What a moment to meet Greg Jackson today, the founder of Heal Charlotte — a nonprofit organization founded in 2016 with the mission of giving back to the Charlotte community. To kick-off the conversation, I asked Greg how he is doing.
“I’m okay, I’m doing alright. Considering everything going on in just this year alone, I’m okay. You’re blessed when you can walk in your purpose and do what you feel like you were born to do. I’m blessed on that note, I feel good.
I asked Greg to dive into more of how Heal Charlotte came together.
“In 2016, after the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott during the protests, a conversation I had with Captain Mike Campagna, we had no idea the conversation was being recorded, it went viral. It produced some results of us and CMPD implementing new training workshops for them and humanizing and empathizing with a community in a time of duress. We wanted to do more. My partner and I, Antwan Smith wanted to impact the community on a ground level and we started Heal Charlotte off of an event. One of my friends, her son passed away and we wanted to be there for her. Previously I was rapping and she was always there to support me and my music. We wanted to build her up and let her know the community was behind her. So we set up an event "Heal Charlotte a Night of Hip Hop" and people kept asking us about the name and logo and that’s how it came together. It was just us wanting to get a youth development program in my neighborhood. Just a couple of dudes wanting to get involved.”
We've all experienced struggles and ups and downs from COVID-19, so I was curious how this impacted Grey and Heal Charlotte.
“Man, if there were disparities in underserved communities before COVID-19 — you can only imagine it is magnified by a hundred right now. The work is spread out. Now we give free meals for the kids and families who need it. It’s not easy to get food, toiletries, and stuff like that so we decided to do Heal Charlotte care packages so we had to adapt to the times. We have changed our programming to help families when we understand what they are going through. We have provided hotel rooms for 20 families and making sure that people who were laid-off and who can’t afford where they are staying that they know they have some support bases.”
I asked if he has any new goals or has thought of any other ways to help.
“Yeah absolutely, especially with the school year starting back-up. We are starting to figure out events and how kids can be around, and socially gather but not putting them in situations where the virus spreads. We are currently looking for a space in the University area where we can bring kids in for three to four hours and have day programming to help with their curriculum. We want to have former and current teachers come in and give them an opportunity for a healthy and effective learning environment.”
I find that they are so many people in the community that would love to offer help but isn't sure where to start so I asked Greg what he looks for as far as a community looking to help those in need.
“We always say time, talent, and treasure. We need to capture and see the story. There is this overall perception of people living in these tent communities and people that are homeless that they are on drugs or their mental health isn’t right and I don’t think there are enough highlights on the families that are in tents. They work jobs and have kids because it’s hard to find a shelter. It’s changing that narrative and understanding who’s in these tents and I think that’s what’s stopping a lot of people investing in that help.”
We touched on the topic of the recent protests in Charlotte. I asked if he saw anything different or more impactful:
“I’ve seen a lot more awareness. The length of people's awareness was much longer than usual. This has stayed alive, it died down a little but it’s important to do the work because it keeps that energy alive and for people to understand they need to be aware and that they need to hold people accountable. The thing I am excited about are the younger kids, kids that are getting ready to go into their professions, they have a different mentality than the people that came before them. I had a chance to talk to 30 graduates from CMPD the other day and the mindset of everyone in there was completely different. They say it's not their job, it’s their purpose. They want to change and hold people accountable. It made me excited. This has impacted people's drive and it’s good — real good.”
“I want people to research, don’t read the headlines, read the facts. Do your due-diligence and walk in your purpose and do it with excellence.”
Finally, I asked if he has anything upcoming for Heal Charlotte that he'd like us to be aware of.
“We are launching a $10 million capital campaign next week — we are looking to buy a hotel and renovate it, use it for transitional living and turn it into a Heal Charlotte campus for social entrepreneurs and families that are in need and nonprofits that need a home. It’s going to be a ride. I want people to stay tuned in to our website and Instagram to get involved.”
To donate or to purchase a Heal Charlotte t-shirt visit: www.myhealcharlotte.com
