the Macon area in partnership with local agencies, institutions, and neighborhoods and through coordination of University resources.

As a first project, the Center decided to focus on an area east and southeast of the main campus, known as Tindall Heights or Central South. Despite its current depressed state, it is a neighborhood with an interesting history, significant resources, and a strategic location, situated between the Mercer campus and south downtown. The Center decided, after lengthy consultation with neighborhood representatives and community and governmental agencies, to focus on three broad areas of development: capacity building, educational needs, and neighborhood revitalization.

Through a consultative process beginning in Spring, 1998, neighborhood representatives and other partners identified the creation of a viable neighborhood association as a key element in the future development of the area. Over the course of a few months, the Willing Workers Association of Central South was formed. Its nominating committee selected a slate of officers for approval by the neighborhood plenary meeting, the borders of the neighborhood were defined, and criteria for membership in WWA were established. WWA has since gone through an orderly change in leadership. MCCD has cooperated with WWA on several events to enhance the latter’s management capacity, including the Fall Festival and Job and Health Fair, the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast, and the WWA Leadership Dinner.

To address the community’s educational needs, MCCD has played a coordinating role for elementary school tutoring at J.W. Burke Elementary School, the Servant Leaders Scholarship Program, and the impending transfer of phased-out computers to some of our community partners.

To promote neighborhood revitalization, MCCD has helped to organize several neighborhood clean-ups with the support of Mercer FYX students and faculty and community partners. In addition, the Center has worked with WWA and Mercer Business students and faculty to identify delinquent property owners and to conduct marketing research to identify obstacles to citizens’ participation in housing improvement programs.

For the next reporting period, MCCD, with support from various University schools and departments, plans to help enhance neighborhood capacity through the following activities: a visioning and strategic planning retreat for WWA; the mapping of neighborhood assets; media training for WWA; launching of an oral history project in the neighborhood; visits to revitalization efforts in cities near Macon; and an adopt-a-grandparent program. In the field of education, MCCD will continue to support tutoring at Burke School. In addition, tutoring will begin at Ingram-Pye School and Oglethorpe Homes. Computer training will be provided at the latter site. Finally, in the area of neighborhood revitalization, MCCD and its partners will support up to three neighborhood clean-ups, will continue to help identify delinquent property owners, and will begin to gather data on the legal and tax status of properties in the neighborhood.

I.   INTRODUCTION

The Mercer Center for Community Development (MCCD) was established in July 1998 as an administrative unit of Mercer University. The purpose of the Center is to facilitate educational, social, and economic improvements in Macon and Middle Georgia in partnership with local agencies, institutions, and neighborhoods and through coordination of University resources.

The Center is located off-campus at 1367 Linden Avenue. Staff include Peter C. Brown, Ph.D., as Director, David Randall Harshbarger, J. D., as Program Manager, and Ina Vaughns as Community Development Specialist (phone (912) 301-5370; fax (912) 301-5373).

As a first project, MCCD has elected to focus on the area east and southeast of the main University campus. This area, known as Tindall Heights or Central South, has long been one of Macon’s most depressed neighborhoods. At the same time it is a neighborhood with significant resources, history, and strategic location, situated as it is on the periphery of south downtown.

II.   ACTIVITIES OF JULY-DECEMBER 1998

A.   Capacity Building

The major strategy for effecting positive change in Central South is to strengthen and enhance community capacity. In some cases, this means support for an already-existing institution or organization, such as the Boys and Girls Club of Central Georgia. In others, it means facilitation of the creation of a new organization. Despite the significant number of local organizations (churches, clubs, tenants’ organizations), there has historically been no central organization which could speak for the community as a whole. To this end, the Mercer Center set as a prominent objective the facilitation of a new neighborhood organization.

Beginning in the spring of 1998, Mercer organized a number of public meetings to which neighborhood residents, representatives of community and governmental organizations, and others were invited. These meetings served not only to identify pressing issues facing the neighborhood but also to convince the neighbors of the need for a more formal neighborhood structure. In July, the Willing Workers Association of Central South (WWA) was officially formed. (The name of the neighborhood was selected by the neighbors themselves as a more inclusive moniker than Tindall Heights or other names that refer to only a part of the neighborhood.) A nominating committee was established to propose a slate of new officers for the association.

