Katherine Currin, Teal Thibaud, and Rondell Crier, from left, who will be participating in the Next City Vanguard conference to improve Chattanooga this spring, pose for a portrait outside of the Glass House Collective on Thursday.HOW TO APPLYFour slots will be saved for local applicants. More slots could be made available if there is an outpouring of interest, organizers said.To apply: Go to nextcity.org/vanguard and scroll near the bottom of the page.Cost: Application fee is $20.Requirements: Applicants must be under age 40.Deadline: Feb. 14
At ages 24 and 28, Teal Thibaud and Katherine Currin founded a nonprofit that has generated more than a half-million dollars in grant funding to revitalize an East Chattanooga community that many developers and urban planners dismissed.
Since they started the Glass House Collective, a nonprofit focused on uplifting Glass Street and the East Chattanooga community, two vacant buildings on Glass Street have been sold, five buildings are being renovated and a new park is under construction.
Thibaud and Currin have worked for two years in the midst of a high-crime, low-income neighborhood to bring revitalization to Glass Street, but they say they look forward to being revitalized themselves.
Thibaud will be among several local people who will host Chattanooga’s Next City Vanguard Conference this spring, where 40 young leaders from across the country will come to share their best practices and ideas for strengthening the city.