The Flatline Community Coalition first started as a rap group trying to reach kids in Montgomery.

DeAndre Burns has been there every step of the way, and what started with music now includes programs for people who are homeless as well as initiatives to help students and work with a mobile food pantry. Burns is the executive director of the coalition, which the Flatline Church at Chisholm started.

The music portion of the coalition, Flatline Movement, is still alive and well. The group performs anywhere they can to get their message out. In fact, members released an album June 15. It is available on all streaming sites.

At 48, Burns is the oldest member. The youngest member is his 17-year-old son.

Flatline Movement also offers a three-month class. The first month focuses on the history of rap, while the latter two teach kids about journaling, poetry and song writing.

Throughout the time that the Flatline Community Coalition has been open, Burns has served in whatever way he can to benefit the area. “You need to always be wiling to fill any void that’s there,” he said.

The goal of the Flatline Community Coalition is to restore hope to the people of Montgomery. Burns said he thinks it is this lack of hope that leads to violence in the city.

“If a child has hope, a child can see purpose (and) this city … will see a facelift basically,” Burns said.

Burns also wants people who are not aware of the problems within the city to wake up and help to make it better.

“Those that are in a bubble need that bubble burst so they can see what’s been going on, and hopefully they will desire to be volunteers to provide help, whether it be manpower or financially to organizations like (ours) or even other organizations I’ve talked about, to be able to provide hope to this next generation,” Burns said.

Three questions with DeAndre Burns

What is Alabama’s greatest attribute?

“I think that the greatest attribute is the people in the community. Being from California, I’ve met so many people that really desire to be the change that they want to see. I’ve seen some really, really loving people, caring people, people that want to see change, people that love their community. This is really a great city with great people that want to preserve what makes this city great.”

What do you hope to accomplish in the next year?

“We want every child to be able to go to sleep with hope, have a meal, to live in a great environment. I just desire to see one life changed at a time. I mean, being realistic, you can’t just change everything within the snap of a finger, but if you’re able to change one child, one household and then move on and be able to do that for a period of time… I think we’ll see major change. So, just being realistic, we just want to see hope for the younger generations of this city.”

Name someone in the community who inspires you.

“There’s a few people. Kevin King with King’s Canvas definitely has been an inspiration. Ken Austin, Mercy House. A big inspiration. His selflessness is inspiring. Anthony Brock of Valiant Cross and what dedication he’s had to the city. Also Bryan Kelly, Common Ground Montgomery. That’s one of the first places I’ve served. They have done some awesome things for the community. Man, there’s so many. Charles Lee, That’s My Child. You know (he) has been an inspiration.

“You asked the question ‘what makes this city great?’ There are just a lot of people who are at work, and they’re doing their own major independent work and calling. It’s one thing to desire change. It’s another thing to roll your sleeves up and try to get to work. … Michelle Browder is another. They’ve put their money where their mouth is. They’ve put their actions where their mouth is, and I think without individuals like them, the city would even be worse.

“This is not a terrible place. It’s a beautiful place. There’s layers, so you can easily exist in a portion of this city where it looks like nothing’s wrong. But there also are parts of this community that are cut off to a lot of people who exist in it. Those communities are the ones that are really struggling.”

About the series

The Montgomery Advertiser’s People to Watch is a series of stories about everyday Alabamians who we believe will do exceptional things in our communities in the coming year. Our readers and journalists nominated this year’s slate. The Advertiser will publish profiles about these honorees in December and January.

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Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser’s public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or on Twitter @gladlyalex.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: People to Watch: DeAndre Burns works to restore hope through music