Athens, Georgia is a microcosm of both the perils and the promise of progressive politics. Though home to a large state land-grant university and a world-renowned music scene, Athens suffers from social inequality and high rates of poverty. Few links exist between the various progressive groups, churches, and organizations that represent different sectors of our diverse community. Groups dedicated to progressive goals suffer from high turnover rates typical of college towns. Student and/or activist groups are in danger of being disregarded by local politicians, who will be less likely to respond to advocacy if they perceive the proponents as ephemeral.

From international war to local gentrification issues, events or conditions that stimulate the creation of progressive groups can fade in the public eye; and the activist response may also fade. The groups that form afterwards must start all over. The turnover and institutional memory loss that accompanies each generation of activists and progressives are primary factors in the lack of effectiveness of student and local groups. When groups dissolve, the progress they have achieved, the knowledge they have gained about the political system, and their stories of success and failure are all lost, persisting only in fragmented oral traditions kept alive by those members of the community who remain. When new groups arise into the vacuum left by previous progressive groups, they must work through a learning curve in the initial stages of organizing, which are often the most crucial stages for achieving desired change at the local and national level. The need to work through a learning curve during the initial stages of organizing may results in a weakened message. It may also contribute to stress of organizers, which may result in burnout of leaders and the dissolution of groups.

With the goal of increasing the effectiveness of activist and progressive efforts in Athens, the organization now known as Common Ground was created in the Spring of 2003. As of the time of this writing, volunteers dedicated to these ideals have done much work, and there are many landmarks of achievement that Common Ground can point to over the last few years. We have grown from a small group of interested people discussing the idea of an “activist resource center” at coffee shops to debut meetings that were publicly advertised and attracted the interest of many progressive organizations in Athens, to an organized, non-profit with strong community support. In a town with such a high turnover of issues and people, we consider this a success.

Common Ground members have engaged in many specific and diverse activities in order to ensure that our organization will be sustained and will be able to sustain others. For instance, a survey of existing organizations similar to ours was conducted via web research, telephone interviews, and visits to activist and progressive resource centers in the Southeast. A search was also begun for potential donors who could fund our efforts. Organizers also began to work on creating and defining the structure and functions of Common Ground, choosing a name, a mission statement, and a statement of values and a consensus-based model of decision-making. With the help of the Non-profit Management Masters Program at the University of Georgia, by-laws were written and approved of, tax-exempt, 501(c)3 status was obtained. These accomplishments were achieved with broad input and collaboration.

Thus far, our efforts have generated great interest from the community in the form of volunteer hours, donations, memberships, and affiliations from new and existing organizations. In order to promote our goals of linking organizations and educating Athens about progressive events, we have built and maintained a webpage (www.commongroundathens.org) that lists discussions and meetings hosted by local groups, maintains and solicits stories of past and present struggles, and provides resources for organizing.

A marked success of the organization was acquisition of a physical home for the resource center in the Spring of 2005. Members of the board signed a one-year rental contract for a space at 157 N. Newton Street in Athens on 23 March, immediately followed – coincidentally - by a benefit concert that evening at Little Kings Club. The center had occasional open houses and social events in the following months as volunteers were recruited; the center began to have regular open hours in the beginning of June 2005. At the time of this writing (July 2005) the center has meeting space, the beginnings of a lending library and a community garden, an ever-expanding technology center, office space, and a kitchen which has been used for social events and for preparation of free meals by Food Not Bombs.

As we continue to develop and improve our internal structure, we hope to maintain our focus on how to best serve the Athens community. We are now faced with the challenges of keeping ourselves afloat fiscally, and effectively serving organizations, individuals and causes to which we are dedicated. We recognize that, currently, our resources are limited and our services are few, but we are hopeful that with the continued support of the Athens community we will continue to improve and grow.

Thus far, Common Ground has benefited tremendously from the donated, spirited, guidance of volunteers, organizers, web designers, realtors, tech-heads, activists and social organizers, funders, and others who want to see Common Ground succeed. The initial response from the Athens community has been an inspiration. Common Ground will continue to rely upon the enthusiasm, talent, and experience of progressively-minded Athenians and visitors as we work toward our goal of progressive social change.