New nonprofit sets sights on Jefferson City building

Doug Wright of Building Community Bridges talks to visitor Vanessa Khardian on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018, in their new space at 213 E. Ashley St. in Jefferson City.
Doug Wright of Building Community Bridges talks to visitor Vanessa Khardian on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018, in their new space at 213 E. Ashley St. in Jefferson City.

Many people may see the 10,000-square-foot structure as a tired old building, but not Doug Wright III.

Wright, owner of Doug's Auto Detailing, sees the structure at 213 E. Ashley St. as a diamond in the rough and the logical site for a center to inspire the community.

Less than a week ago, Wright and a team of supporters signed onto a five-year lease for the building. Their plan is to create a space for Building Community Bridges, a developing nonprofit organization that works to give back to the community by teaching the importance of positive growth. Organizers have applied for 501(c)(3) status. The project is intended to have positive effects on the community through public events, sports and other activities aimed at specific age groups. (It has currently organized a basketball team for children in fifth and sixth grades.) It will also work to uplift and encourage all age groups to reach their goals.

"We have been in existence since November of last year," Wright said.

Wright, who grew up in what he described as a dysfunctional home in Detroit, credits Jefferson City, with helping him grow and change. He was here in 2012, when he went to prison because of an involvement with heroin.

"I know what it's like to be without," Wright said. "I know what it's like to sleep on a pool table."

When he was released from prison, Wright went to work for an auto detailing company. In two years, he wanted to open his own company and won a StartUp Jefferson City Pitch It and Win It competition. The $1,000 he received helped him start his own auto detailing business. Now, he employs 10 or more people at any given time.

He wanted to give back.

The Ashley Street structure needs a lot of work. The organization's board envisions one large room in it containing a gym that will be used for basketball and boxing training.

Two other wings within the building are intended to house businesses, whose profits will be used to support the nonprofit - Phoenix Entertainment and Promotion and a hair salon. The entertainment area will provide a space for fashion, modeling and musical talent. Volunteers will help identify local talent.

Alicia Edwards, a local business owner, will open a hair salon and barber shop in another room.

An upstairs space will be used as a studio for aspiring photographers, Edwards said. A volunteer instructor has already signed on to help with the program.

More room upstairs will be used for a music studio, where artists will be able to work.

It's going to take a lot of work to turn the building around, Wright said. Staff are going to participate in a walk-through with a contractor next week.

"I am looking to raise $100,000 to aid in the renovation of the new building we have found to make our home," Wright said.

The building is familiar to many in Jefferson City. It has been a hardware store and a local site for the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri. It's where folks gathered to fill backpacks for children's meals.

Lakeisha and Lorenzo Davis, the organization's president, moved from St. Louis to Jefferson City about three years ago. They had a plan to start an outreach center, Lakeisha said. They hadn't met their goal, but last year, Lorenzo Davis was volunteer coaching a fifth-grade basketball team. Wright was at a game and saw Davis had earned the boys' respect and created a disciplined team without being abusive.

Wright approached Davis and offered to sponsor sending his team to see the Harlem Globetrotters.

The men connected, and Davis came on board. They now coach fifth- and sixth-graders.

Parents who are interested in their children playing for the team should contact Davis through Building Community Bridges on Facebook or by email at [email protected].

The team is preparing programs for people of all ages.

Members want to help people out who may be starting businesses, Wright said.

They plan to organize groups for men and women.

They hope to network with adolescents and help them decide on career paths.

"A lot of kids get lost," Wright said. "We want to come in and meet them where they're at."