clarkstoncommunitycenter.org

The Clarkston Community Center is a unique entity able to serve the mixed needs of a population comprised of every sort of person imaginable! Only at the CCC will you find a contra dancer from Atlanta, a Burundian drummer, a steel pedal guitar player from Macon, a Somali refugee and an Ethiopian business owner sitting side-by-side to watch a World Cup game or help a child with their homework. For the CCC, this is what life looks like.

The Clarkston Community Center is a non-profit organization that started as a grassroots movement in 1994 to turn the old 1920’s Clarkston High School from an eyesore slated for demolition into a thriving community center with historical architectural integrity. Today the CCC offers Clarkston and DeKalb residents - both long-time residents and newly arrived refugees - opportunities to learn communally, to play together and to participate in community building programs.

Our Mission: The Clarkston Community Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission of creating a place for Clarkston and area residents to come together for art, recreation, education and community building.

Our Vision: The CCC serves as a center for celebrating community and nurturing the human spirit.

Our Work: The Clarkston Community Center is a place where all residents of Clarkston and surrounding neighborhoods can come together to build a cohesive and successful community. The CCC accomplishes this by providing arts, sports, community development, educational and health programming to engage the diverse needs of local groups.

An Anchor to the Past: Typical of structures built in the 1920s, the old high school has architectural merit. The old high school is an anchor to a low income, blue collar history unknown to Clarkston’s newest arrivals.

A Bridge to the Future: Clarkston and the surrounding vicinity has an estimated 26,000 refugees from Bosnia, Somalia, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Sudan, Vietnam, Iraq, Liberia, Russia, Sierra Leone, Cuba and many other places around the world. The Clarkston Community Center is a bridge that connects the past to a new world.

“The Center of the World”: Though the City of Clarkston is 20 minutes from the world's busiest airport, it has neither bank nor fast food chain in its city limits. However, it does have a Buddhist Temple, a Hindu Temple, multiple Islamic Mosques and many ethnically identified churches. Being in the most densely populated and diverse square mile in the United States, the Clarkston Community Center is truly “the center of the world”.

Champion of Diversity: Since 1994, the Clarkston Community Center has had an excellent record of serving and employing refugees in all of its programs as well as in representing refugees on its Board of Directors. The Clarkston Community Center reflects the community it serves.

Standard Bearer: The Clarkston Community Center is geographically at the center of this ethnically diverse density. In addition, because many of Clarkston’s newcomers are just entering the U.S. economy and often have no English language skills, Clarkston is a walking community. As the only place accessible to everyone, the centrality of the Clarkston Community Center makes it a key player in setting the standards of “community”.

A Model of Civic and Democratic Values: Striving to distinguish the democratic freedom to pursue happiness from the often mistaken license to do what we want, the Clarkston Community Center is a place that models, for those who have no experience with democratic values, civic involvement, hard work, volunteerism and giving back to the community.