Faces of Resilience: Highlighting Climate Wins Across Georgia
Thomasville, Georgia, is set to receive the largest grant in its history: $19.8 million to build a “Resilience Hub” that will protect seniors, upgrade aging infrastructure, and strengthen the community. The funding comes from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Community Change Grant program under the Inflation Reduction Act and is one of only three awarded in Georgia. This investment will turn a historic school into more than just a community center—it will be a lifeline before, during, and after disasters. The project’s holistic approach to the challenges people face in this rural town may establish “The Rose City” as a leader in the state for years to come, but what is a “resilience hub?”
Resilience Hubs connect Residents with Resources
The Urban Sustainability Director’s Network (USDN) defines “resilience hubs” as “community-serving facilities augmented to support residents and coordinate resource distribution and services before, during or after a disruption.” That’s a lot of words for a simple idea. A resilience hub takes an existing community center and makes sure it has what it needs to be an emergency shelter during extreme weather, a distribution center for relief efforts after the storm passes, and a place that helps people prepare for the ways that climate change will make day-to-day living harder.
A community’s ability to “anticipate, accommodate and positively adapt to or thrive amidst changing climate conditions or hazard events” is a significant part of USDN’s definition of “climate resilience.” While they believe that resilience looks different in different places, USDN doesn’t want anyone to think that resilience is only about passing out bottled water. Climate resilience also means the community’s ability to “enhance the quality of life, reliable systems, economic vitality, and conservation of resources for present and future generations.”
The Thomasville Resilience Hub straddles all of these priorities. The project calls for updating and upgrading the historic Douglas School complex to serve as 52 units of affordable senior housing, a medical clinic, housing assistance, and community office space. A separate $200,000 grant from Drawdown Georgia through the Ray C. Anderson Foundation will be used to install solar energy for the complex and fund a food accessibility program by partnering with a local grocer and caterer.
The Transformation of Douglass High School
Douglass High School pioneer Teachers-1950s & 60s. Left to Right: Ruth Cooper Hadley, W.J. Varner, Margaret McIver, William “Bill” Morris and Lucille Glenn Morris Photo from the Jack Hadley Black History Museum housed at the Douglass Complex.
In 1895, Frederick Douglass visited Thomasville, leaving a lasting mark on the small community. In 1902, a school for grades 1-10 was opened in Dewey City, a neighborhood that had once been the site of a confederate POW camp during the U.S. Civil War but had since become majority-Black, and residents named the school after the famous orator and abolitionist. For nearly 70 years, Douglass produced exceptional students and celebrated its neighborhood. Then, in 1970, integration came to Thomasville.
In 1970, five years after a failed attempt at “optional” desegregation, Thomasville City Schools officially designated only one elementary, middle, and high school for all of its students. Former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was among the inaugural integrated classes at Thomasville High School. Back at Douglass, the high school building of the complex was demolished – leaving only the elementary school building and the gym.
According to Rev. Arthur Jones III, writing in the Thomasville Times-Enterprise in 2014, “During the decades of segregation, Dewey City was notable for being fully self-sustaining. It had its own beauty salons, barber shops, grocery stores, convenience stores, childcare facilities, cafes, snack shops, auto garages and several churches.” Arthur Jones Jr., a 1959 Douglass High School graduate and Dewey City resident for nearly 40 years, said, “Dewey City was a good place to live. I didn’t grow up in Dewey City, but I lived close by. I attended school there. It was quiet and peaceful back then, and it still is. I have nothing but fond memories of that section of town.”
A New Start
The building languished until its eventual purchase by the Douglass High School Alumni Association (DHSAA) in the early 2000s. In 2006, it became home to the Jack Hadley Black History Museum and its 2,000 artifact collection celebrating the history of Thomasville’s Black community. With that opening, the former President of the DHSAA’s dream of a year-round exhibit became a reality, but the site still remained under-utilized.