Defining the boundaries of the neighborhood was an obvious and urgent task for the new association. After much discussion the perimeter was described as running from Oglethorpe and Maple Streets on the north to Second Street on the east to Anderson and Plant Streets on the south to Little Richard Pennyman Boulevard, College Street, and the railroad tracks on the west.

After a period of a few weeks, dissatisfaction arose among some of the neighbors vis-a-vis their elected leadership. At a few rather stormy meetings, several members called for the resignation of the Chair and Vice Chair. At last, this issue was resolved at a mass meeting held in a local church, and a new Chair and Vice Chair were selected. As traumatic as this challenge was for many of those involved, it demonstrated nevertheless a certain organizational maturity on the part of the Willing Workers Association. Not only was the transfer of power orderly, even during the transition the members continued to work without interruption on ongoing specific activities related to the revitalization project.

Essential to the philosophy of the Mercer Center is the idea that development is an incremental process. It must be recognized that the capacity of the neighborhood association still needs strengthening. Major and complex challenges lie ahead. Yet when one considers that barely six months ago there was no organization whatsoever, the progress of the Willing Workers Association is remarkable.

Though MCCD has taken on a direct and prominent role in capacity building with the neighborhood, other local organizations have also begun to take on important roles. Through the facilitation of MCCD, the Community Resource Center (CRC), a United Way Agency, conducted a special seminar for some of the officers of WWA on strategic planning, incorporation and fund-raising. CRC provides this type of training free of charge and looks to form a long-term relationship with WWA.

1.  WWA Fall Festival, Job and Health Fair

One of the first priorities of the Willing Workers Association was to hold a Fall Festival for all residents of the neighborhood, as well as partners from Mercer and the community. The Mercer Center (with the support of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and Ms. Bobbie Shipley) played a major role in helping to organize the Festival, although most of the tasks were accomplished by neighborhood residents themselves. The event, held on October 3, was a major success. Over 300 people, most of them neighborhood residents, attended. Two local disc jockeys provided free music. MCCD supplied food and drinks. About ten local organizations set up booths to provide information on jobs and health and housing issues. Yet the greatest accomplishment of the festival was to help the Willing Workers Association of Central South gain organizational and management skills.

                    2.   Mayor’s Central South Prayer Breakfast

On October 17, the President of Mercer and the Mayor of Macon co-hosted a prayer breakfast on the Mercer campus for pastors and lay people of the churches in the neighborhood. Nine churches were represented at this event. Following remarks by Mayor Marshall, Dr. Godsey, and MCCD staff, the assembly broke up into small working groups to propose ways of addressing the neighborhood’s challenges.

                    3.   WWA Leadership Dinner

In October, MCCD also hosted a working dinner for the leadership of the Willing Workers Association. This gave the officers and team leaders of WWA an opportunity to address some of the larger issues facing the neighborhood, including the need to prioritize tasks, to involve more community members in WWA’s efforts, and to define better WWA’s relationship with Mercer. Other such meetings are planned on a semi-regular basis to provide MCCD with feedback on its community work.

B.   Addressing Educational Needs

As an educational institution, Mercer has a particularly strong interest in promoting improved educational opportunities in the Central South neighborhood. In fact, Mercer has a long history of working with local elementary schools by furnishing a cadre of tutors to help young students improve their reading and writing skills.

The Mercer Center for Community Development has played a coordinating role among the various units of the University that are involved in or interested in working to improve educational opportunities in the neighborhood. The School of Education under the leadership of Dr. Janet Busboom has played a particularly important role in providing tutoring training for Mercer students participating in the program.

1.   Elementary School Tutoring

Under the leadership of Dr. David Nelson, approximately 160 students enrolled in the First -Year Seminar, Experiential (FYX) sections have contributed one hour per week as tutors throughout the semester at John W. Burke School. Their work will carry over into the spring semester, while 100 students from the First-Year Seminar Program (FYS), under Dr. Gary Richardson’s leadership, will begin work at Ingram-Pye Elementary School.

