“My hope is to make a difference in the world”

Tierra Thrash found her voice – and the road to college graduation – through Community Renewal.

Once a quiet girl who felt a bit unsure about herself, Tierra gained courage and confidence by literally growing up at a Community Renewal Friendship House. She started with the Kids Club in the Allendale neighborhood when her family moved there 15 years ago and this spring she graduated from Southern University Shreveport.

“I loved going out from the Friendship House into the community and how we made gift baskets at Christmas and took them to people. And I loved how we started a garden there. I learned a lot there,” she said.

My hope is to make a difference in the world.” – Tierra Thrash

“I’m an only child and that helped me become more social and learn how to interact with others. I really enjoyed it. If I could go back, I would.”

Tierra says she would have kept to herself more without her Community Renewal friends and mentors.

“I made a lot of friends in the neighborhood because of the Friendship House. It was a great place to go after school,” she said.

“They kept me encouraged and they kept me on the straight and narrow. They rewarded us when we made the Honor Roll and I liked the Report Card Dinners. They played a big part in me going to college and figuring out where to go and what to do.”

Tierra earned an associate degree in human services from Southern and now she’s moving on to LSU-Shreveport to study psychology. Her goal is to earn Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and become a counselor. She is already gaining experience in that area with the work she does for Project Celebration. She is also active at her church, Mt. Olive Baptist Church, where she does praise dance.

“I’ve always liked helping people and talking with people,” she said, adding that her experiences at the Friendship House will help in her career.

“You never know what somebody is going through and what they are dealing with. People have their own separate battles. That was a good thing about the Friendship House. It could help kids forget about what they might be going through at home.”

Now that she’s moving into adulthood, Tierra is seeing beyond her own street.

“I hope that the crime in Shreveport goes down. I do think that the Friendship Houses can make a difference,” she said.

It certainly made a difference in her life.

“I want to say thank you very much. I was not the easiest to deal with and I do appreciate them for their patience and their passion for working with us,” she said.

“My hope is to make a difference in the world. I really do want to counsel – that’s where my heart is – and if I can do that, I believe I will be fulfilling my purpose.”