One day Vonzelle Johnson ’07 woke with a vision. Community mentors in his hometown of Deland, Fla., had asked him and a friend to speak occasionally with area youth, but Johnson envisioned something bigger.
“Forget just speaking,” said Johnson. “I thought, just go back and start a whole organization.”
Shortly after, Johnson put his plans into motion for the nonprofit organization Brothers Advocating Service and Inspiration in the Community (BASIC). To Johnson, BASIC’s purpose is simple. “It is pretty much doing exactly what it says: providing inspiration for our community.”
With the help of seven volunteers, Johnson is now inspiring the community with concerts, a summer program, and seminars for both youth and their parents.
At a young men’s summit in April, Johnson brought together a couple of Colgate alumni and a Bank of America representative to speak on subjects as diverse as sportsmanship and finance.
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| Vonzelle Johnson ’07 (center) is working with youths in Deland, Fla., through a nonprofit organization he has created. |
It proved even more successful than Johnson had hoped, and this summer Johnson followed BASIC’s initial success with a program for 12 boys, incorporating activities such as a reading enrichment program, golf lessons, and a pen pal program with students at the Kenyan Educational Fund in Nairobi, headed by Stacy Harris ’88.
Johnson always hopes to put on first-rate events, but charges minimally (if at all) for attendance. This quickly stretches the finances of an organization so young that it is still waiting for its nonprofit application to be processed.
“I have been just your average college student,” said Johnson, who at one point was spending four nights a week organizing BASIC and three nights a week pursuing his master’s degree in social work at Valdosta State University. “But I pay to put on a program before paying for rent. That is just a part of my faith.”
Johnson recognized early that it is easy to overextend. “When you tell people what you are doing and it is positive, then people throw other things out there. You end up writing a list of a thousand different things to do. You are not Superman.”
He tries to pace BASIC’s growth by doing what resources will allow, while also planning a wide array of possibilities for the future.
It seems, though, as if Johnson really is doing a thousand different things. He has founded a motivational speaking firm called DARE2iNSPIRE as “an investment for the future.” He spends two days a week in Lake City, Fla., interning as a substance abuse counselor to complete his master’s program.
Somewhere in between it all he has written a book, Project 180: Taking Control of Your Life, which draws upon his own life’s experiences for inspiration. Anointed Publishing Company has recently picked up the project.
Johnson had an opportunity to take a more traditional job, stemming from his work as a housing director at Valdosta State, but turned it down to pursue his own path.
“I just wanted more in life as far as waking up in the morning and knowing that I was doing something greater for society,” he said.
Just two years removed from graduation, he is off to a solid start.