The Macon Promise Neighborhood (MPN) initiative and community partners are celebrating the beginning of construction on the Central Georgia Partnership for Individual and Community Development Center with the unveiling of the artist’s renderings and a ceremonial groundbreaking. The ceremony will be held at the site of the new Center at 1780 Anthony Road on Monday, Oct. 15, at 11 a.m. This Center will be placed at the location of the former Ballard-Hudson Middle School near Henderson Memorial Stadium.
Speakers will include representatives from the Center, MPN, Mercer University, City of Macon, Bibb County, Bibb County School District and Central Georgia Technical College. Among those in attendance will be MPN staff and community partners, representatives from the partner schools and other community leaders.
The Macon Promise Neighborhood began in 2011 with a planning grant to Mercer University from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a plan to focus on improving the cradle to career performance of students in four schools. The one-year planning grant of $500,000 was one of only 15 awarded across the nation and the only one in the Southeast. The grant is part of the department’s Promise Neighborhoods program. Macon’s initiative, which includes $150,000 of local funding from the Peyton Anderson Foundation, is targeted at improving student achievement in the Unionville and Tindall Heights neighborhoods, focusing on four schools in those neighborhoods: Ingram-Pye and Hartley elementary schools, Ballard Hudson Middle School and Southwest High School. The MPN submitted a full grant request in July, which calls for $6 million in funding per year over five years to help children in the Tindall Heights and Unionville neighborhoods succeed.
About the Central Georgia Partnership for Individual and Community Development
Central Georgia Partnership for Individual and Community Development Inc. (CGPICD) is a collaborative initiative created in May 2009 for the purpose of providing and/or connecting individuals with educational, vocational, and social resources to assist with community development through personal development. CGPICD’s Board is an aggregate of reputable and diverse members of the local community who were appointed through the offices of the City Mayor, Bibb County Commissioners, and the Bibb County Board of Education via the Superintendent. After receiving its 501(c)(3) non-profit status in May of 2009, CGPICD obtained the former Ballard-Hudson Middle School. The facility sits elevated upon a small hill at 1780 Anthony Road. It is situated on 16 acres of land and encloses over 100,000 square feet of classroom and recreational space. The location, size, and existing layout make it ideal for a community service hub.
Since its inception, Central Georgia Partnership for Individual and Community Development, Inc. has worked to develop relationships and partnerships with a range of entities within the Macon-Bibb County community such as the Bibb County School District, Mercer University, Central Georgia Technical College, Macon-Bibb E.O.C, and the 100 Black Men Macon-Middle Georgia. Collaborative efforts have been strengthened further with the addition of the Macon Promise Neighborhood (MPN) initiative which has multiple associated partners including Wesleyan College, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Heart of Georgia, Boys and Girls Club of Central Georgia, the Macon Housing Authority, Cox Cable, Macon Work Force Development, Family Counselor Center, and many others. MPN shares a focus on the neighborhoods surrounding the CGPICD site, partnering with the Bibb County School District to improve the academic success of children attending Hartley Elementary, Ingram-Pye Elementary, Ballard-Hudson Middle, and Southwest High School.
Recent funding through a local bond issuance will allow for phase I renovation of the Anthony Road facility. These updates will primarily include public service areas, administrative workspace and the gym area.
About the Promise Neighborhood
Macon Promise Neighborhood is a community-led, collaborative partnership with the Bibb County School District to do whatever it takes to provide optimal opportunities for the healthy development and academic success of children in neighborhoods of extreme poverty in Macon, Georgia. The initial focus for MPN is the Tindall Heights and Unionville neighborhoods and the four schools that serve children from those neighborhoods: Ingram/Pye and Hartley Elementary Schools, Ballard-Hudson Middle School, and Southwest High School.
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