Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 6, 1995 TAG: 9505080085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Total Action Against Poverty's Transitional Living Center is a multistory brick building in Northwest Roanoke, where homeless, displaced people find food and temporary shelter.
More and more, the center's residents have been children - infants, toddlers, teens.
Tito Stone, 16, is one of them. Since August, he, his mother and his 12-year-old sister have lived at the center, squeezed into a second-floor room where clothes hang from ceiling pipes and eliminating clutter is a constant chore.
In circumstances that could make staying in school and out of trouble difficult, Tito, a freshman at Roanoke's William Fleming High School, thrives. This year he was recognized by the Roanoke Valley chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, a national organization of teachers, as one of 63 outstanding high school students and role models.
The recognition did not surprise George Miller, head football coach at William Fleming.
"Tito has so much character and class, something nobody will be able to take away from him," Miller said. "I know that one day he will receive his reward."
Tito folds his tall frame into an overstuffed couch. He dismisses the distractions around him - the talk show on a community-room television set, the loud intercom, the 11-year-old admirer who follows closely on his heels.
Tito shrugs. He studies when and where he can. He worked for a cleaning service until a few weeks ago and is looking for another job. On weekends, he gets together with friends, most of them his football and basketball teammates who "try to stay straight so we can play ball," he said.
Tito is a standout varsity football and junior varsity basketball player at Fleming. Lately, his weekday afternoons have been devoted to practice for a 17-and-under AAU basketball team.
He wants to go to college and study sports medicine because "I want to stay around sports a long time." He is hoping his athletic talents will attract a college scholarship.
"Sometimes I think that's all that keeps me going," he said.
Each year, Phi Delta Kappa recognizes black students who are "socially and academically adjusted," said Frances Chubb, a member of the sorority's Roanoke Valley chapter.
"We hear so much about teen-age males being in trouble and doing all of the wrong things," she said. "We felt that it was time that we give some encouragement to those students who are doing well and are not in trouble."
Tito credits his mother with giving him the tools to buck the odds. She is his role model.
A single parent, Clarissa Stone once worked three jobs at one time to support her family, refusing to go on welfare. At 30, she enrolled in college. She now works as a front desk operator at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center.
"Tito's mom has very high expectations of him," Miller said. "His mom has tried to do the necessary things to prevent him from going in the wrong direction. He knew he had to be on a mission."
After living briefly in New Jersey, Clarissa Stone returned to Roanoke last year with no job prospects or money to pay rent. She turned to TAP.
The promise of something better keeps the family afloat, Tito said.
"I know we can't stay down forever. It makes us work harder, as one unit, to get back on our feet."
TAP's Transitional Living Center has a capacity of 75. On average, 60 to 65 people live there at a time.
Fifty-five percent of them are families - parents and their children, said Ellen Brown, TAP's director of human resources.
"More people in different situations are becoming homeless," she said. "More and more, it's bleeding over into families."
The center provides not only food and shelter but comprehensive transitional services to prepare residents for independent living. The maximum length of stay is two years.
The transient-type lifestyle "can really take a toll on young children," Brown said. "For older children, as they interact with other kids, sometimes they are subjected to prejudice and discrimination and unkind comments."
These children need routine and structure, Brown said.
Not having it "is very stressful," she said. "At least while they are at TLC, they do get structure and stability."
Clarissa Stone admits she is an overprotective mother. Tito suffered from chronic asthma until he was 12. Wouldn't you be protective if you'd sat at your child's side, frightened that his next breath would be his last, she asks.
Tito is equally protective of his mother. Earlier this week, Clarissa's blood pressure rose and her doctor ordered bed rest. She insisted on going to work.
Tito hid her uniform under a mattress.
"We look out for each other," she said. "I don't have a lot of friends. My friends are my children. We stay with each other, keep each other going.
"We want to do better. I want better for my children."
by CNB