When he finished playing football for Texas A&M, Lance Jackson didn't have plans on returning to College Station. Jackson says it was his calling to use his life to help others in the same way he was helped as a kid growing up in Central Texas.

On a sunny February afternoon, kids flock to the Lincoln Center. Inside, it sounds a bit like chaos. Looks that way, too.

But to Lance Jackson, and the staff at Lincoln, this is just another school day afternoon.

"We like to think we can do as much as we can, for as many as we can, for as long as we can," explains Jackson. "That's pretty much how we serve."

He's soft-spoken and spends part of his day in his office taking care of the business side of the Lincoln Center. But Jackson weilds a force that is absolute. He plays equal parts boss, father, big brother and advocate.

"I look back on my life and I see so many similarities between my life and the children who come through this facility," shares Jackson.

He was born and raised in Temple. In a community a lot like the one that surrounds Lincoln Center. For Jackson, not being at the Lincoln Center and serving the community would not be himself.

There is so much history in the halls. The Lincoln Center is more a family affair than just another building.

"They get to attend, or be at a facility which one of their relatives actually participated and played and studied and had an opportunity to grow up here, right here. So, to me, it's living history," says Jackson.

"It is my obligation to teach, or provide an opportunity to teach, about the history of this center and the people who have called this home."

A home at the heart of a growing community.