Even It Up Mentoring Program

Developing Safe Neighborhoods

“Communities Coming Together” and “Carver Recreation Center” are documentary videos created by students from East Tennessee State University’s Department of Mass Communications-Broadcasting.
This project is a collaborative endeavor between East Tennessee State University Center for Community Outreach, Carver/Wilson Avenue residents, Johnson City Parks and Recreation, the City of Johnson City and Johnson City Police Department. Resources were contributed from Project Safe Neighborhoods and East Tennessee State University. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking existing local programs that target gun crime and providing those programs with additional tools necessary to be successful.
The goal of the project was to train residents in the use of video cameras so that they might begin a visual documentation of life in their community. From the beginning, the project revolved around the concerns and interests of the community members. Students produced over 25 hours of local video, conducted interviews, promoted the work of local musicians, and documented ordinary life in the Carver/Wilson Avenue community. We hope this venture will serve as an illustrative tool for future community initiated projects of this type. We would like to thank Tom Headley, Director and Associate Professor of Division of Broadcasting and his students. Without their dedicated efforts, this project could not have been successfully completed.