Tom Lawrence, the former project director for the cluster of community teams, is a black man living in a predominantly white town. He has been living with change for years. In the 1970's he had a good job in the coal industry and then saw his pay drop by two-thirds when he was laid off. After a five-year stint in Atlanta, he returned and began working on community projects. As a Franklin city employee he had a state grant to run a five community empowerment zone. However, he sees the local government as unwilling to change. "They still think of this as a little Victorian city, but the storefronts are not open. Development is shifting elsewhere." When he became involved in MIRA he went around to the schools to recruit kids. He enjoyed the youth, and he saw they did not fear the technology, whereas many adults did. The high point for him was taking the young people to Battle Creek for a national gathering and having them meet others from around the country. That was important because "a lot of kids between 15 and 30 are slinging drugs: crack, ecstasy, and speed. Many just don't have any new options." It was hard to see what options he had himself, now that he was no longer with the city. "I can't imagine growing up anywhere else, but things have changed. Now I can't imagine staying. I'd love to see another program like MIRA. Just getting people together is what I like to do: digital storytelling or some kind of entrepreneurship program for the kids."