Eula Davis, a longtime Douglass High School Teacher, holds a plaque dedicated to Earnest Williams’ induction into the Thomasville Sports Hall of Fame. Mrs. Davis taught 30 years at Douglass Elementary School. She was the first Thomasville City school educator to be certified as a Speech Correctionist in 1962. Photo from the digital archives of the Jack Hadley Black History Museum housed on the Douglass Complex.
That all changed with a chance meeting in 2024. According to Earl Williams, the President of the Thomasville Community Development Corporation (TCDC), the grant proposal “had a lot to do with an individual who happened to stop in town last spring to research his family history in Thomas County.” He referred to Jonathan Beard, who provided free technical assistance to TCDC in developing the project proposal.
Beard, who spent his career leading a community development corporation in Columbus, Ohio, was interested in hearing about the work of TCDC while on a personal trip to Thomasville. With TCDC, the City of Thomasville, and the DHSAA, an application was submitted to the EPA – one of over 2,000 submissions for only around 100 awards. The project has the potential to be a game-changer for hundreds of residents.
Checking All the Boxes
The application includes an impressive list of projects. First, aging pipes and wastewater infrastructure – some over a century old – will be repaired. Speaking to Layan Abu Tarboush of WTXL Tallahassee, Eric Gossett, Assistant Utilities Superintendent for Thomasville, explained, “There’ve been major spills from it that flow over into the Ochlocknee Creek that the community uses. We clean it up whenever it happens; however, it’s a recurring issue, and this is an opportunity to fix all that.”
45 homes, mainly senior-occupied, will also be repaired with a focus on energy efficiency and health. This mirrors a Rewiring America initiative in De Soto, Georgia, where the entire town’s appliances were upgraded to make them cheaper and safer for residents. Residents will need to apply through the Thomasville Community Development Corporation website.
Finally, the gym on the Douglass complex—originally an aircraft hangar from a neighboring community that was deconstructed, moved, and reconstructed by hand—will be transformed into a federally qualified health clinic for local residents. Primary Care of Southwest Georgia received a nearly $800,000 sub-award for the clinic’s initial operations. This will complement the 52 senior apartments being constructed on the property, with rents capped at what’s affordable for folks making 60% of the area’s median income.
Looking Back to Move Forward
Earl Williams, a Douglass High graduate, said on the TCDC website, “Project leaders will work with relevant emergency response organizations to assess local risks and adequately equip the hub for critical needs, such as refrigeration for medicines, charging stations, and emergency supplies. A solar micro-grid and energy storage unit will provide reliable, affordable energy to the hub.” Some residents are worried that history may be lost with the construction, but the Douglass High School Alumni Association retains ownership of the gym even after it’s been converted.
Construction on the Resilience Hub starts in June 2025 and will take approximately 12-18 months. Building the apartments won’t begin until 2026 and will take two years – though TCDC expects the expanded food access program to come online much sooner. When it’s all said and done, though, Dewey City residents will have access to medical care, fresh food, safe and cheap energy, emergency shelter, community office space, and 52 low-income apartments run on solar.
With the sewer and water improvements and home repairs, this project makes Thomasville a real leader in Georgia. Together, residents, the city, and the federal government are setting a standard for everyone to follow – and they’re creating jobs while they do it. If you’re interested in becoming the new Sustainability Director for Thomasville, you can check out TCDC’s website.
Note – The photographs and history represented in this article were sourced from The Jack Hadley Black History Museum housed at the Douglass Complex in Thomasville, GA. The museum represents a longtime dream and project of Mr. Hadley, whose contributions to his community have been numerous.
From the museum website: “Born at Pebble Hill Plantation in Thomas County in 1936 to the late Dennis and Rosetta James Hadley, the parents of 15 children. He graduated from Douglass High School in June 1956 and enlisted in the United States Air Force where he served his country for twenty‑eight years and retired in 1984. Jack also was employed with the United States Postal Service as a City Letter Carrier for twelve years and retired on April 1, 1997. His collection traces Black American’s history from preslavery to the present. This exhibit encompasses a broad spectrum of the Black struggle and existence in America, and Black contribution in helping to build and shape America.”