‘OK to be human.’ Woman returns home to Macon from NYC after 20 years to promote mental health

A baby born in Macon was taken from her mother by the Division of Family and Children Services when she was just 2 months old and put in foster care in 1988.

Nancy Cleveland’s mother had mental health problems and was addicted to drugs, but her two maternal aunts were able to adopt her when she was 3.

She was delivered to her aunts in the Bronx in New York City by June O’Neal, who worked for DFCS at the time and is now the executive director of The Mentors Project in Macon.

“I ended up having a great life. I was in private school my whole life and ended up going to a great college,” said Cleveland, now 31.

Although Cleveland loved New York City and the people she met there, she said she always felt out of place. She said she kept thinking about her mother living on the streets in Macon.

“That is kind of what fueled my desire to relocate back here. I wan ed to get to know my family,” Cleveland said.

So she returned to Macon five years ago and today works with or has started a number of community programs designed to help people.

A new chapter in philanthropy

Cleveland didn’t have a job lined up when she decided to move back to Middle George, but she eventually started working for Macon-Bibb County’s Parks and Recreation Department as a senior administrative assistant. While at the parks department, Cleveland met Kathryn Dennis, president of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, a philanthropic group that gives community members a simple way to give back to the Middle Georgia area.

She started working as a communications and development associate at the foundation in September 2018.

“Philanthropy is the love of mankind, and I feel like I found a place in that industry,” Cleveland said.

Cleveland’s job includes overseeing the foundation’s communications with the public and implementing different projects, such as On The Table Macon and Milledgeville, an all-day event that brings diverse groups of people together to talk about community issues over a meal.

“She shares a passion that I think that all of us at the Community Foundation have, which is to bring in voices that aren’t traditionally heard and bring people to the table to talk,” said Dennis.

Dennis said Cleveland is a wonderful part of their team at the Community Foundation. Although Cleveland was born in Macon, Dennis said Cleveland also chose to reclaim Macon as her home and has a passion to impact the community in a positive way.

“She’s dynamic and passionate and really loves her … hometown of Macon,” Dennis said. “I think she has a tremendous empathy for people who have had a hard time in life.”

Becoming an advocate

Cleveland said she realized her dream of helping her mother by praying to God, who guided her to come back to Macon. She obtained legal guardianship of her mother.

In her early years, Cleveland’s mother had received a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College and a master’s degree from Florida State University. She began having mental health problems before she became pregnant with Cleveland.

Cleveland’s mother lived on the streets of Macon for more than 30 years, was addicted to drugs, weighed 90 pounds and had been diagnosed with HIV for more than a year without receiving treatment, Cleveland said.

Cleveland was able to prevent her mother from checking herself out of the hospital after being hit by a car in 2018 and was able to have her transferred to a physical rehabilitation center called Pruitt Health in Macon.

She is currently at Shamrock Nursing Center in Dublin, and she weighs 150 pounds and receives treatment daily, Cleveland said.

Cleveland’s mother has been drug-free and off the streets for almost two years.

“I’d slowly turned from feeling like a victim in a situation to feeling like I should be an advocate, and that led to my project,” Cleveland said.

Cleveland became an Emerging City Champion, a fellowship program managed by 8 80 Cities and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The fellowship provides recipients with a $5,000 grant for their individual projects.

As a fellow, Cleveland started a project called “Head Space: Destigmatizing Mental Health,” which provides mental health resources for the Macon community. They include mental health popups where people can “try out” therapy.

She also started Park Prescriptions, which implemented the project Walk With A Doc. Navicent Healthy Communities has undertaken the project, and they walk every first Saturday in Central City Park at 9 a.m. to promote better physical health, Cleveland said.

“I just want people to know that if I can do it you can do it, and that it’s OK to be human and make mistakes,” Cleveland said. “I don’t always look at my accomplishments as being monumental, but they are, so celebrate the small victories.”

For more information about the Head Space or Park Prescriptions programs, contact Cleveland through the Community Foundation at (478) 750-9338.