Race Relations Focus Group Discussion
Saturday May 22, 2010, 12:00pm - 4:00pm
First Presbyterian Church of Hickory Fellowship Hall
237 2nd St. NW, Hickory 28601

A very unique event will occur on May 22, 2010 when a diverse group of 20 people from the Hickory community will convene for a race relations focus group discussion. The group of five Caucasians, five African-Americans, five Hmongs, and five Latinos will discuss their experience in race relations, with an emphasis on assessing equal access to the American Dream. Each group will include people from different backgrounds, men and women, and one youth.     
 
The focus group discussion will be facilitated by Tong Yang, Chairman of the Hmong Community Development Corporation. Yang is a well known community leader, executive producer of Hmong Press Radio, and former executive director of the United Hmong Association. He is a skilled group facilitator, and is looking forward to leading the event, saying " I'm excited about this opportunity about bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to share their deep feelings about the state of race relations in Hickory."    
 
The Rev. Susan Smith, Chair of the Hickory Branch NAACP Committee on Community Coordinaton, and Associate Pastor of Exodus Missionary Outreach Church has led planning for the event which will take place at First Presbyterian Church in Hickory. A 2009 grant submitted by the Hickory Branch NAACP to the City of Hickory Community Relations Council will fund simultaneous interpretation for non-English speaking Hmong and Latino participants. The use of simultaneous interpretation equipment is being donated by the Center for Paticipatory Change in Asheville, and will be used by skilled translators.  Smith is pleased with the partnerships that are making the event possible, "We have non-profit social justice organizations, people of faith, business, government, and citizens working together to make this happen. It's a great project!" she said. 
 
Members of the NAACP, City of Hickory staff, Community Relations Council members, and other representatives working in race relations have been invited to observe the event which begins at noon with a light lunch donated by Biscuitville followed by the focus group discussion at 1:00pm. Discussion questions will ask participants about their experience and observations regarding race relations in social settings, on the job, in the neighborhood, at school, in the justice system, and in accessing government services. The goal of the event is to develop recommendations to address issues identified in the discussion. These recommendations will be shared with the City of Hickory Community Relations Council, and the Hickory Branch NAACP. Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright will attend, and help open the event.      
 
Media representatives are encouraged to attend this event. Group participants will be available for interviews before and after the focus group discussion. Representatives from this event will also be available in the future to discuss the group's recommendations in print, radio, or TV coverage.   
 
For more information about the focus group discussion, contact the Rev. Susan Smith at 828-962-8196 or susansmith@charter.net.
For more information about the Hickory Branch NAACP, go to www.hickorybranchnaacp.org  

On Sunday April 25, 2010, the Rev. Bob Thompson, senior pastor of Corinth Reformed United Church of Christ, and the Rev. Reggie Longcrier, senior pastor of Exodus Missionary Outreach Church did something rare - they exchanged pulpits for the day across denominational and cultural lines. The two have been friends for years, and both believe churches need more unity in the community. The two churches are quite different. Corinth is primarily white, and somewhat conservative theologically. Exodus is more diverse racially, with strong African-Amercian roots and is theologically liberal. Despite their differences, both congregations gave a warm welcome to their guest preacher, and the day was a success in both churches.
 
Rev. Longcrier's sermon at Corinth was "Let's Go A Little Futher", emphasizing that congregations need to move beyond the cultural barriers that keep people of faith divided. "It was a cultural ground-breaking experience, socially edifying for me and my congregation. For years, Bob has been a friend who has been open to go a little bit futher. Even when we see things differently, we've always managed to find common ground.That's what friendship is all about", said Longcrier.
 
Rev. Thompson's sermon at Exodus was “What Am I Doing Here?”, emphasizing that people shouldn’t drift through the successes and disappointments of life, but should be open to allowing God to use the people and circumstances around them to draw them to Himself and change their lives. Describing the experience he said, "The visible unity of God’s people is a critical but elusive goal.  It is one of those priorities we may never get fully right – but we must never lose our passion for it.  Jesus himself prayed for his followers that they would be one as he is one with the Father. During our pupit exchange, the Corinth and Exodus church families experienced just a little of that visible unity. I’m still hearing about the experience at Corinth, and everything I’ve heard so far has been very positive.  For Linda and me, the day was pure joy."
 
The two churches have plans to come together as one on Wednesday  June 2, 2010 for an evening of fellowship and music at 6:00pm at Corinth Church. Both congregations will bring covered dishes  for a pot luck supper, choirs from both churches will share their music, and several Exodus Homes' residents will give brief testimonies. It is the start of a beautiful partnership, and they foresee more opportunities to come together in the future.
 
For more information about the pulpit exchange, or the 6:00pm June 2, 2010 joint fellowship at Corinth Reformed United Church of Christ, please contact the Rev. Bob Thompson or the Rev. Reggie Longcrier.

In 2003, Chris Johnson came to Exodus Homes a broken man after losing everything due to his drug addiction. During his year in the United Way faith-based supportive housing program, he was able to regain his self respect and rebuild his life. For the past five years, the Gardner Webb graduate has worked as the Outreach Coordinator for The Cognitive Connection, a substance abuse treatment agency in Hickory. 
 
In 2006, Chris was walking down South Center Street in Hickory when he saw a young man who seemed lost and without direction. He got a profound sense of the need for mentors, and dreamed that he would start a new program pairing healthy adult men with young at-risk boys who need a male role model in their life. "I asked God to help me help him, and many more like him. This is where the dream for a mentoring program was born.", he said. The dream became a reality when he created the Young Men of Integrity mentoring program that year. Since then, many of the adult mentors have been successful Exodus Homes residents, and other men from the community who care. Youth in the program have dropped out of gangs, stayed in school, settled down at home, and quite a few are now in college.
 
Today the award winning program is growing by leaps and bounds with 28 young men from Catawba County referred by schools, juvenile courts, public housing, and other organizations.  Last month Chris learned that the Young Men of Integrity Lunch Buddy program will receive funds from the Service League of Hickory's upcoming Kitchens and More Tour in November 2010. The Lunch Buddy Program partners with Hickory Public Schools at Grandview and Northview Middle School by sending four mentors at least twice a week to eat lunch with 22 assigned youth in small groups. The program has been a tremendous success, and other schools have requested it to meet their need. Service League funds will be used in 2011 to expand the project into Hickory High, Newton-Conover High, Bandy’s, Maiden High, and Maiden Middle School. 
 
Recently, the program learned that they will receive a $5,000 grant from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission in Raleigh for a project called "The Dream Through Their Eyes". This will be a three phase educational program in collaboration with Viewmont Baptist Church in Hickory whose youth group is less diverse racially, but includes both genders. The project is designed to expand the two youth groups'  historical and personal awareness of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, and his vision for an inclusive society through education, hands-on activities, dialogue, and a two day trip to Atlanta for immersion in the history of the Civil Rights movement.
 
With so much to celebrate, the timing was right for A Gentlemen's Night Out last week at the Olive Garden Restaurant in Hickory. This project was funded by a City of Hickory Community Relations Council grant to help the young men and their mentors learn fine dining etiquette by taking their mother, grandmother, or surrogate mother out to eat at a nice restaurant.To prepare, the young men and their mentors participated in fine dining etiquette training provided by Ms. Kalyla Jet who has worked with the group before on other topics.The night out was an evaluation of what they had learned in the training, and a time to celebrate the success of the mentoring program that has made such a difference in the lives of the youth, their families, and the mentors. From appetizers to desserts, the young men practiced gracious living with their families and mentors. 
 
Brandon Mitchell, a student at St. Stephens High, was wearing his ROTC uniform and said , "Being in this program has made me a better man." During the evening, many mothers testified about what the program had done for their sons. Diane Sherrill, the mother of mentor Monte Mayfield, encouraged the young men to get all they can from the program. "It takes a man to mentor you young men. We love our sons, but we cannot mentor them. I hope you all will grow up to be fine men like Chris Johnson without having to go through what he did to get there." Monte has been a mentor for four months, and being in the program is has been good for him, too. "Some people here know me from the street, but I'm on the right track today. I truly enjoy being a mentor, but Christ Johnson is my mentor."      
 
The Rev. Reggie Longcrier, Executive Director of Exodus Homes is proud of Chris and all he has accomplished saying, "This is a dream come true for us. An Exodus Homes graduate founding a new program that empowers men to help at-risk boys become young men of integrity....it doesn't get any better than that!"          
 
Chris struggles to balance the growing mentoring program with his full time job as a substance abuse prevention counselor, and thanked his wife Pat for supporting his hectic schedule. She compliments him with her volunteer organization Parents Association for Children's Education or PACE. He was very moved to see the whole program in one room behaving like young men with integrity enjoying an evening with the women who love them, saying "After seeing all my young men and mentors at the Olive Garden with their mothers, I realized whatever a man thinks of himself he will become. If he thinks and dresses like a thug, he will become one. If he thinks and dresses like a gentleman, he will become one. That night I saw all my young men become gentlemen."      

Last March, Angela Hamilton's 16 year old son Nolan helped her run her personal best in the Knoxville Marathon to re-qualify for the 2010 Boston Marathon. By October, Nolan had been admitted to a wilderness intervention for substance abuse, and today he is finishing his high school education at a therapeutic boarding school in Utah. Angela and her husband David, a local orthodontist, have learned the painful truth about the prevalence of teen substance abuse and the long term consequences of early addiction. 
 
"As painful as this has been for our family, we equally celebrate each day of Nolan's recovery and solemnly realize this will be an ongoing lifetime battle which will require tremendous support. Countless numbers of young teens develop addictions, with all the costly consequences and devastation not only to them, but to their families and the community." said Angela.

The Boston Marathon is a 26.2 mile annual race that will occur this year on April 19. Angela has been training hard for 4 months in preparation for the race. She has run 4 previous marathons and hopes to finish under 4 hours.  During her training and with every step of the race, Angela will be running to support her son's recovery. David and Angela want to bring awareness to the problem of teen substance abuse and the denial that exists about it in many families.

At the same time, they want to raise funds for Exodus Homes, a local faith-based United Way agency that provides 82 beds of supportive housing for homeless recovering people who are returning to the community from treatment centers and prisons. The Hamiltons have been Exodus supporters for years and appreciate the positive impact the program has on its residents and the community. They explained why they are raising funds for Exodus Homes in the Running For Recovery project, "We know that many families do not have the opportunity to help their teen as we have, and Exodus Homes is here to help recovering adults who typically became addicted in their teen years."

The Hamiltons are asking the public to support Angela's run by pledging $1.00, $5.00, $10.00 per mile, or by making a gift of any amount. They would like to find a corporate or individual sponsor to match each gift, and interested parties should contact Exodus Homes. People who donate $130 or more will receive a commemorative t-shirt with a unique red, white and blue Running for Recovery logo designed by Nolan’s step-sister, Christina.

The Rev. Susan Smith, assistant executive director of Exodus Homes, will be in Boston to cover the event for local media including real time feeds to the Exodus Homes Facebook Group and Twitter. She is excited about the Running for Recovery project saying, "We are thrilled that Angela's Boston Marathon run will be raising awareness about early addiction while raising funds for Exodus Homes. Many of our residents needed more help in their younger years, and we need help now addressing broken lives ravaged by addiction."
    
A banner listing the names of all who give in Running for Recovery by April 13, 2010 will be displayed in Boston the day of the race so that donors can be there with the Hamiltons and Exodus Homes. "We will bring their names with us because we want the nation to know that people in NC care about teen addiction and the adults who are suffering today as a result" says Angela.
 
For more information about Running For Recovery contact the Rev. Susan Smith at 828-962-8196 susansmith@charter.net. or Angela Hamilton at 828-381-0105 angelaham@charter.net. To give online, go to the Exodus Homes home page and click the “Donate” button in the top right hand corner. You can also mail your contributions to  P.O. Box 3311 Hickory, NC 28603. Please designate your gifts to Running for Recovery.