WHEN A neighborhood, city, or county works together, aligning themselves with one purpose, amazing things happen. Lynchburg’s One Community One Voice (OCOV) is a perfect example of this as the city comes together with one goal: making Lynchburg a better place to live, work, and play.
Pastor, veteran, and community advocate James Camm founded OCOV after returning to Lynchburg following 20 years of military service. He saw some of the same struggles in his community that he had experienced growing up, and began to see how he could make a difference. The community needed a closer relationship with those who serve them and kids needed more exposure to opportunities, among other things. OCOV has several targeted programs to help, with a vision to “change lives one family at a time.”
A portion of the organization is focused on Lynchburg’s children, encouraging them to do well in school with programs like Believing In Kids Excelling and exposing them to things they may never have seen, like the District of Columbia and Disney World. Those experiences, Camm said, help them realize that with a little work, they, too, can achieve great things.
“I just [go] in on the first day to see their eyes light up,” Camm said. “It was something that they only thought they’d ever see on TV, but now they were there.”
Other OCOV programs target the relationship the community has with police officers, firefighters, and other local heroes. While before, the police may have only been a presence when something is wrong, now they play basketball and kickball during the summertime events and take kids shopping for Shop with a Hero events.
“It’s so impactful when the policeman’s out there shooting basketball with the kids that only used to think that they … had been against them because that’s what they have been exposed to,” Camm said.
Police are not the only heroes involved with OCOV. The fire department, sheriff’s department, and other community leaders come to connect during events, and Shop with a Hero includes everyone from doctors to mail carriers and news reporters — everyone who serves or leads in the community is welcome.
OCOV also works specifically with local families. They put together Thanksgiving meals, help people understand their insurance, and check up on people when violence has happened nearby. Above all, however, they partner with anyone in the community who is stepping up to make a difference.
“We say, ‘I do not compete, we complete,’” Camm said. “We find an organization doing something; we rally behind them and support them.”
Those community partnerships are critical to OCOV’s success — and Camm has seen that success through families who have overcome addiction, who have found successful careers, and who have children taking advantage of educational opportunities.
“One Community One Voice is just what it says — it’s one community, one voice,” Camm said. “We all want to speak with the same language, ensuring that Lynchburg [is a] better place to live, work, and play, and the only way we can do that is by working together.”
OCOV has great things in it’s future, as the organization moves into a physical location provided by a local church. Having a brick and mortar community center will allow them to better mentor kids, to better teach important classes like finance and parenting, and to branch out into encouraging the trades. There is much to do, and Camm said everyone has a responsibility in some way.
“Find where you can be a help,” Camm said. “I know that not everybody’s going to be on the forefront that we are, but there can be a place for churches and organizations to be a part to help better our community to be a better place.” GN
Find One Community One Voice online at onecommunityonevoice.com or call (804) 994-6268 for more information.
