become a monthly donor in march!

Monthly giving is an extremely convenient and meaningful way to support CGM. Your monthly gift provides a reliable stream of income to our organization and allows us to provide much needed programs to the Washington Park neighborhood. Plus, this is an easy way to give as well as budget your annual giving. Sign-up once and don’t think about it for the rest of the year!

By March 31, 2015, become either a $25 donor monthly donor and receive a CGM t-shirt, or a $50 (or more) monthly donor and receive a CGM t-shirt and CGM tumbler!

Because of your generous contribution, CGM will be able to:
-Provide room in the After School Program for over 100 children at no cost to their families
-Send all enrolled children to summer camp for 8 weeks
-Support their spiritual and emotional development through bible studies and the Purity Study
-Match youth with loving and positive mentors
-Offer a safe haven for youth to be removed from the destructive influences of the streets.

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*When donating online, please specify your preferred size in the comments box. T-shirt colors are white or gray; please note which color you would like. Ensure that your entered address can receive packages. Items will not be mailed outside of the continental US. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. For additional questions, please contact Summer Williams at the main office by calling 334.593.5803, or by using the contact form.

a story from c.j.

Cornelius "CJ" Jackson

About three weeks ago, a “normal” day at CGM proved to be anything but normal. I was making my rounds from one class to the next when I received a text message informing me that a student had been sent out of class for being disruptive and disrespectful. I returned to the lobby to discover that it was the same student that I had threatened to suspend the day before because of his bad behavior. I was livid. He would be suspended for sure today! I gathered the proper disciplinary form and prepared to call his parents. But first, he and I would have a talk. (I will call him “Billy”).

Billy slouched haphazardly in the lobby chair—his baseball cap turned sideways; his manner suggesting that he could not care less that he would be confronted by me for the second time in two days. I approached him and stood towering over him—serious and authoritative. I let him tell his side of the story and it solidified his guilt. “You will be suspended, Billy. Wait here until I fill out your paperwork.” I stormed back into the office to write up the details. As I was writing, the front door to the lobby opened and Billy’s mom entered. She had arrived (unexpected and unscheduled) to pick him up early.

Providence! 

An impromptu meeting was arranged. I told Billy to remove his cap, grab a chair, and join me and his mother in the office. There, I told the story of bad behavior from days ago until present—the fights, the near-fights, the lack of respect, the insubordination, and more. Billy’s mother cried as she listened. She implored her son to not squander the opportunities that Common Ground afforded him. “You know that we need this program, Billy. I am working and in night school. Where will you go if you get kicked out?” I was upset with Billy. I was sad for his mom as she dabbed her eyes with a napkin, now tear saturated, that I had given her earlier. She continued her pleas. 

“What’s wrong with you? What more can I do. What more do you want from me? Tell me, Billy! What else can I give you?” 

We turned our attention to Billy as he surprised us both by answering.

“...A father!”  

No way! Did that just happen? Only at the movies do you hear lines like that. But Billy was not acting. His cap, clinched tightly in his fists, was pressed hard up against his face—a face that revealed that he was vulnerable, embarrassed, and in need. I rushed to hold him in my arms. He was crying, his mother was crying, and I was crying. Through my sobs, I heard myself assuring Billy. “I will do better, son. I can be a father figure for you. Don’t cry.” We wept together and earnestly prayed in the office that evening. The disciplinary form was too damp with tears to write on. So Billy didn't get suspended. And no, he didn't get a father. But Billy got a promise—one I intend to keep. 

---

This is one of many, many stories that we find ourselves in throughout the year. It is both heart-wrenching and a great privilege to walk along and bear with those in this community. Not because we are strong while they are weak, rather perhaps, because the more easily seen cracks in the exterior reveal how desperate we all are for help from a great savior.

We used this story in our End of the Year Letter for December 2014. 

cacf awards cgm $50,000 grant

MONTGOMERY—On Wednesday, Sept. 3, Common Ground Montgomery (CGM) was presented a $50,000 check from the Central Alabama Community Foundation (CACF) at their campus in the Greater Washington Park neighborhood (1516 Mobile Road in Montgomery). This CACF “Curbing the Violence” Focus Grant supports the program’s effort to help reduce violence in the area by identifying the root causes and tackling risk factors such truancy, lack of a high school completion, and positive role models for at-risk youth.

