SMALL NON-PROFIT WORKS WITH CITY FOR BIG AWARD

City staff, TCDC representatives, and friends and members of the Douglass High School Alumni Association were in attendance during Monday night’s Thomasville City Council

 meeting for the acceptance of a $19.8 million grant from the Community Change Grants Program.

"Grant will fund community-driven projects in Thomasville’s Southside and Westside neighborhoods" 

THOMASVILLE | When Environmental Protection Agency announced the Community Change Grant last year, non-profits across the country scrambled to win the golden ticket—up to $20 million to create transformative change in their communities. Over 2,700 applicants vied for the 105 awards. But the Thomasville Community Development Corporation said they had a secret weapon.  

“This award is a true testimony to the power of relationships. It took a strong partnership between our team and the City of Thomasville to develop the application. But it also had a lot to do with an individual who happened to stop in town last spring to research his family history in Thomas County,” said Williams, referring to Jonathan Beard, who ended up providing free technical assistance to TCDC to develop the project proposal.  

Beard, who spent his career leading a community development corporation in Columbus, Ohio, was interested in hearing about the work of TCDC while on a personal trip to Thomasville. Williams and Katie Chastain, TCDC Operations Director, took him on a tour of their neighborhoods as they discussed community development work.  

“[Beard] told us about this grant and it immediately seemed like it was a good fit to support two ongoing projects—the renovation of Douglass High School Alumni Association’s property and our grant program,” said Chastain, who worked with Pam Schalk (City of Thomasville Grant Administrator) and Eric Gossett (Assistant Utilities Superintendent) on writing the grant. 

To promote the goal of directly impacting disadvantaged communities through community-based organizations like TCDC, the EPA worked contracted with EnDyna to provide free technical assistance during the grant writing process. After learning Beard was a consultant with EnDyna, TCDC requested Beard specifically to help navigate the application process. Chastain said Beard ended up providing over 40 hours of expert assistance at no cost to the City or TCDC.  

“The projects selected for the application were uniquely teed up because the work was already being done in partnership with other community-based organizations, but Beard helped us to refine the projects to meet the grant specifications,” Chastain said.  

Williams said their current staff of two people will rely on partnerships with existing community organizations to effectively deploy the nearly $11 million subaward. In addition, TCDC expects to release Requests for Qualifications and job opportunities for grant-funded work later this week.  

TCDC’s projects will focus on improving health outcomes, specifically asthma and upper respiratory diseases, for priority populations with multiple vulnerabilities to extreme heat and air pollution.  The funding for the hub at the former Douglass School gymnasium includes the construction of a federally qualified health clinic to serve area residents. Primary Care of Southwest Georgia also received a nearly $800,000 subaward for initial operations of the clinic.  

The grant application, “Restoring Resiliency in Thomasville’s Traditional Neighborhoods,” was inspired by the historic resiliency of the Dewey City neighborhood in which he grew up.  

“My grandparents and many of their neighbors in Dewey City had small farms and would share their harvests. It was sustainable before we knew what sustainable meant,” Williams said. 

Douglass School was the first public school for Blacks in Thomasville and the community has expressed a clear desire to maintain it as a hub for educational and community services, he explained.  

TCDC project leaders will work with relevant emergency response organizations to assess local risks and adequately equip the hub for critical needs, such as refrigeration for medicines, charging stations, and emergency supplies. A solar micro-grid and energy storage unit will provide reliable, affordable energy to the hub and the adjacent 52 affordable apartments soon to be built on the historic Douglass campus. 

“The leadership team at [Douglass High School Alumni Association] were an important part of developing that resiliency hub part of the proposal.” Williams said. The association will retain ownership of the hub. 

For more information, please or to see opportunities related to EPA’s Community Change Grant, please visit thomasvillecdc.org.