Terrance Wallace is seen being escorted out of the MacArthur room Tuesday evening during the monthly Board of Trustees meeting.
A youth pastor from Chicago has taken dual-guardianship of several young men from some of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods and has allowed them to live in the suburbs where they are offered improved education, discipleship and resources.
Pastor Terrance Wallace, founder of the InZone Project, helps oversee seven young men living in a suburban home in Wauconda, Illinois, and has brought them into his family in a literal sense. He plans to move over 20 (15 earlier this week) others from the city into a suburban mansion in the affluent Barrington Hills this fall.
Wallace and the family of Angie Mooney, a state education worker, have lived with seven young black men from underserved Chicago communities in Wauconda for over a year. Schools, homes and opportunities are much better in Wauconda compared to the city, Mooney told the Christian Post.
Plans to bring as many as 25 more boys into the mansion in Barrington Hills, a predominantly white community, this fall has also faced opposition from some community members who argued at a community board meeting this week that “there won’t be oversight” or “protection.”
“What we’re seeing is a small few who lack the knowledge and experience of having black people in their lives,” Mooney argued. “The education these youth are gaining has created remarkable results in New Zealand and Wauconda. This is what God wanted in Wauconda and will move to Barrington Hills.”
In a Zoom video conference of 193 community members (a recording of which has yet to be made public as promised), 191 responded positively and welcomed InZone’s presence in Barrington Hills, Mooney said.
Wallace and Mooney discussed their plans to bring the InZone Project to the suburb at the board meeting Tuesday.
“With what we face as a nation, I think the only way to make America great is to confront our divisions and have conversations with each other,” he said. “We face challenges but I’m strengthened by the Lord to continue to charge forward.”
Read more of The Christian Post story here.
Editorial note: In addition to being a pastor, Wallace’s website states he is a, “motivational speaker, management consultant, innovator, mentor, entrepreneur, change agent and visionary.”
Now he’s a pastor?