Some Hazlehurst residents have their own dream of what thecommunity can be, and they look to the Heritage House to be a bigpart of making the changes.

The Heritage House’s mission is to give area children a place togo after school to keep them occupied, but also to educate them indifferent areas of the arts. The Heritage House is funded andoperated by the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation, which is dedicatedto preserving the legacy of the Hazlehurst-born blues musician.

Dr. Janet Shriver heads the Hazlehurst chapter of the RobertJohnson Foundation and has spearheaded the efforts to bring thedream of the Heritage House to fruition. She said the idea was tobring added credibility to the Johnson family name and to give backto the community.

“The Robert Johnson name is a big name to carry, and the familywould like to have good come from it. If you come by here, youmight see Claud Johnson (Robert’s son) or some of the grandsons,”she said. “One of the things they wanted to do is helpchildren.”

Foundation members believe changing a community begins with thechildren, and that keeping them occupied and educated is theway.

“We just received a 21st century grant and we’ll be focusing onseventh-, eighth-, and ninth-graders in an after-school program.They’ll be educated in the arts and working on writing projects,”said Shriver.

In addition to being a place where children can gather afterschool, the classes will be structured to ensure that the timespent there is spent learning.

“The Robert Johnson Blues Foundation is sponsoring this project,and they will be involved with the programming. Steven Johnson(Robert Johnson’s grandson) will be one of the teachers here,”Shriver said.

The home for the Heritage House is being leased by the city fromthe county for use by the group.

“So it really is a joint project here in Hazlehurst,” shesaid.

And it would seem the place is a perfect working partner forBrookhaven’s Mississippi School for the Arts.

“I haven’t spoken with them,” said Shriver, who is steadilypiecing together long-term plans for the facility. “But they’re onmy list of contacts because I think there are definitely somethings we can do together.”