Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Duncan.
Derek, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in the inner city housing projects in Cleveland, Ohio. Growing up in a poverty-stricken environment, I witnessed firsthand what drugs and alcohol did to our community. I also witnessed how many of my family members died at an early age due to drug usage. I remember as a child being in a group and the counselor wanted us to count off by fours. He then expressed how each person whose number was number ones would be hooked on drugs or alcohol. Number two’s was going to be in incarcerated or dead. Number three’s would still be in the same poverty-stricken environment. The four’s would make it out. Luckily, I was number four and since then, I was determined to make it out. During the last thirty years, I’ve worked to see those odds of creating a better life increase. Growing up there were programs and people at Friendly Inn Settlement House that helped me to go to college and obtain my first job as a community organizer. Since many people invested into me I felt like I was obligated to help others by investing in them.
I moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 2003 and started working at Task Force for Homeless. Still searching for an organization I can truly believe in, I found Trinity Community Ministries. I started as a Program Director, and in 2016, I became the first African American Executive Director to head this organization.
Trinity Community Ministries has the same philosophy and mindset that I was accustomed to growing up. We truly believe in helping others to help themselves. I can recall doing my first few years at Trinity, I ran into a client that I knew at Gateway. He was known for sleeping outside and known for never really wanting help. I walked passed him in our lobby and told him to “Stick and Stay, Don’t Leave until the Miracle Happens.” He has, after completing the program; he came back and began to volunteer and give back to the new individuals entering our program. He has been a part of the Trinity family for six and a half years now.
If you asked me why I believe so much in the men that enter our program, I would say, “Because someone believed in me.”
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was not been a smooth road, some of the challenges have been; finding the right program that fits my beliefs, developing the right team of individuals with the drive and energy, securing funding to keep the doors and constantly trusting my higher power to make sure our doors remain open.
What else should our readers know?
Trinity Community Ministries is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization in the Sweet Auburn District in Atlanta, Georgia. Our mission is to help homeless men reclaim their lives and return to their families and communities as mentors and leaders. Our history begins back in 1982 in the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church when we were responding to the growth of homelessness in Atlanta. Our building today was also Hanley’s Funeral Home which was the last resting place for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Tiger Flowers the World Middleweight Champion.
We like to say our building was founded on Holy ground.
We are known for being a “Tough Program for Tough Times.” Trinity Community Ministries gives men who suffer from homelessness and substance abuse an environment of discipline, recovery, and brotherhood. We give our men the essential tools and necessary support to promote sustainable independence such as employment, housing, and new ways to cope with their mental health and substance abuse issues.
As Executive Director, I help lead the staff to help our residents become productive members of society. I reach out to thousands of volunteers, churches, donors, and other organizations to help drive our mission forward. I reinforce the agencies policies and practices as it relates to recovery, mental health, career development, and life skills training and case management. I help keep the relationships between us and our sponsors and partners healthy. My role is more than Executive Director, I’m the face of the organization so I’m also a counselor, big brother, father, friend and mentor to the staff and residents who come through our doors.
What sets apart is that we serve clients that many people have written off. We watch men become taxpayers, homeowners. fathers and sons. So, my most proud moment in this company is witnessing the transformations each guy has from when they walk through our doors until they graduate our door, watching them put pieces of their life back together and believing in them until they start believing in themselves again.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My plans for the future is helping to grow the program so that we can service more people in multiple locations across the city.
Our agency is looking forward to becoming accredited through the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.
Contact Info:
- Address: 21 Bell Street NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 - Website: www.tcmatlanta.org
- Phone: 4045776651 ext 2430
- Email: derekd@tcmatlanta.org
- Instagram: trinitycommunityministries
- Facebook: Friends of Trinity Community Ministries
- Twitter: tcmatlanta
Image Credit:
Shantia Wilson (TCM Marketing Manager) Clients of Trinity Community Ministries Ebony Hamm (Business Office Manager Marko Muhammad (Resident Manager)
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