Light House Village emerged in the summer of 2004 as the lead component of a broad vision given to the Listening Commission at Smyrna Presbyterian Church. Specifically, Light House Village will glorify God by responding to the needs of targeted populations with services that are extremely limited or nonexistent at this time. The organizations called together will create a plethora of opportunities for the community at-large to serve and share in the growth and nurturing that occurs at the village.
A key need common to each of the initial LHV organizations was for land - not just any land, but land with a unique combination of:
- Residential zoning with special conditions
- Close to a major hospital
- Several acres of heavily wooded property in a residential setting
- Access to major transit corridors.
If we could find such a piece of property, it would also need to fall under the jurisdiction of community leaders with the foresight to see the vision, understand its value, and willingness to support an unique operating model.
Well, "it just so happened" that Smyrna Presbyterian Church owned a 27+-acre tract of land with the needed characteristics in a city and county with leaders of foresight and faith. The church had intended to sell this land to help retire debt, but the land had not sold - not because was undesirable - God had a different plan for it!
The broad Light House Vision was brought to the Session of Smyrna Presbyterian Church, which took the vision to heart. A specific recommendation was made to donate the 27+-acre tract of land for Light House Village. With the Session's blessing, the entire congregation was approached and the vision and recommendation was shared through Sunday school classes.
On June 27, 2004, the Smyrna Presbyterian Church congregation voted unanimously to follow God's plan and donate the 27-acre tract of land for the purposes of providing care and housing to the displaced, medically fragile and disabled of the community.
The Listening Commission had maintained open discussions with the leaders of Rockdale Cares, Dream House, and Rockdale Emergency Relief through out this journey of spiritual questioning. Much like each member of the congregation at the church, each executive of the organizations now participating embraced the call to God's vision and heartily agreed to be a part of this new ministry. Little did the initial organizers know, this was to be the common response in the business and civic communities as the vision for the Light House Village was introduced. The number of corporate leaders donating their services and expertise, as well as the stories of the blessings that have been felt, continue to occur and are powerful affirmations of God at work. Everyone involved in the vision continues to feel great excitement, and all have extremely high expectations because we know "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
Common principles agreed upon at the initial planning stages include:
- To maintain faithful stewardship of the land use for the intended purposes
- To avoid significant zoning issues associated with subdividing the land
- To maximize the consistent look and feel of a nurturing village
- To minimize duplication and unneeded administration/maintenance costs
Based on the above principles, the organizations agreed to jointly create a new 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization. This new organization has established a volunteer board of directors, representing each of the individual organizations and specific skills and experience from the community with room to grow as other community, civic and religious leaders wish to participate in leadership roles. The seven-member board of directors meets quarterly and has By-Laws and Articles of Incorporation in place. The land is being transferred to this new organization, which will maintain a written declaration of covenants, easements, and agreements. These will conform to a Ground Lease Development Structure. Additional documentation for the structure, a public announcement of the project and timelines, and the final legal transfer of land are all anticipated to be complete in the first quarter of 2006.
Each individual organization in the collaborative will be responsible for leading its own funding campaigns to complete the construction of the buildings and cover the operating cost, for their own programming at LHV. However, there will be opportunities for joint fund raising and sharing of resources through the new organization. An " open door" policy has been agreed upon for both ongoing communication and the consideration of additional potential partners seeking a relationship with the LHV.
There is another interesting question that is asked - why Light House Village rather than Lighthouse Village? The answer lies in the emphasis - there is NO single "lighthouse" because EVERY "house" at the village has the Light of Christ shining in different and powerful ways. With each "house" being a house of Light, we are a Light House Village. Currently, more than a dozen area Christian churches representing several denominations have expressed willingness and enthusiasm in supporting the work of Light House Village.
The first challenge for the Board of Directors of the Light House Village is to approach the philanthropic community to secure underwriting for the costs to fully prepare the site. It is the intent of the Light House Village leadership that the costs for preparing the site including water lines, electrical services, and roadways, will be the responsibility of the LHV organization. Site development coordinated exclusively by the LHV organization, rather than piecemeal by each of the future residents, is the most cost-efficient manor to proceed with the project. Additionally, it is the intent of the LHV Board that providing this initial aid will allow the three non-profit organizations to focus exclusively on their individual building and operating campaigns-without the added costs of preparing the site. Potential contractors have been identified to approach that could offer services at a dramatically reduced cost.