CACF’s distribution committee chose CGM as a recipient for their already successful mentoring work. The funding will allow CGM to hire a Mentor Coordinator for their Mentor Program. The coordinator will recruit mentors, provide intensive training, track the overall well-being (educational and behavioral) of the matched youth, and evaluate the success of the program. This funding will also support the marketing efforts needed to recruit mentors.

Pike Road resident Jeff Welch sums up his experience with the Mentor Program: “My wife and I made  the decision to become a mentor a few years ago with hopes of walking with and supporting a young  man through the challenges of his neighborhood and the lack of a father figure in his home. We had no idea what to expect but decided that we would fully share our home, our family and our faith with him by including him in all of our family activities such as sporting events, church, vacations, holiday meals, etc. He is now like a son to my wife and I and a big brother to our children. We feel so blessed to include him as part of our family.”

In addition to supporting the mentoring program, this grant money will also support CGM’s After School Program with support from other community partners and grants. CGM will construct new  classrooms on their campus in order to serve more youth in the neighborhood.

“By expanding our program, we are not only promoting academic success and providing a safe haven of love and grace, but we are also developing meaningful relationships with the children and parents in the neighborhood,” said Bryan Kelly, CGM Founder and Executive Director.

Kiwanis Club of Montgomery has also awarded CGM a grant of $25,000 for the expansion of classrooms. Plans are to build 4-6 new classrooms, finish out a “theater” space, and help supply some of the technology and furniture for the classrooms. House to House at Washington Park and Hands on River Region will recruit volunteer labor to save on costs of construction and other vendors will donate air-conditioning, flooring, sheetrock, paint, and electrical supplies and labor.

Finally, a portion of the $50,000 will support CGM’s Middle and High School initiative to train 
students for after-school and summer training opportunities, offset travel, and program expenses.

“The CACF grant allows us to implement and deepen a strategy that will help change the trajectory of the lives of at-risk youth in our community. We can now provide the leadership to recruit, train, and nurture long-term mentors for kids in our community and help build the classroom and learning space that we will use to develop the kids in our after school program. We will further provide a daily safe-haven for kids to come off the streets and be invested in, but also the relationships necessary to drastically change the odds for good for many urban kids.” - Bryan Kelly, CGM Founder and Executive Director

fall 2014 after school program volunteer needs

We are VERY excited to announce that we will be partnering with Sylvan Learning Center. Sylvan will help us to assess our students and from there they create learning plans that are specific to every child's learning needs. We are so excited about this and are confident that Sylvan can help our students to academically successful.

With this being said, we are going to ask for some very specific volunteer needs that will help comply with our schedule and help the kids gain all that they can from the program.

• Monday 5 P.M. - 6:15 P.M. — We are looking for volunteers to help us create an atmosphere of learning while they help the kids with homework, reading books, and learning games on the computer.

• Tuesday and/ or Thursday 5 P.M. - 6:15 P.M. — There are “alternative” electives that we have set up for the kids, but this would be a great time for anyone who is able to teach an elective class on one or both days with the kids.

• Wednesday 5 P.M. - 6:15 P.M. — We are looking for individuals who can commit for the semester to lead a bible study.

• Friday 4 P.M. - 6:15 P.M. — We are using Friday's as a fun time to hang out and fellowship with the kids. We are asking groups (larger than at least 6) to help us plan our Fun Friday activities! If you or your organization would like to sign up for a Fun Friday it can look many different ways. We have a large school bus and a driver so you can plan an off campus field trip or a fun day at Common Ground. The options are limitless.

If you would like to help us out in any of these areas, please contact Ava Conley by using the CONTACT FORM or call our main office at 334.593.5803.

thank you, volunteers!

Just a quick video as we close out the spring semester to say "THANKS!" to all the volunteers that come out and help make Common Ground Montgomery the reality that it is.