Clinton community center gets $50K grant

Jonathan Turner
·7 min read

A $50,000 grant from T-Mobile – announced on Thursday – will allow the Vince Jetter Community Center in Clinton to be restored and reopen.

The T-Mobile Hometown Grant check will be presented at 11:30 a.m. during the “Spring it On!” celebration on Saturday, March 23 in Clinton Park near the fire station. The public is invited to attend the family event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with fun games, chalk art, kickball, free hot dogs and chips, music and door prizes. In the event of rain, the event will be moved to Jefferson Elementary School, 720 4th Avenue South, Clinton.

Rachel Jetter, president of the Vince Jetter Community Center, Clinton.
Rachel Jetter, president of the Vince Jetter Community Center, Clinton.

“We are so grateful for this T-Mobile Hometown Grant, which means we can carry on the dream of our Uncle Buddy, Vince Jetter, who began the community center over 30 years ago,” center president Rachel Jetter (who is a great-niece of Vince) said Thursday by email.

The community center, 311 S. 3rd Street, built in 1858, is one of Clinton’s oldest historic structures still standing. Vince Jetter was youth director of Bethel AME Church in Clinton and founded the community center in 1992.

After his death in 2006, his sister Dina White and family members kept the center open, until repairs became costly and renovation necessary. With a renovated facility, the Vince Jetter Community Center can develop mentoring, after-school enrichment and homework help programs at the center, create a village spirit to guide youth and families and encourage positive neighborhood and community connections, Rachel Jetter said.

“Vince Jetter Community Center will become a safe, nurturing space where underserved youth will have the opportunity to learn self care, communication and life coping skills in a supportive, positive environment from understanding guides where they may grow and thrive,” she said.

In 2021, T-Mobile pledged to invest $25 million over five years in rural communities across America.
In 2021, T-Mobile pledged to invest $25 million over five years in rural communities across America.

“We have goals, dreams and aspirations of providing the light for a brighter community in Clinton. This partnership will serve as a tremendous resource for us to complete renovation of the community center and accomplish our mission and goals.”

The T-Mobile Hometown Grant recipients, with 275 communities across 46 states, are part of the exclusive crew that will receive funding and support to fuel local projects that help people connect and innovate, according to the telecommunications company. And since providing more than $12 million in Hometown Grants since the “Un-carrier” kicked off its five-year commitment to small towns in April 2021, the T-Mobile is well on its way to hitting the program’s $25 million mark.

Clinton’s Vince Jetter Community Center has a special commitment to inspiring positive neighborhood solutions, Rachel Jetter said Thursday.

“By empowering individuals, families and groups, and changing lives, we strive to make Clinton a better place by creating a safe, nonviolent, nurturing place for Clinton’s youth and their families to grow,” she said. “Our vision is promoting equality, equity and diversity for all. Our board is committed to respecting differences, acknowledging individuality and amplifying all voices. A culture of inclusivity empowers individuals at every level to enrich communities, one family at a time.”

What are center programs?

Vince Jetter’s community spirit and legacy lives on through many programs, including:

  • A mentoring program for Black girls called “I am…” begins this spring. They plan to move the program into the center once the renovation is complete. Helping a girl discovery her uniqueness may lead to improved school and job performance, build resilience, bring healing and manifest in healthy choices and healthy families.

  • Free swim lessons for youth at YWCA Clinton and they took youth snow tubing at Snowstar in Andalusia.

  • Soul Food Suppers were held January and November 2023 at local churches. Food was provided and served by board members and friends. With a renovated kitchen, they will host suppers at the community center.

  • During the annual Youth for a Safe Non-Violent Community Back to School Event in August, families participate in fun events and hundreds of students receive free backpacks filled with school supplies. Families share in free meals, music, games and visit area organization’s informational tables, following Vince Jetter’s mission of “Keeping Unity in Community.”  Local barbers donate their time so youth receive free haircuts before the first day of school, thereby boosting self-esteem and confidence.

