Restoring the Village: Community Empowerment and Safety

Empowering the Community Through Compassion, Education, & Collective Action

The “Restoring the Village Project” was founded in 2013 by former Florida State Representative Larry Lee, Jr., of House District 84, to help revitalize and restore the community he grew up in. Over time, this African American neighborhood, known as Lincoln Park, in the heart of coastal Fort Pierce, has fallen in disrepair, crime has escalated and the economic status of its residents is severely depressed. When Larry grew up in this tight-knit middle class African American community, during the 60s and early 70s, the community consisted of supportive and caring neighbors who valued education, faith, pride in their neighborhood and their homes, honesty, hard work and integrity.

Not surprisingly, the high school graduates of that era from Avenue O, Larry’s street, from 1968-74 included two cardiologists, an engineer, a dentist, two attorneys, two ministers, one State Representative and successful business entrepreneur, several professional athletes, business owners, educators, military personnel and community leaders. Lincoln Park produced achievers.

Today, Larry’s vision is to restore the Lincoln Park community to a neighborhood of achievers. Through a collaboration with local institutions, churches, government agencies and the residents themselves, their collaborative goal is to restore community pride, embrace worthy values, instill self-awareness, foster community pride, promote educational standards, support local entrepreneurship, and create non-traditional recreational opportunities to engage children in positive activities that stress critical core values and self-actualization.

In addition to the annual community clean-up weekends in which hundreds of local youth, friends, neighbors and former residents return to help beautify Lincoln Park by weeding, planting, mowing and painting, the Restoring the Village Project has created a $100,000 endowed scholarship Fund to enable Lincoln Park graduates to attend Indian River State College (IRSC).

Lincoln Park is being restored but we need you help to sustain the restoration. We are making a positive difference. Together, we can make an even greater impact. Please join us by making a tax-free donation to The Community Foundation Martin – St Lucie , a 501(c)(3) agency, attention: Lighthouse Foundation Impact Fund.