Men of Vision make a difference in the Lakeway Area

Story by Deven Salazar Aug 1, 2023 Citizen Tribune

The Men of Vision, a local nonprofit, is a group of men dedicated to working together to achieve goals throughout the Lakeway Area.

Denis Oxendine, president of MOV, explained how it all started 3 years ago and why the organization was formed.

“Our very first meeting was held in August of 2019,” he said. “It started with myself and a group of guys brainstorming because we wanted an organization for men who make a significant impact in our community.

“We wanted to change the perception of African American men and show that here in the Lakeway Area we have some good men in the community.”

“When we sent out the word about what we were doing we had a big response of support and had many people interested in joining.”

However, just like many others, the organization was hit with the Coronavirus Pandemic and the lockdown that followed.

“The pandemic started and that put things at a halt and slowed things down,” Oxendine said. “Now we are trying to get back out there and make it known we are here and we are here to make a difference in our community.”

They plan to have their comeback with their “Boys to Men” Banquet on September 23 at First Presbyterian Church.

“The focus of the event is to bring in 8 young men and show them heroes within the community,” he said. “Most of the time young men will look to athletes and rappers as their heroes but little do they know that there are several heroes right here in the community.

“We want to showcase our active members and show these young men and the community that it is possible to be the system and rewrite the narrative and not be a statistic.

“We want to show them that what you put into life you get out of it and we want to teach them that and educate them on basic life lessons such as managing their money.”

A dinner will be served and will be paired with a guest speaker. Tickets for the event go on sale August 8 and can be purchased through their facebook page.

Although the banquet is their big return, they still continue to share their mission throughout the area.

Their mission statement is “Men meeting the needs socially, economically and civically. With this mission statement they aim to help the needs of the community in a variety of ways.

“With many organizations within the community they only aim to help in one particular aspect,” Oxendine said. “But with our mission statement we strive to help the community in any way we can to make it a better place.

“We don’t want to turn away from any needs of that my arise in the community so our mission statement allows us to step in and step up in several ways.”

With the civic aspect of their mission statement they accomplish this by running for elected offices and holding leadership roles with other organizations in the Lakeway Area.

“I had run for school board in the past election,” Oxendine said. “I also sit on the board of Girls Inc. and we have members who sit on the Housing Authority, Boys and Girls Club Board and a variety of other boards to show the people that we are willing to work and make a difference.”

Economically the group has donated to other organizations and most recently paid off school lunch debt in the local school systems.

“We are still a small organization so we could not make a significant impact financially within our community, but we still tried to do something,” Oxendine said. “So we reached out to West Elementary School in Hamblen County to help pay for students’ lunches who owed money on their account.

“Lunch balances were so high all over the district with this being the first year students would have to pay for their lunch after the pandemic so we knew this was a problem and we wanted to help it and alleviate the stress on the parents and their students.”

Socially the organization has held clothing drives and also participated in local events to mingle with the community and spread the word about the organization.

“We held a clothing drive called Operation Keep Them Warm and provided toiletries, clothing and shoes to the Daily Bread to help the homeless,” Oxendine said. “We also had vaccination drives and participated in events like Juneteenth and the MLK Breakfast.”

As the organization continues to grow it wants to expand and work with other organizations in the area.

“This is not just an African American organization,” he said. “We are open to all men who want to make a difference in the community and show the good side of men.

“We hope to work with other organizations to achieve a common goal and that is to make this community and area the best in the state and the country.”

Oxendine discussed how it's important to be role models for the youth in the community so in times of need they can lean on others.

“With drug use at an all time high and teen suicide high as well its important for young men and women to know there are some good people out there to lean on in times of need,” Oxendine said. “It's also important for parents to know that as well so if their struggling others can step in and help whenever they can.”