Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1365748
LOCAL BUZZ New program to offer mental health support in key neighborhoods THANKS TO A PARTNERSHIP with Macon-Bibb County, the Southern Center for Choice Theory is poised to begin building a coalition of partners and residents to provide free mental health services at six sites around the county. "Improving public safety was the top priority identified by our Transition Team, and we must do all we can to create a safe community," Mayor Lester Miller said at the announcement. "With this new program, we can begin to address one of the root causes of crime and really help people in our neighborhoods." Within eight weeks, they would begin providing services to people in Pleasant Hill at the Booker T. Washington Center, Pio Nono Avenue area, Pendleton Homes, West Macon (Cherokee Heights/ Bartlett Crossing area), East Macon at the Rosa Jackson Center, Bloomfield-Gilead Center on Rocky Creek Road and Payne City at the Brookdale Warming Center. Services provided may include mental health counseling, conflict resolution counseling, financial counseling, anger management classes, parenting classes, trauma assessments, solving circles, drum circles and focus groups. "I work with people who are the recipients of mental health services prior to and after criminal offenses," said Gloria Smith Cissé, CEO and clinical director of the Southern Center for Choice Theory. "One of the things I've learned is that if we work on their mental health, early childhood mental health, teach parents how to parent their kids and start early, then we can change things in our community. ... It's a compassionate and holistic approach to reducing negative outcomes." LOCAL BUZZ Big news on Macon's symphonic front MERCER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings and the center's artistic director Amy Schwartz Moretti joined Macon Pops co-founders Steve Moretti and Matt Catingub at Capricorn Sound Studios in February to record for SiriusXM's Siriusly Sinatra Channel. Catingub's mother, jazz singer Mavis Rivers, was a colleague of Sinatra and an early artist signed to his Reprise record label. Days after the recording, the group performed the songs at the Grand Opera House as part of Mercer's Fabian Concert Series. "This collaborative experience with Matt, Steve and the young artists from the McDuffie Center was such a joy," said Amy Schwartz Moretti. "You could feel the sense of history at Capricorn from both what the Allman Brothers did there and the wonderful songs connected to Mavis Rivers – so different but all great music. I can't wait to hear Matt's awesome arrangements and our recordings on the radio!" This news comes on the heels of an announcement that Macon will once again have a symphony orchestra, thanks to a five-year, $300,000 Peyton Anderson Foundation grant that will fund a collaboration between the Center for Strings and musicians from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The new orchestra, to be called the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra, will re-establish a top-tier regional American orchestra in Macon, where the Macon Symphony ended its 41-year run in 2017. The closure left not only a void for McDuffie Center students who previously played with the orchestra, but also for the Middle Georgia community. "This collaboration fills a void in our local arts and culture scene, returns life to the symphony stage and creates a premier performance opportunity in Georgia," said Karen Lambert, president of the Peyton Anderson Foundation. PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER SMITH FROM LEFT: KAREN LAMBERT, ROBERT MCDUFFIE, WARD STARE, BILL UNDERWOOD AND AMY SCHWARTZ MORETTI AT THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEWLY FORMED MACON-MERCER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. 28 maconmagazine.com | APRIL/MAY 2021