In 2005 the Community Foundation presented the Moving Forward Together Report , Phase One of a public initiative to convene the community of Columbus, Georgia, around the issues of race and ethnicity.

The goal of the two-phase, multi-year initiative is to support our community in finding ways to insure that every resident, regardless of race and ethnicity, will have access to all opportunities and a positive quality of life. 

The project's first phase was fully funded by the Community Foundation through its Discretionary Grants Fund and co-chaired by two of our board members, Lula Huff and Frank Etheridge, Muscogee County Tax Commissioner and President of SunTrust Bank, respectively. 

Two nationally recognized consultants specializing in race relations and community inclusiveness were asked to:

• Listen to residents about their concerns and hopes for Columbus
• Examine data, trends and opinions compiled by the Community Assets and Critical Issues Assessment (simultaneously conducted by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government)
• Identify current efforts in our community that are working to address these issues
• Identify a list of “promising programs” from around the country that the community can consider implementing.

So what happens next?

Phase Two's goals are to: 

• Engage the community in:  a) providing feedback on the report and b) identifying and prioritizing specific task areas into an Action Plan for addressing barriers
• Create a way for individuals, organizations, businesses and foundations to effectively support new efforts, as well as current programs, through a designated fund at the Community Foundation.

A Steering Committee is guiding the community during Phase Two.
 
A Moving Forward Together Fund has been established at the Community Foundation to pool resources to help address the effort, with the Steering Committee members serving as the advisors to the Fund.  Eventually they will make grants to nonprofits and collaboratives to foster specific outcome-producing projects to help us Move Forward Together.

We at the Community Foundation have been gratified by the community's support of Moving Forward Together so far.  We anticipate great things as all of us come together as citizens to learn more about each other, listen to each other, celebrate the things that make each of us different, and Move Forward Together.