Five Impact Makers in Virginia
The Ormond Center at Duke Divinity School lived into its mission in Virginia by fostering renewed imagination, will, and ability. Ormond became an agent of thriving, teaching, training and learning with visible impact, as we journeyed alongside five churches. All five accepted invitations to continue to journey with us, through our Pathways Towards Impact process. Our invitation is rooted in the spiritual calling of shalom, love of neighbor, and the hope for God’s final consummation of the whole creation. Towards continuous impact creation in Virginia, Ormond will help facilitate the implementation of the projects conceived there through capability grants and consulting. Next, we introduce our partners and their innovative projects.
Meet the 5 Impact Makers
New Jerusalem Ministries
Location: Kempsville, VA
Partner: Dr. Veronica R. Coleman (Senior Pastor)
Project: C.L.U. B. “Creative Learning, Unity, and Belonging” - Building Pathways to Advancing Equity in Educational Outcomes
New Jerusalem Ministries will pilot 2 clubs: 1) The Mighty A’s, which targets Pre-K through the 2nd grade, focusing on improving reading and math skills; and 2) The Young Students of Promise which targets grades 3 through 5, focusing on character building through the game of chess. These programs will run at Point O’View Elementary and Arrowhead Elementary schools, both located in Virginia Beach.
An Ormond Center capacity building grant to New Jerusalem Ministries will cover program implementation tasks including funding to purchase education supplies; support of the schools, business, and community organizations; hiring of male mentors for positive role models; and enrichment sessions facilitators (i.e. mental health nutrition, and finance professionals).
Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church
Location: Norfolk, VA
Partner(s): Dr. William L Davis, Jr. (Senior Pastor) and Dr. Jackie Boone (minister and educator)
Project: Seeds of Hope Community Garden
Mt. Pleasant currently owns a parcel of land across the street from its main edifice within the Titustown community. Ormond will fund Mt. Pleasant’s Seeds of Hope project, which establishes a community garden targeted to:
Address food insecurity among the Tucker House, active and senior care residents. Tucker House is a 127 unit senior living facility located on 3 acres in the Titus Town area of Norfolk.
Provide fresh vegetation for healthful living.
Encourage improved food choices.
Create a “community hub” for Mt. Pleasant’s congregation and the Norfolk community to gather, serve/work, exercise, and fellowship.
Re-imagine and transform a current vacant lot into a usable and productive greenspace.
First Baptist Church
Location: Norfolk, VA
Partners: Jerry Holmes (Interim Pastor) and Rev. Travis Barnes (Program Director/Instructor)
Project: The Crown Project
First Baptist Church will run an 8-week enrichment program for children ages 7 through 13 who live or attend school in Norfolk. First Baptist Church states, “While we see the violence, poor academic performance, and incarceration rates, our solution addresses the underlying beliefs and systemic structures that intentionally or unintentionally contribute to the facts we see and read about on the news and in our media.”
The Crown Project will include interactive instructional sessions, field trips, and mentoring designed to promote social competence as an approach to decrease violence. Further, the project will use a three-prong approach that focuses on emotional wellbeing, personal health and wellbeing , and entrepreneurship.
Based on the strength of the pilot study, Ormond is providing a full year of capacity building support which includes: 3 cohorts of 30 youths each, hiring on-site security officers during educational sessions; transportation for field trips, stipends for directors and instructors of the program, instructional materials in the classroom, plants for the community gardens, and healthy snacks for students.
New Light Full Gospel Baptist Church
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Partners: Rev. Eugene Cowan (Senior Pastor) and Dr. Ron Smith (Elder)
Project: Affordable Housing, Green Space, Intergenerational Playground
New Light plans to leverage the church’s unused property to meet the affordable housing crises in their local community. Alongside building affordable housing units for low-income seniors and veterans, New Light also envisions designing a riverside walking trail that offers meditation opportunities as well as the construction of an intergenerational playground that will offer health and wellness opportunities for all age groups.
New Light will partner with TOC and our new placemaking partner, the Wesley Community Development Corporation, to discern direction. We will meet in Virginia Beach on June 27, 2023 to introduce the partners and discuss the utility of completing a feasibility study. A feasibility study could provide New Light with the essential information needed to reimagine their property usage as well as discern the next steps, partners, and stakeholders needed in their placemaking endeavor.
Rehoboth Baptist Church
Location: Seatack, VA (near Virginia Beach)
Partners: Dr. James Allen (Senior Pastor)
Project: Keeping It Real 100
Rehoboth Baptist Church identified an opportunity to address the need for intergenerational dialogue, peer support, and empathy-based relationship building. They plan to launch a podcast called Keeping It Real 100, a youth-focused social media podcast created to invite and enable young people to discuss their lives, challenges, feelings, dreams, and disappointments, so that the Church may discern how to expand, alter, and/or create new ministries to aid youth in reaching their respective goals. The podcast will be hosted on a Youtube channel and co-created by a youth-adult team. Over time, the church plans to have the podcasts’ student guests become the podcast moderators and producers. As the church says, “we want to start a ministry for them that will eventually be run by them as we listen and learn.”
An Ormond Center capability grant will cover the program’s implementation ranging from camera and equipment, hiring a producer, and upgrading the sound system.