As a spinoff from this relatively formal program, a group of students from the Baptist Student Union at Mercer decided to start an after-school tutoring program at the request of Greater New Corinth Baptist Church on Hazel Street in Central South. By the end of the semester, approximately 50 children from pre-school to high school had participated in the program. About 30 Mercer students were involved. They helped the younger students with their homework and with reading in particular. Almost all of these tutors were veterans of the Burke tutoring program from their first year. The BSU initially covered all costs associated with the program, such as snacks, school supplies, and recreational equipment. By the end of the semester the BSU had made contacts with other Macon churches and the Middle Georgia Food Bank, which contributed financially and materially to this innovative program.

                    2.    Servant Leadership Scholars at Mercer

Another important accomplishment in the realm of educational opportunities for this reporting period is the establishment of the Servant Leadership Scholars Program by Dr. Dolph Henry, Vice-President for Enrollment Management. Under this program, Mercer will offer as many as three full-tuition scholarships per year to highly qualified students who live in the Central South neighborhood. In addition, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Georgia, whose main facility is located in Central South, will nominate one student per year for a scholarship, bringing the total number to four. The Servant Leadership Scholars will enter into partnership with their home neighborhoods to act as agents for positive change, revitalization, and self-help. Each Scholar will complete at least 60 hours of community service per year.

Ms. Alison Nooks, Assistant Director of Admissions, and the Mercer University Office of Admissions provided invaluable support and initiative in the establishment of this new program, including co-funding of a brochure to be used in recruitment efforts for scholarship recipients. Mr. Sam Hart, Assistant Dean of Students, chairs the selection committee for this scholarship.

3.   Computer Training

In response to repeated requests from neighborhood residents, MCCD has committed itself to exploring ways of providing computer skills training to the residents. While no figures are available, it is fairly certain that the incidence of computer ownership and computer literacy in Central South is far lower than in Macon as a whole. At a time when many neighborhood residents are moving off welfare rolls and into jobs and minimal computer skills are required by many employers, it seems appropriate that Mercer do what it can to address this need.

In November, the School of Law phased out many of its older computers and offered them to the University as a whole. With support from the President's Office and Dean Lawrence Dessem of the Law School, MCCD requested that these computers be made available to our community partner organizations. Working with the Macon Housing Authority, MCCD produced a plan for disseminating these computers in several locations in Central South and in related institutions in Macon, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Georgia, the Inter-Neighborhood Tenants Association (grouping the residents associations of Macon's public housing neighborhoods), Project Read (an adult literacy project of the Bibb County Board of Education), and the Booker T. Washington Community Center. In addition, computers were reserved for the Willing Workers Association and for neighborhood residents in general through their placement in the MCCD office.

The plan was approved in December by a Law School review committee chaired by Mr. Robert Linz. Mr. Michael Belote and the Technology Support Office of Mercer University has agreed to inspect and (with MCCD’s financial support) upgrade the machines in order to provide Internet access for at least one computer in each location. Plans for providing computer training in each site are currently being developed by MCCD.

C.   Neighborhood Revitalization

A third major goal of the work of MCCD in Central South is to bring about an improvement of the housing stock, to beautify the neighborhood, and to make more adequate housing available in the neighborhood, regardless of income level.

1.  Clean-ups

A high priority of residents of Central South is the physical beautification of the neighborhood, which is also a public safety issue. In an immediate sense this requires the cleanup of abandoned and dilapidated properties. The WWA selected October 31 and November 14 as dates for two Saturday cleanups. The Mercer Center facilitated contacts between WWA and City and other public agencies and with the Mercer students enrolled in the First Year Seminar-Experiential (FYX) sections. Altogether, over two hundred fifty students, including 50 from the School of Engineering, and 10 instructors participated in the clean-ups. In addition, there were approximately 50 neighborhood residents as well as a delegation from the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department and representatives of the Code Enforcement Division of the City of Macon and the US Attorney’s office. The City of Macon Public Works Department loaned tools for the effort. Finally, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department helped by supplying jail laborers to clean up some of the most blighted publicly-owned parts of the neighborhood. The Mercer Center provided donuts and juice, and the neighborhood association, with a grant from the City Department of Economic and Community Development, supplied lunch.

