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Project Spotlight: Blueprint 58

After serving as mentors themselves to two young boys, the Stanleys decided that they wanted to create a way for more kids to receive mentorship and guidance. In 2011 the family moved to the Adair Park neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded their non-profit Blueprint 58. “We had been mentoring two boys and doing some work with kids in the neighborhoods downtown already,” said Becca Stanley, co-founder of Blueprint 58. “And we decided that we really wanted to put in roots somewhere and go deep in a specific neighborhood. So we bought a house, my husband and his dad finished it, renovated it and we moved in and started our mentoring program. So Blueprint 58 is primarily a mentoring and Community Development Program.” Blueprint 58 is community-based mentoring program that serves the Adair Park and Pittsburg neighborhoods. The goal is to have a positive presence in the neighborhood to help foster community development. “So our mission is to transform youth into community … [Read more...] about Project Spotlight: Blueprint 58

Project Focus: Jolly Avenue Development Center

In Clarkston, Georgia, a small town proves that one area can be home to a variety of people from all over the world. In the 1990s, refugees from over 150 different ethnic groups moved to the small town located just outside of Atlanta. Around 60,000 refugees have called Clarkston home during their journeys to begin life in America. Friends of Refugees was started in 1995 by Pat Maddox, a resident of Clarkston who now serves as a volunteer and Board advisor. Friends of Refugees became a non-profit organization in 2005. The current executive director is Brian Bollinger. Bollinger first served as a volunteer with Friends of Refugees 14 years ago while he was on spring break in college. He stayed with a newly resettled family, and during that time, learned a lot about the process of refugee resettlement.  Friends of Refugees has several projects including a career hub, a community garden, a family literacy program, youth programs, and a program to help expectant and new … [Read more...] about Project Focus: Jolly Avenue Development Center

An American in Cuba: Fishers of Men

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Mark 1:17 As a child I spent, my summers at the ocean with my family. I first learned to float with my grandmother in the ocean, and my first catch of fish as a child was on the beach.  I remember hovering over the innocent fish in my red sand pale for what seemed like hours. It was the only fish we caught that day. He was our little pet for the afternoon, and I remember throwing him back into the ocean.  I have fishing stories spanning my entire life, and it is something my husband and I do with our children today. We have fished streams, wide rivers in canoes, vast ponds and lakes all over East Alabama. I feel as though it is a life skill and a rite of passage for a child. “Teach a man to fish…” my husband says. And he’s right, it something you carry with you forever.  While in Cuba and visiting the Methodist church near Gerona (Herona), pastor Enrique told us of their “fishing … [Read more...] about An American in Cuba: Fishers of Men