Meet Oren Smith | Clinical Social Worker & Founder of The Resurgence Project

We had the good fortune of connecting with Oren Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Oren, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I came up with the “Resurgence Project” fully in 2019, Although the concept of my business was always in me and on my mind as a child. As an adult, God brought all the pieces together at the right time. After finishing school at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. I came back home to Newark, NJ. where I was blessed with a job as a special needs teacher, working with children who were developmentally behind when it came to how they learned and developed, So they needed special care and help to get them on grade level and leave them with as much dignity as possible so that they didn’t feel any different from the other children. One day I got an opportunity to work directly with the child study team due to me having a child who was very hard to manage behavior wise and she also could not grasp educational concepts on her grade level. The child study team asked me did i know how to write IEP’s, which i did and so I did for that child which led me to know that teaching wasn’t what i really wanted to do but the social, psychological, and behavioral part was exactly what I was interested in. I moved to Washington, DC. in 2014 and in 2016 I got a job with DC government with an agency called The Community Partnership for The Prevention of Homeless. Working there housing all of these homeless families with children I started to develop all the parts for the “Resurgence Project”. Once that job ended for me in 2019 and I finished school for the second time, I said I never wanted to work for anyone again and i was offered a private contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and became a Clinical Social Worker. That contract freed me up in so many ways not just financially, but also i was able to bring my ideas and concepts to help those individuals who had mental health diagnosis and behavioral problems. I started to get noticed with the other agencies for my work and they started using some of my concepts to help the clients with much success. I want to think Mr. West for taking a chance on me which opened so many doors. In 2021 I decided to move to Atlanta, GA where I hit the streets making connections with the social services industry in Atlanta. I explained what I was doing and those agencies started asking me to work for them but I didn’t because it was my mission to bring the “Resurgence project to the city of Atlanta and the surrounding areas. I put a big event last May of 2023 where me and my team fed mentally ill and low income families and I started signing people up which my agency after sharing with the my holistic approach to mental illness and homelessness and everyone was on board and happy to be apart. So the “Resurgence Project” came out of me seeing what other agencies were not doing and how my concepts worked after all my education and work experience. I just knew I had the answer to making it better because God gave it to me, in my heart. to help people who are considered to be of a low caliber and had no real station in life.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Resurgence – an increase or revival after a period of little activity, popularity, or occurrence.

The Resurgence Project is dedicated to the reviving, lifting, and prospering of individuals who became stagnant while trying to achieve their life’s goals. Due to either faults of their own or the negligence of others, this has hindered them educationally, socially,and economically. The Resurgence Project is here to refocus one’s life, specifically assisting them in accomplishing independence. We achieve this goal with the help of our devout staff and family support team. Our mission is to promote life advancement which will in turn will produce individuals who will impact communities globally. I most proud of my team because they are so dedicated to getting the mission accomplished. We are small in number right now but we are mighty when it comes to seeing people through to their destiny in life, a bright future for them and their children. I got here with much prayer, sleepless nights, and plan old fashion hard work. I’m still at it because I am still at the beginning stages of having and operating a business. You really don’t get a lot of help when your a visionary so i have been funding a lot of projects out of my own pocket. You have to invest in you before anyone else will. The lessons that I have learned is when it’s your vision, just like when a women has a child, you have to nurture it and she it all the way through no matter if you have help or not! I would like the world to know that I am completely dedicated to the life advancement of all human beings and if your going to work in social work with human beings, they must be treated as such and you as an individual was have the laws of “kindness” at work in your members. Only God can give you that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Atlanta is a city that is alive in all aspects if you know what I mean. You really can have anything you want here if you make the right connections. The funny this is I always have people coming from out of town visiting me lol. So the first thing would be the Georgia Aquarium because it’s honestly so beautiful with friends or on a date. Piedmont Park because you also have the belt line right there and there are so many wonderful things to see and places to eat like, Ponce City Market, City Winery, Krog Street Market, Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall especially in the summer! Its a great place to eat outside. I love italian food, I mean I’m a foodie so Atlanta has so many places to eat and drink. Now for the night time we will have drinks at a few places like Cirque Blu Seafood, I love the frozen drinks there and they give you a nice little buzz lol. Then over to the Daiquiri Factory for music and a few more drinks to get the night started. The long Island Ice Teas are great. Atlanta has a lot of hidden gems so like I normally do when people come I drive them around the city so they can see the beauty of they city and sometimes we just jump out and find a place to eat and just go for it. I love a good happy hour so Friends on Ponce, Park Tavern, Casa Almenara, and of course one of me and my friends favorite places for good tequila, Botica! I’ve met celebrities, city officials like when i was asked to come share my business at the historical Ebezner Baptist Church which has been a highlight for me since I’ve lived in the city of Atlanta. So honestly I’m really chill person so it would a lot of adventure exploring the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Always and forever my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My mom secondly because the person I am now is not the person I’ve always been and my mom’s love for me, prayers, and not giving up n me brought me to this point! Everything I now know about business and having compassion for people I received from her. My mom is my greatest inspiration besides my relationship with God. I love you Debra R. Smith (mommy). My grandmother Elsie L. Smith (deceased), who saw my giftings and all her grandchildren and made us work hard so that we would be all that she imagended and we all have went beyond all her expectations. My grandmother didn’t live to all that we became be she died so young at the age of 54, I was only 14 years old at the time. You wouldn’t believe my first gifting before social work was singing. Also my aunts, Kimberly Smith, Sherri Glover, and Deirdre Smith. I watched them a lot for certain things and gleaned from their educational successes and just how tough they were. My uncle Andrew who is and was my father figure and as a man I gleen a lot from him and all his success he should me parts of this country as a child I had never saw and I will forever be grateful to him for so many things. My younger brother Kendell, who was running his own business as a little boy selling pets, cutting yards, and selling mens suits. My strong friend group, Tasha Powell, Nadine Ward, KT Ward, Harrold R. Roberts, Derrick Glenn, Tonika White, Frank White, Kia Williams, Robert Jeffries, Moe Williams, and Melinda “Pearl” Sheppard. They keep me motivated and have been a great help to me on this journey. They are my mainstays. Also my cousin Sheenah Hudgins who has helped me in so many ways I couldn’t begin to say. One of the authors who’s life I have followed and read her books given to me by my mom was Ms. Tony Morrison. I would also like to thank Mr. West who saw my potential and gave me my first contract and as a businessman of owner of multiple Social Service agencies in the city of Washington DC. I also want to shout out “The Community Partnership for The Prevention of Homelessness”, and everyone I worked with there, we did amazing work and I learned so much from my time there.

Website: TheResurgenceProject.org still under construction but I can be reached at theresurgenceproject@gmail.com

Instagram: OrenLyric and The Resurgence Project LLC

Linkedin: Oren R. Smith

Facebook: Oren R Smith or OrenLyric

Youtube: OrenLyric78

Image Credits
Oren R. Smith