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To learn more about the Bethlehem Center, call 423-266-1384 or visit thebeth.org.
Demetrius Morgan made it out. Now he has made his way back in.
Morgan is a product of Alton Park. He knows the community. And what he knows about it is a big reason why he's back. He recently accepted a job at the Bethlehem Center, where he's heading up its new sports program.
"We're excited just to have him on board," said Gloria Dubose, the community center's marketing and projects manager. "Just his passion for working with youth is amazing. He's given us even more of an opportunity to connect with the youth in this community. He's really intent about staying connected with them through this sports program. We're so excited to see this program grow and flourish."
Today is the federal holiday when Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is observed. King's message was one of civil rights, but also economic rights.
Demetrius Morgan, shown in the gym of the Bethlehem Center, played high school basketball and football at Howard before going on to an All-America collegiate career in basketball at Cleveland State and Lee. Morgan recently took a position as director of the community center's new sports program.After graduating from high school at Howard, where he played basketball and football, Morgan went on to attend Cleveland State Community College and later Lee University. He ultimately became a business owner.
But he gave that up to answer a calling. His objective is to help children at the Bethlehem Center find ways to take advantage of opportunities created by leaders like King in order to try to improve their future socioeconomic status.
"My main goal is to educate these kids," Morgan said. "I grew up not knowing what to find or where to find it."
By his own admission, Morgan's first year out of high school in the late 1990s was somewhat aimless. Then former Brainerd High School basketball player Alfred Cantrell, who around that time created his Al's Stars program to help high school athletes find college scholarships, reached out to Morgan.
"One day I just saw him down on Main Street, walking to the store with his mom," Cantrell said. "I struck up a conversation and asked him where he was going to school. He said he was just working, so I invited him to come play in my first Al's Stars all-star game in 1998. He came and ended up being the MVP."
Cleveland State's program noticed him in that game. He went on to top the 1,000-point mark in scoring with the Cougars, and at Lee, and he earned All-America status among other accolades at both places.
"Al meant a lot to me," Morgan said of Cantrell, whose late father, John, was instrumental in helping him find a scholarship opportunity at Virginia State University. "He still does today. He's a big influence on my life, still."
Morgan - whose uncle is Charles Morgan, the Howard graduate who went on to play football at Tennessee - has three children, and he also had a 4-year-old son who died while Morgan was in Iraq serving in the Army. That death tested his faith tremendously, Morgan said.
During Hamilton County Schools' fall break last October, Morgan was asked if he would help work at a military-style camp for high school students at Harrison Bay State Park. Bethlehem Center executive director Reggie Smith liked what he saw in Morgan during that week, and eventually the two struck a deal.
Morgan said the property where the center sits on West 38th Street is a former location of a Boys & Girls Club of America where he spent time growing up. He envisions helping the youth in the South Market Street area much the same way others did for him.
"When I was sleeping, I would start dreaming I was coaching," Morgan said. "Everything had to do with kids. I thought, 'Maybe this is what I need to do.' By the grace of God, I got the call to even work that camp. I feel like this is where I need to be."
Demetrius Morgan poses for a portrait in the gym of the Bethlehem Community Center on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Morgan is the center's sports program director.Later this week, Morgan plans to take 12 children ranging from kindergarteners to third-graders to Chattanooga State to watch basketball. Similar trips to Cleveland State and Lee are in the works. Longer-term projects include creating youth AAU basketball teams for both boys and girls. The first will be for seventh-grade boys.
The Bethlehem Center's on-site gym has basketball goals, but there is also a volleyball net. Morgan hopes to continue having clinics held periodically at the center, like hosting members of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's softball team and members of Covenant College's soccer teams to offer exposure to a variety of sports.
"There's more to life than what they see on an everyday basis," Morgan said of the children in that area. "I just want to give these kids the opportunity. I feel like the doors are open around here, regardless of who opened them.
"There's so much potential here. Everybody's not a Division I player, but a lot of schools will take them, if they want to go. Everybody can't be LeBron James. But everybody can get an education."
To learn more about the Bethlehem Center, call 423-266-1384 or visit thebeth.org.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.