Several tons of trash, including unsightly old appliances, dead branches, broken bottles, mattresses, etc., were removed over the course of these two days. Vacant lots were cleared and underbrush was removed. Yet much more important than the tonnage were the enhanced sense of neighborhood pride and Mercer-Central South solidarity that resulted. Mercer and community people worked side by side in the hot sun or rain for several hours and shared in a common endeavor. (A student reflection on the impact of this event on him is attached.) In addition, many residents who were not formally part of the cleanup took up their own tools and started cleaning around their own houses.

These two days inspired more clean-up efforts on the part of residents. In one case, a few Mercer students who had been unable to attend the first two clean-ups helped a group of residents clean a badly overgrown block near Tindall Heights Homes. On another occasion, residents of Oglethorpe Homes cleaned up trash in the area adjacent to the housing neighborhood. Mercer’s direct role in this event was limited to furnishing light refreshments. The real significance of the latter event was that it was done entirely by and for neighborhood residents themselves.

2.  Identification of Delinquent Property Owners

Together, WWA and MCCD launched an effort to identify owners of dilapidated houses or overgrown vacant lots in Central South. The City of Macon Code Enforcement Division provided addresses of such properties already cited for action by their staff. The Bibb County Engineer provided access to tax and property records to enable the linking of the property with the owner. Student volunteers from Mr. Dan Fischer’s "Urban Ecology" course in the College of Liberal Arts began compiling a list of delinquent property owners.

3.   Properties Marketing Research Project

Many programs exist to assist residents of low-income neighborhoods upgrade their property, to buy a home rather than rent, and to move from tenancy in a public housing neighborhood into market housing. Yet it has become clear in a number of meetings with neighborhood residents that either these programs are not well understood by those whom they are intended to serve or the residents still cannot pass the financial and other thresholds needed to qualify for these opportunities. To address this issue, Dr. Vickie Eveland’s "Marketing Research" class of the Stetson School of Business and Economics conducted a study to determine the obstacles to participation in programs that aim to improve the quality of housing. Neighborhood leaders as well as residents who have and have not participated in these programs were invited to share their perspectives on this issue. The results of this study will be made available to the Willing Workers Association, as well as to the Macon Housing Authority, the City of Macon Economic and Community Development and to other community organizations interested in housing issues.

III.  PLANS FOR REPORTING PERIOD JANUARY-JUNE 1999

A.  Capacity Building

1.  Visioning Retreat

One of the key project objectives for the Spring semester is to help the neighborhood association establish vision and mission statements and to establish a strategic plan for reaching their goals. This is an ongoing process, but the seminal event will be an all-day retreat in the Macon area that will provide all WWA officers and team leaders, MCCD staff, and the CRC facilitator the opportunity to discuss the above topics in a calm and unhurried atmosphere. Costs of this event will be shared by WWA, MCCD, and CRC.

2.   Assets Mapping

One of the key steps in empowering the Willing Workers Association and to pursue an assets-based development strategy is to make an inventory of assets existing in the neighborhood, at the level of individuals, organizations, institutions, and businesses. MCCD has already received advice on this process from CRC and has identified a cadre of Mercer students willing to work on this important task. So far, this has not been identified as a high priority for the WWA. Work on this task will begin as soon as WWA designates a point person to head up the effort from the neighborhood end.

                    3.    Media Training for WWA

Ms. Lisa Bell, who is the Coordinator of University Relations for Education and Tift Alumnae for Mercer, has undertaken to provide training in media relations to the Reporter of the Willing Workers Association This will enable the association to publicize more effectively its events and to disseminate information through the local media.

4.   Oral History Project

Dr. Sarah Gardner of the Department of History will begin an oral history project on the Central South neighborhood with the help of students in her American history classes. The goal will be to document the history of the neighborhood through oral and videotaped interviews with current and former neighborhood residents and through archival research at the Boys and Girls Club of Central Georgia and the Macon Housing Authority. This will be a project ongoing over several semesters, which will eventually result in a useful historical document for the WWA, as for the city of Macon and other partner agencies. It is also expected to yield publishable material for those students and instructors who participate.

5.   Site Visits

Many significant efforts at neighborhood revitalization are ongoing in a number of communities in Georgia, notably in Atlanta, Savannah, and Columbus. There is a potentially great benefit in arranging visits of the leadership of WWA to some of these sites to witness redevelopment efforts up close. Over the course of the next six months, two such field trips are planned.

