Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Wills.
Hi Benjamin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In the fall of 2006, my wife and I moved to English Avenue on the westside of Atlanta. We were coming to Atlanta as a part of a year long urban missions program designed to have young adults live and work in and among under-resourced people groups. Much of this year for us was spent working with kids on the eastside of town through a community center and its variety of child-centered programming. From school visits to afterschool programming to summer camps, we were immersed in the lives of children and families in Atlanta who were being denied access to quality education and opportunities primarily because of the place where they lived. It was during this year that the systematic marginalization of people became more than just theory, it began to have names, faces, and places.
Six years later in the Lenten season of 2012, living in English Avenue again, I asked God for 40 days and 40 nights to allow me to physically dream. It was during this time that I began to receive and document the vision for what has become Peace Preparatory Academy. I could vividly see three gears, whole children, whole families, and whole communities, moving together. This is a picture, I believe, that God shared with me as a window into God’s heart for systemic flourishing. What would the world be like if we designed systems in specific places that would lead to the flourishing of children, families, and communities? This has been a guiding question as we have worked alongside neighbors and diverse individuals from across Atlanta to found an institution that represents the vision God shared with me.
In the fall of 2015, Peace Preparatory Academy was planted in English Avenue, a neighborhood void of a school option for the preceding 20 years with the English Avenue Elementary School being closed in 1995. Peace exists to educate whole children, support whole families, and provide growth and change opportunities for whole communities in a high-quality, Christ-centered learning environment. From 12 kids in one kindergarten classroom in 2015 to 70 kids in grades Pre-K-6th grade this school year, Peace has continued to grow in order to extend through high school. We anticipate our first graduating class in the spring of 2028. Since its founding, we have engaged in school, afterschool programming and launched a community development ministry, oaksATL Community Development, which focuses on safe, quality, dignified affordable housing. Through OaksATL, we currently own and lease 32 units and have many more projects in development.
All of this is borne of a personal passion to see marginalized people and places restored to their fullness. It is rooted in followership of Jesus and a historic biblical anthropology. As a priest ordained through the Anglican Church of North America, it is my goal to help people see, hear, and imagine the activity of God in the world today and respond to God’s invitation to participate in the renewal, restoration, and redemption of all things to their intended state.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The journey from receiving the vision of Peace Prep to today has not been a smooth road. It has been a winding journey with highs and lows, twists and turns, and pivots along the way. Starting an institution has inherent challenges, starting one that relies on philanthropy exponentially grows those challenges. We have fought tirelessly to see those who have been marginalized and silenced included in spaces they were previously excluded. In a rapidly gentrifying portion of our city, we have fought as advocates and accomplices to see those who are often left out of conversations benefit from the proposed changes where possible. Of the various challenges perhaps the greatest is the daily reality that the world is farther from its intended state than we would like to admit. As a result, we must continue calling ourselves and those around us to be a part of the changes that are needed.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Peace Preparatory Academy?
Peace Preparatory Academy is a school and community resource center located in English Avenue on the historic westside of Atlanta. We are a shining light in a community that has often been spoken of in a dark and negative light. Our capacity for human care and connection sets us apart as we seek to love and serve as neighbors and members of a community together. Many of our leaders and teachers are long-term residents of English Avenue, and our capacity for compassion and empathy is grown in the same soil of those we seek to serve. We are most proud of our ability to build authentic relationships and grow trust with children and families through both direct services offered and the life we share together in the community. Readers should know that this is a thin place where earth and heaven are colliding and the realities of former days are dimming in light of the bright future our children, families, and communities will share.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
A guiding question that was shared with me early on was, “Who else needs to know about this?” As I have asked this question over the years to those I am connecting with, new doors and new relationships have led to new opportunities for connection.
The advice I would share is to find someone who speaks your heart language. It can be easy to find people who mentally understand where you are coming from and to connect around an idea, but it is critical to find someone who connects with you that you can share authentic communication with and build trust over time. Ideas will change and evolve, growth is inevitable, a heart connection will bind you with people in ways that will outlast the seasons of change.
Contact Info:
- Email: bwills@peaceprep.com
- Website: www.peaceprep.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaceprepacademy/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeacePreparatoryAcademy/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PeacePrep
Image Credits
Becca Stanley Photography Mary Claire Photography
