Rome, Georgia, was the second city to sign on with The Facing Project back in the fall of 2012. The organizers of the project decided they wanted to face poverty, abuse, addiction, incarceration, and highlight the over 25 nonprofits in the greater Rome area that work in these areas each day; but rather than focus on any negative they chose to focus on the positive of these stories, so they Faced HOPE—a word that helps us find light at the end of a tunnel.
This Thursday, Kelsey and I will share the stage with the organizers of the Facing HOPE project as we keynote the Bonner Summer Leadership Institute on the campus of Berry College outside of Rome. Joining us on stage will be one of the student writers, Kacee Culpepper.
This week’s featured story is the piece Kacee wrote after spending time with the storyteller who has suffered from Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, and addiction for years, but has come out on the other side of the tunnel by finding hope.
Read “Ready, Willing, and Stable.”
—J.R.