See Beautiful Grant Applicant: Impact46

The feature below is brought to you by Impact46, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about our giving initiatives, please click here.
 
To learn more about the featured organization, please visit their website here.

In 1984, the Lawrenceville square was a place where you wouldn’t find a growing city filled with restaurants and languages. Instead, it was a place where you would see the KKK doing marches as the city was also housing an abandoned segregated school, Hooper Renwick. It was also a place where black men were lynched in the same place where people bought their livestock at the city’s courthouse. Lawrenceville’s history is important because it shapes the context for what we stand for and what we never want to repeat. In 2020, Lawrenceville had two major Black Lives Matter protest that were led by young adults under the age of 24. Many of these students and young adults voiced their opinions and we are learning how to be better listeners and using their passions to bring an evolution of change and leadership through opportunities.

In 2018 Impact46 began initiating conversations around opportunities for students as we were thinking about how Lawrenceville would be defined in the future. With the pending question of legacy on our brains, we partnered with Central Gwinnett HS and the Lawrenceville Neighborhood Alliance to gather community information around the health of the community. We polled over 250 people via a community needs assessment asking residents about the assets and deficiencies in Lawrenceville. Many of the answers and concerns were around crime, aesthetics, and growth, but the majority of people desired more opportunities to develop their passions. Based on the understanding and research from the “Soul of the Community” study conducted by Gallop and the John McKnight Foundation, we knew that we had to build opportunities for our students to create an equitable city. As a city that is 30% Caucasian, 30 black, 30 Hispanic, and 10% Asian in racial make-up and with the most diverse 4 year college in the Southeast, we knew that we had begin with our youth if our future was to be inclusive and equitable.

Since the inaugural year, the Summer of Impact has helped secure internships for over 50 students in the city of Lawrenceville at two of our minority-majority high schools, Central Gwinnett and Discovery. We believe that local education should be supported thru real world experiences as seen thru paid internships. Although the internships themselves help students discover their God-given purpose, passion, and influence, Impact46 took it a step forward by creating community leadership workshops. 

During the 8 weeks of Summer the students learn about asset-based community development and how to engage in their local community thru an interactive game, New Town. New Town allows theses students to dream about their vocation but in the context of where they live. The students volunteer at the largest community event in Lawrenceville, Prelude to the 4th, where they interview residents about their cities. They take the survey information and formulate this into a community impact plan that is shown to our city council, Mayor, and city staff. This plan is then incorporated into the daily life and commitment of the students as they enter their next school year as rising juniors, seniors, and/or college freshman.

One of the beautiful things about the Community Impact plan is its ability to bring together various races, backgrounds, opinions, political affiliations, and stories to come together for the betterment of the city of Lawrenceville. As the students interact and rub shoulders with current community leaders they are being invited to be a part of the next development of the city. Many of these students have participated in city council meetings, student council, and the upcoming, City of Lawrenceville Youth Council. Many of our students were introduced to Lawrenceville thru the “Love Lawrenceville Day” where we partner students with a business/industry of interest represented in the city. These students have the opportunity to see insights as well as develop a professional network. Due to the students first impression on business owners, many of the local businesses have gone on to hire these students for the Summer of Impact. This small internship program has brought together people who had no excuse to meet, but by focusing on relationships and our city, we have been able to develop an equitable pipeline for students that is inclusive and filled with economic opportunities. Our end of the summer celebration looks more like a world leaders conference due to the diverse attendance. As a city, we are celebrating the changes in our community through invitation and equitable opportunity based community development. 

Submitted by: ​Jen Young

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