How golf transformed a blighted neighborhood

“We didn't get (that trust) very quickly,” he said. “I think they'd been promised so many things, they did not believe that we would do what we said we were going to do.”

Davis admits she was suspicious of Cousins.

“I had some high officials to tell me say: ‘You better watch him because he's sneaky,’” she said. “I was not happy. Because I didn't understand the golf course.”

But the refurbished world-class golf club kick-started the redevelopment of East Lake: It brought public attention, commerce and jobs. After 10 years, the housing project had been torn down, completely rebuilt and utterly transformed into a clean, safe, family-friendly place to live.

“It's heaven,” said Davis. 

In the new neighborhood, half of the 542 units are reserved for families on public assistance, the rest for middle-income working families who pay market rates.

There’s a brand-new YMCA. And the Drew charter school, the first in Atlanta, opened here in 2001 for children from kindergarten through eighth grade. 

The educational progress is nothing short of astonishing. In 1995, just 5 percent of neighborhood fifth graders met state math standards. Today, it’s 78 percent at Drew.

Drew graduates like Jeffrey Johnson are living proof that Cousins’ vision has changed lives.  He’s now at a prestigious private school on an academic scholarship — a world away from the life he might have led.

“I'm taking American literature now,” he said. “I take pre-calculus, and that’s a really tough math class. I'm the piano player in the jazz ensemble. I just got into chorus.”

The remade neighborhood of East Lake is wrapped around a spectacular new public golf course, which became the setting for another one of Cousins' dreams: a free mentoring program that teaches golf lessons and life lessons.

“One of the better things is (that golf) teaches integrity,” he said. “In other sports, basketball, football, you break the rules and there's a penalty. But there's no moral issue there. But in golf, it's all on your personal integrity. You don't improve the ball in the rough. You don't change the position.”

Cousins hopes kids can learn the cherished values of the game he loves.  Phys-ed classes at the Drew charter school are taught on the golf course, and the school may be the only inner-city school in America with a golf section in its library.

Brandon Bradley and Shelton Davis were two of the first to take part in Cousins’ golf mentoring program. Today they attend Grambling State University — on golf scholarships. 

It’s just one example of how Cousins reached out to a community and turned it around. The “before and after” statistics are compelling: Violent crime is down 95 percent, the number of welfare recipients fell from 58 percent to 5 percent and the employment rate for people on public assistance rose from 14 percent to 71 percent.

Rebuilding East Lake wasn’t cheap. It took $128 million — from government, corporate donors and foundation grants. About a quarter of the total came from the Cousins family.

The vision was accomplished despite the doubts of friends who thought Cousins was nuts, and the rancorous battles with people who thought he was sneaky. You'd be hard-pressed to find two people who would be stranger bedfellows than Eva Davis and Tom Cousins.

“I don't know that Tom had ever known anyone quite like Eva, but the same was true in the reverse,” said Franklin. “And once they understood that they really wanted the same dreams for this community, it was just a matter of time that they would work together successfully.” 

Also in msnbc.com business Answer Desk: Where did all the money go? ConsumerMan: Beware of debit card skimmers Gut Check: Tell us about your job situation SportsBiz: MLB's dollars per win analysis   Video: Simple ways to save money

MORE FROM CNBC TV

CNBC TV Section Front

McDonald's has a big appetite for China GM finds surprising success in China Greenspan: Economy 'on the brink' of recession At 85, Sumner Redstone is still going strong L.A. is home to new rush of oil drilling Cutting the cost of a $77,000 fill-up Robot maker’s fortune built on a simple idea Who are the Super Rich? Baseball bat maker still hitting home runs Arianna Huffington makes waves on the Web CNBC TV Section Front   Add CNBC TV headlines to your news reader: