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Wednesday, Jun. 03, 2009

Volunteers will lead Center for Racial Understanding

The Center for Racial Understanding isn’t going away, but it will have a much different look in the future.

Leaders of the Macon organization, created five years ago to further dialogue about race in Macon and Bibb County, said funding for the group has dried up because of the downturn in the economy.

The organization was committed to planning for the next fiscal year as late as April, but it became evident that donations would be down, said Barbara Yancey, the center’s former executive director. She was recently named the new head of Workforce Development for the city of Macon.

“We became concerned whether we would be able to raise the funding that we needed,” she said. “So we asked ourselves, ‘What should we do?’ ”

The center’s board of directors has decided to run the organization on a strictly volunteer basis, said Ted Robinson, the board chairman. Members of the board and the community already involved with the center will serve as the volunteers, he said.

“There’ll be no staff,” he said. “It will be completely volunteer run. We hope we can go forward. The mission is still there, and the need is still there.”

Robinson said he hopes once the economy turns around, the organization can put together a full-time staff again.

The office located on Second Street is closed, and the center’s headquarters will be relocated to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on Pierce Avenue.

Yancey was the only full-time staff member.

One of the group’s highlights, both Robinson and Yancey said, was the center’s Conversation on Race, held in November 2007, which drew several hundred people into an open dialogue about racial issues facing Middle Georgians. That led to smaller group meetings — study circles — that helped continue the dialogue.

Other projects the center helped with included the Community Building Institute, the Downtown Clergy Association and the Hutchings Career Academy corporate liaison.

Macon’s Economic & Community Development office recently honored the center with the city’s Innovation Award for its work with the Community Building Institute, which helps improve quality of life in underdeveloped neighborhoods in Macon.

Robinson said the organization will probably have to narrow its focus in the future without a regular staff, but he said he hopes the organization continues to make an impact. The area still has a long way to go in building bridges among races.

“I think we are better off than we were five years ago,” he said. “When you get 500 people talking about race, that’s something. But when it’s 500 out of 100,000, trying to get them on the same page, it means the problem has not been solved.

“There’s still a long way to go.”

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.