Free pumpkins were given away at Central Park, Clinton, in October 2023.
Free pumpkins were given away at Central Park, Clinton, in October 2023.

  • In October 2023, over 1,000 pumpkins were given away free in a tradition going back years. IJAG students, volunteers, businesses and police officers assisted with the event.

  • They built a “Coco” float for the Mardi Gras parade, participated in downtown Trick or Treat and held Witches Ball costume party at Rusty Barrel in October 2023.

  • Through a Socktober sock collection, 1,000 pairs of new socks were collected in “Uncle Buddy” baskets and distributed to schools.

  • Paint – n – Sip parties at Lyons Depot, serving at Pizza Ranch and Trivia night and Bingo at Moose Lodge were successful fundraisers.

  • Christmas Carols trivia night at Sarah Harding and Reindeer breakfast with crafts at CHS were held December 2023.

  • They hosted a Black Cultural Arts and History Program with CHS iJAG at CHS and African Crafts at Lyons Depot in February 2024.

  • During Egg My Yard fundraiser, plastic eggs filled with candy and Easter Bunny notes were delivered to yards.

  • Mom and Son Dances were held at Jefferson Elementary School in Clinton and Fulton Elementary School in 2023 and planned at CHS in April 2024.

  • The center coordinated sponsoring 10 girls and 10 boys on softball and baseball teams and youth to play basketball whose families could not afford fees and equipment.

  • Juneteenth Celebration at Riverfront bandshell was attended by hundreds of people. A Cultural Arts Festival is planned for Juneteenth 2024 in Clinton Park on June 15. Juneteenth is free and open to the public.

  • Wonderful Wednesdays were held June and July 2023 in Clinton Park with free arts, crafts, and outdoor activities. Each week, they offered free fun events for attendees to gain exposure to new activities in outdoors, awareness and appreciation of the environment and themselves. Events fostered friendships and encouraged positive neighborhood and community interactions.

  • This winter, they had a sledding party in Chancy Park and made pine cones bird feeders at Lyons Depot. Children enjoyed watching birds feast in peanut butter and bird seed.

In April 2024, the center will host a community baby shower at Journey Church in Clinton. They are collecting baby blankets and diapers to distribute during the event and lining up area agencies and businesses to collaborate with us for a meaningful, educational and enjoyable event.

MaKyra Lane at Our Margaret’s Gardens behind the center, which produces many varieties of vegetables.
MaKyra Lane at Our Margaret’s Gardens behind the center, which produces many varieties of vegetables.

Our Margaret’s Gardens, named for Vince’s mother, Margaret Culberson Jetter, began in the summer of 2023 behind the center as outdoor classrooms to teach children, youth and families about conservation, sustainability and plant life. The gardens support healthier food choices and increase physical activity and also contain raised beds to be accessible to all.

Workshops to educate teens and families about healthy cooking, clean eating, conservation and health benefits of plants in daily diets are planned, once the center kitchen is renovated.

The Family Focus Program will focus on parenting skills, including expectations, coping, conflict resolution, structure and boundaries, problem solving, effective and cooperative communication, building self-esteem in children and building rapport with police and sheriff’s departments. VJCC’s trained mentors will work with parents to better support children’s academic progress, with emphasis on homework completion and school attendance.

The community center is at 311 S. 3rd Street, built in 1858, one of Clinton’s oldest historic structures still standing.
The community center is at 311 S. 3rd Street, built in 1858, one of Clinton’s oldest historic structures still standing.

Activities of daily living, including child rearing, financial management, health maintenance, assistance with obtaining resources and scheduling annual health appointments will be provided.

A free after-school enrichment program will provide homework help for all subjects. Students will also engage in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) learning.

The renovations at the center will cost about $90,000 total and take a few months to complete.

For more information on the Vince Jetter Community Center, visit the center’s Facebook page HERE or its website HERE.

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