The Bald Ridge Lodge for Boys took another step closer to fruition at the Cumming City Council meeting last week, with help of a check from Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt.
While there is a home in Cumming, Jesse’s House, for at-risk girls to live when they are in need of assistance, there is no such place for boys.
Gravitt donated an amount equal to the mayor’s annual salary $4,800.
The Bald Ridge Lodge for Boys, proposed by Charlie Smith and Buddy Lang, will meet that need and provide a place to live for young boys 12- 17 who have been displaced from their families for various reasons. Now such youths must be housed outside the county, disrupting family bonds and school attendance. Gravitt attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the lodge, and it touched me so much that he invited Smith and Lang to the City Council meeting to help enlighten more people about this much-needed project.
“It was moving to me in reference to a lot of boys who don’t have a place to live,” said Gravitt. “It is something that this county has needed.”
Smith said he heard from his son that there was no place for displaced young men to go.
“They have to ship (boys) all over the state,” said Smith. “It’s a shame that the community can’t take care of its own boys.”
The Board of Directors has been working on the project for over a year and the board hopes construction will start in the next four to six weeks. At the end of the month, the organization will apply for (501c3) status, making all contributions to non-profit groups tax deductible, Currently donations are being accepted through the United Way, and the lodge has received numerous significant contributions, including one from Forsyth County and one from the Brady Foundation. An anonymous donor also offered to match the funds raised, up to $200,000.
“There has been a lot of community interest in this, and it’s very exciting for us,” said Lisa Headrick Meyer, chairmwoman of the board and a licensed psychotherapist.
However, the Bald Ridge Lodge still needs more money. The state requires that projects involving the housing of children have enough money held in a reserve to cover operational costs for the first year.
“We think we have enough to build the facilities, and we are working now to get the reserve the state requires,” said Smith.
And Mayor Gravitt was all too happy to oblige. “I will donate my salary this year as mayor to the boys lodge for the purpose of maintaining provisions,” said Gravitt, who told Smith he would get him a check the next day.
“I assure you we will do the city proud,” Smith said.
In addition to an amount equal to one year of Mayor Gravitt’s salary, Gravitt also requested to have the city’s planning and zoning fees waived for the Bald Ridge Lodge for Boys.
“I appreciate the job that Judge and Bobby have done,” said Gravitt.
