Elberton’s Promise
Charles Thornton, a veteran and Morehouse graduate, stumbled across a troubling statistic: An estimated 70% of Black children in the U.S. are raised in single-parent households. He felt called to help boys in single-parent homes. So, in 2019, he launched Elberton’s Promise to offer customized guidance, one kid at a time.
Success Story: Elberton’s Promise Executive Director Otha Thornton, far left, took the group to Washington, D.C. to learn about government. Photo credit: Contributed
In 2023, Charles died unexpectedly, but his brother, educator Otha Thornton, took over the organization, which, with a crew of teachers and community leaders, has disbursed more than $537,000 in scholarship funds.
“We work with each young man individually to set goals – spiritual, mental and academic – to get them on a good track and keep them there,” he says, “and we track their advancement as they reach these goals and invite them back to share their story to inspire younger students.”
Elberton’s Promise encourages students to take dual-enrollment classes at Athens Technical College’s Elbert County campus so the teens can earn college credit while in high school. Some students also apply for Atlanta Metropolitan Upward Bound, a federally funded six-week summer program at Morehouse College. Such programs prepare them for life after high school. Ten are now in college.
“Our students are at Morehouse, Morris Brown, Georgia Southern and in the military,” Thornton says. “One is in law school – we helped him study for the LSAT – and another just finished his master’s degree.”
Thornton also coordinates trips, including to Washington, D.C., where the boys learned about government and met members of Congress. In Alabama, the group visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and the Legacy Museum in Montgomery. “It’s important to expose kids from rural areas to the wider world,” he says.
So far, Elberton’s Promise has launched at least 25 young men into a promising future. 