6.   Adopt-a-Grandparent

A program designed to meet the needs of elderly residents of Central South will be launched over the coming months. Under the program, Mercer students and interested neighborhood residents will provide certain minimal services, such as transportation, basic house repair, yard maintenance, and, most importantly, friendship to our neighbors. This project was conceived by two Mercer students who will be working as interns Spring semester. It has received the enthusiastic support of WWA, owing to the large number of elderly persons in the neighborhood, many of whom have no one to help them with daily tasks.

 

B.   Education

1.   Tutoring at J. W. Burke Elementary

During the next semester, the students in FYX will continue their program of tutoring children in grades three and five for one hour per week. Approximately 150 Mercer students are expected to participate.

2.   Tutoring at Ingram-Pye Elementary

In the Spring semester Mercer will resume tutoring at Ingram-Pye after an absence of several years. Approximately 100 students from the First Year Seminar (FYS) Program will serve as tutors for one hour per week. The School of Education will provide training and professional advice to the students and instructors involved in this program.

3.   Tutoring in Oglethorpe Homes

Residents of the public housing neighborhoods have requested special help from Mercer to provide tutoring for their young students. This program will be launched in February under the guidance of a Mercer student who is also an AmeriCorps volunteer. It will be staffed by Mercer students on a continuing volunteer basis.

4.   Computer Training

Thanks to the computer donation described above, the Mercer Center intends to initiate a program of computer training in Tindall Heights Homes and Oglethorpe Homes. This will be done in coordination with the Department of Computer Science, the Computer Engineering Department, and the Computer Club.

5.   Tutoring at Neighborhood Churches

The tutoring program formerly carried out at the Greater New Corinth Baptist Church by the Mercer Baptist Student Union may be transferred to Oglethorpe Homes (number 3 above) to avoid duplication of services.

C.   Neighborhood Revitalization

1.   Clean-ups

A number of neighborhood clean-ups are planned for the upcoming semester. These will include one clean-up involving the FYX students, one partnership between WWA and the Intown Macon Neighborhood Association, and one planned by the Mercer Student Government Association, in addition to periodic clean-ups organized by WWA with the support of the Public Works Department, Fire Department, and Bibb County Sheriff’s Department.

2.   Legal Properties Research Database

Under the supervision of Law School Adjunct Professor Joan Harris, a class of law students will conduct research to determine the legal and tax status of properties in the neighborhood. This project is expected to spread out over two to three years.

3.   Delinquent Properties Task Force

In coordination with WWA and the City of Macon Code Enforcement Division, two Mercer interns will continue the task of identifying owners of vacant and abandoned properties in the neighborhood. WWA will follow up with letters to these landowners, inviting them to clean up their own property. If necessary, this information will be relayed to higher authorities for legal action.

IV.   COMMUNITY LINKAGES

In addition to involving many schools and departments across Mercer University in the work of neighborhood revitalization, MCCD has also established strong linkages with many city and county agencies. These include the Macon City Council, the Office of the Mayor, the Economic and Community Development Department, the Public Works Department, the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department, the County Engineer, the Bibb County Board of Education, the Macon-Bibb County Land Bank Authority, the Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Macon-Bibb County Board of Tax Assessors, and the Macon Housing Authority. Local non-profit agencies with whom the Center has formed linkages include 100 Black Men of Macon, Macon 2000 Partnership, Communities in Schools, Inc., Adopt-A-Role Model, Macon Habitat for Humanity, Educational Talent Search, Inter-Neighborhoods Tenants Association, Mid-State Children’s Challenge, Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, Greater New Bethel Baptist Church, the Community Resource Center, the Macon Heritage Association, the Intown Macon Neighborhood Association, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Georgia, the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank, the Middle Georgia Consortium, and the Macon-Bibb County Economic Opportunity Council. In addition, the Center has worked with Wachovia Bank to explore ways of providing housing financing opportunities to neighborhood residents. Last but not least, MCCD has forged a strong alliance with the Atlanta office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its Community Builder for the Eighth Congressional District, Mr. Sam Oni, an alumnus of Mercer University.