Walker Honors Graham's Michael Graves as Community Hero of the Month

Statement

U.S. Representative Mark Walker (R-N.C.) honored Alamance County's Michael Graves as the Sixth District Community Hero of the Month for December 2019.

Each month, Rep. Walker awards a constituent, business, or organization in his district for displaying extraordinary acts of service and for making a difference in the lives around them.

Michael Graves is the founder of Actively Changing Together (ACT), an organization that provides support services to help inmates transition out of jail.

"I had been talking with some of the inmates and working with them and trying to see what they wanted to do once they get out of jail and trying to point them and motivate them, and they wanted reading materials," Graves said.

After recognizing that local inmates lacked books and reading material, Michael began an effort to collect books to create a library at the Alamance County jail.

"Michael Graves is a beaming example of someone that saw a need in their community and stepped up to address it," Walker said. "His selfless service is changing the lives of justice-involved persons for the better. My deepest is hope is that Michael's efforts to share the gift of knowledge with the incarcerated are emulated across our state and our country."

He initially planned to start donating between 10-20 books a month. After his father unexpectedly passed away on July 8th of this year, he asked that books be donated for the jail in lieu of flowers. The project grew into an even bigger initiative with the help of his church, Ebenezer United Church of Christ in Burlington. Michael vividly recounts that he sent an email one night at 3:30 a.m. to his pastor about his ideas for the book collection, and his pastor exceeded his expectations; the church formed a partnership with Michael to collect books for the inmates and serves as a drop-off site for the books. One thousand books were collected in the first 30 days.

Michael reports that the most popular literary genres among the inmates are motivational books, which helps keep their spirits up, and books that teach jobs skills: starting a business, writing a business plan, landscaping and culinary books, etc. There have been many positive testimonials from inmates about how the book collection program has benefited them as they transition from jail back into their community, such as helping them to enroll in a GED program, stay sober or reunite with their families.

Michael's passion for the incarcerated was fostered during his time as President of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 2002-2010, and he interacted with many incarcerated individuals through the NAACP's legal redress work.

Michael also says that his Christian faith is very instrumental in his work with the incarcerated. He specifically remembers a sign hanging in a church during his childhood that read, "Enter to worship, depart to serve.," which instilled in him the importance of serving others.

Michael lives in Graham and is the owner and founder of Graves Care Centers. He would like to extend a special recognition to his parents, Mary Woods and the late Gordon Woods, his grandmother, Sadie Frances Graves, and his great-grandmother, Pearl Graves, who taught him to help people and to believe in second chances.

Michael was presented with a certificate and a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in his honor.

Source