Although Knoxville’s Save Our Sons director left the job in August—less than a year into the three-year grant she was hired to manage—the city has continued to make progress on many initiatives that are part of its effort to help young inner-city black men avoid lives of violence and crime.
Save Our Sons is a multi-faceted approach, created by Mayor Madeline Rogero, that relies on partnerships with existing community organizations. Its initiatives focus on addressing the gaps that lead young black men to die violently and young, by providing mentoring and job training opportunities for youth and helping ex-convicts re-integrate into the community. During this budget year, Rogero doubled the city’s budget for Save Our Sons and provided more than $380,000 in grants to community organizations that serve at-risk young black men (more than tripling the amount budgeted the previous year).
The entire Save Our Sons effort was developed by an advisory committee, appointed by Rogero, which includes Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch, local pastors, black activists and education advocates.
Since former Save Our Sons Coordinator Jackie Clay left, the city has divided Save Our Sons responsibilities one and a half jobs. One is a part-time grant management position that was filled internally, and the other a community outreach coordinator job that is expected to be filled in early 2017, says Eric Vreeland, Knoxville communications manager. (The Save Our Sons advisory committee helped identify candidates and conduct interviews.)
Much of the Save Our Sons effort is funded with a $600,000 Tennessee Community Crime Reduction Program grant from the federal Office of Criminal Justice Programs; it is focused on certain geographic areas of the inner city.
Save Our Sons’ most high-profile venture, launched early this year, is the $2.9 million “Change Center.” About $2.3 million has been raised for this East Knoxville activity center and job training initiative for teens and young adults, but the total goal has been raised to $3.7 million as 4,500 square feet of additional space was added to expand the footprint of the job outreach and entrepreneurial programs, says Tatia Harris, who manages the Tennessee Community Crime Reduction Program grant.
As previously announced, the city is chipping in $500,000, but Vreeland noted that many donations toward the Change Center have been modest contributions from supportive community groups. For example, the Halls High School Swim Team hosted a swim-a-thon fund raiser this month, “Swim for the Change – Kids Helping Kids,” which raised about $1,500 for the Change Center, he says.
A new initiative offered under the umbrella of Save Our Sons in 2016 provided paid internships training young men to work in construction trades. The City’s Community Development Department and the Knoxville Leadership Foundation partnered with Save Our Sons to offer 3-month classes for low-income youth aged 18 to 25, with the first ten having graduated Dec. 15. Students participating in the $150,000 program, called KnoxWorx, receive hands-on instruction in carpentry, construction math, tools and materials while doing necessary work in the community, meeting prospective employers along the way.
Save Our Sons has partnered to pilot a variety of other initiatives this year. For example, it helped offer job fairs monthly at low-income and public housing complexes such as Walter P. Taylor Homes, Lonsdale Homes, Austin Homes, North Ridge Crossing, The Vista and other locations, Vreeland says.
Once the new community outreach coordinator is in place, the city plans to collaborate with C.O.N.N.E.C.T. Ministries on a Reentry Summit to help former prisoners with employment, housing and other issues. It has already piloted other programs in 2016 with Courage Incorporated (mental health workshops), Eternal Life Restoration Church (a summer open gym program during nontraditional hours), and Project Grad (a “Brother to Brother Retreat” to learn about job and education opportunities), to name a few. There are plans to expand these efforts to more locations or times in the coming year, according to information provided by Vreeland.
Earlier this year, members of the Save Our Sons Advisory Committee, including NAACP president Rev. John Butler and local activist André Canty, called for the committee to meet more often. It hasn’t. The committee met only twice in 2016, with the last meeting Nov. 9, according to information provided by Vreeland. However, at its November meeting, the committee decided to meet quarterly once the city’s new Save Our Sons coordinator is hired, he says.
S. Heather Duncan has won numerous awards for her feature writing and coverage of the environment, government, education, business and local history during her 15-year reporting career. Originally from Western North Carolina, Heather has worked for Radio Free Europe, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London, and several daily newspapers. Heather spent almost a dozen years at The Telegraph in Macon, Ga., where she spent most of her time covering the environment or writing project-investigations that provoked changes such as new laws related to day care and the protection of environmentally-sensitive lands. You can reach Heather at heather@knoxmercury.com
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