Morehouse School of Medicine won't receive money from a federal grant to continue plans for a "cradle-to-career" education zone in Atlanta, but school leaders are looking for other ways to make the idea a reality.
On Monday, Morehouse and three other Georgia sites lost bids to plan or implement "Promise Neighborhoods," a grant program started by the Obama administration to provide support services to children in impoverished areas. The goal is to improve the school experience for children in poor neighborhoods by focusing on health, safety, stability, learning and family involvement.
Mercer University, which is based in Macon but has a campus in Atlanta, will receive a $500,000 planning grant to help students at schools in the Macon area.
In 2010, Morehouse was selected as one of 21 organizations around the country to receive a planing grant. But the medical school, along with another Georgia-based planning grant winner in Athens, was not selected for phase two -- bringing the Promise Neighborhoods to life. Instead, the funding went to five organizations in New York, Minnesota, Kentucky, Texas and California.
Morehouse and other local leaders who worked on the Atlanta plan say they remain committed to the project. They hope to raise money from private supporters to finance many of the initiatives.
“We are disappointed but we understand that many of the winning programs were further along and had launched several initiatives with the help of private funding and government support," said Dr. John Maupin, president of Morehouse School of Medicine. "However, we are grateful for the planning grant, which allowed us to put together a plan for the future informed by the community’s residents, leaders and educational and health experts.”
The medical school partnered with the Atlanta University Center Consortium, the Atlanta Housing Authority, United Way of Metro Atlanta and Atlanta Public Schools to created the "Atlanta Promise Neighborhood Alliance." Its work will be focused on schools near Atlanta's West End neighborhood, including Bethune, Herndon and Jones elementary schools, Brown and Kennedy middle schools and Washington High School. The plan is to focus on how poverty, access to health care, food security and affordable housing affect the educational experience.
Alliance members in January plan to review the plan and single out the most important initiatives. Many private funders have indicated they are still interested in supporting the neighborhood, even without the federal dollars, according to a Morehouse spokeswoman.
Paine College in Augusta and Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority Planning in Savannah were the other two in-state organizations that applied.
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