Community Renewal shares good news at Clinton Global Initiative
For release: Sept. 23, 2009
Community Renewal International Founder Mack McCarter is joining with leaders from around the world at this week's Clinton Global Initiative in New York City to press for solutions to some of society's most pressing problems. This is the second year in a row that McCarter has been invited to join the distinguished array of leaders at the CGI meeting. CGI officials visited Community Renewal this summer and are speaking highly of the model to build safe and caring communities. "We are extremely honored to be invited back. The expectation is that we will receive resources that can expand and strengthen the work happening here and enable this innovative model to go forward," McCarter said. "I will share with people the fundamental idea of Community Renewal and share with them the significance of what we are doing. There is something wonderful going on in Shreveport, La. We want people to come and see us." CGI Senior Associates Corey O'Hara and Amana Chen visited Community Renewal this summer and got a first-hand look at its work in local neighborhoods. "I don't know of any single project that is accomplishing what you are accomplishing," O'Hara said. "When you can drive through a neighborhood and see ‘We Care, We Care, We Care,' there is something very powerful about that. It does not mean all the problems are solved. But it does mean those people are now tapped into something bigger than themselves." Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the nonpartisan, non-political Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Since then, more than 80 current and former heads of state; hundreds of leading CEOs, philanthropists, and NGO leaders; and 10 of the last 16 Nobel Peace Prize laureates have attended CGI. "In the midst of a global financial crisis, I don't think it's a coincidence that more people are attending this meeting than ever before," President Clinton said at Tuesday's opening session. "Since 2005, it has become clear that CGI has found an effective model for addressing challenges around the world. Our members have made more than 1,400 commitments affecting more than 200 million people around the world. Because of their efforts, more than 10 million children have access to a better education, 48 million people have better health care, and more than 12 people million have safe drinking water. But there is still work to be done." President Barack Obama addressed the opening session of the Fifth Annual Meeting on Tuesday. "Real progress does not just come from the top down, not just from government. It comes from the bottom up - from people. If you want to bring about change in the world, you can't just be an advocate of somebody else doing it. You can't just preach lofty goals and wait for somebody else act. You have to step up. You have to serve," the President said. "This is how we will seize the promise of this moment in history. Standing together. Working together. And building together. That's the spirit that I see here tonight. The spirit that says we can rise above the barriers that too often divide us - country and culture, color and creed, race and religion and region. That we can come together. And that we can leave this world even better, even more hopeful than we found it." Community Renewal International is a nonprofit effort to restore safe and healthy communities through caring relationships. Founded in 1994, Community Renewal reaches at-risk youth through Friendship Houses built in impoverished neighborhoods, strengthens education through the Adult Renewal Academy, partners with The Fuller Center for Housing and connects caring partners who turn their neighborhoods into safe havens of friendship and support. Contact: David Westerfield, director of communications
(318) 425-3222
davidwesterfield@communityrenewal.us |
