Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9509050053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
On a stage where generations of fashion models once twirled and preened, a half-dozen youngsters are practicing for an upcoming performance about the history of Youth Corporation Inc./Youth Outreach Services.
"I've come to teach about teen-age pregnancy and welfare reform," says a youngster who is playing the role of Liz Harris Charity, the real-life motivational spirit behind this unusual - and suddenly controversial - program housed in the cavernous shell of what was the bustling downtown Thalhimer's store.
"You're going to teach boys to use condoms?" continues the dialogue.
"No," replies the Charity character, "you and the boys are going to be so busy, you're not going to have time to think about condoms."
"You must be a Christian," notes one of the teens.
"Yes," comes the response. As the performers slap hands, the character adds: "High fives for Jesus."
Precisely how much homage is being paid Jesus is at the crux of controversy that erupted last week after Style Weekly, a Richmond alternative newspaper, reported that the group was using a $69,000 grant awarded by Gov. George Allen to teach Christian values.
Citing constitutional concerns over the separation of church and state, the American Civil Liberties Union has requested a state investigation into use of the funds. The money is part of a $2 million discretionary pool allotted by the governor under the federal Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act.
The challenge comes at a time when the Allen administration is urging churches to become active in a massive welfare overhaul. It may offer an early test of the difficulty of including groups with religious links in the mix of those getting state funds.
While such money has not yet been allotted, state officials said last week that some discretionary funds eventually will be available through local social services boards or the office of the secretary of health and human services for community groups with innovative programs directed at putting welfare recipients to work.
Late last week, Attorney General Jim Gilmore and Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore, whose office administers the grant money, agreed to investigate the complaint.
In a statement, YCI/YOS officials called the charge that they are using government funds for religious purposes "untrue and unfounded." But in interviews they do not deny that Christianity is an important component of their underlying philosophy.
"It should be stated to people coming in that this is based a lot on Christianity," said Audrey Phillips, a 16-year-old high school student helping out with the program last week.
"The government has offered program after program [for welfare recipients and at-risk youth] that have not worked," echoed Harris Charity, a seemingly irrepressible former disc jockey and accountant who conceived and patched together over the past six years what she calls a program of "entrepreneurial training and welfare reform recovery."
"To fill their emptiness, they have to have something on the inside."
Promotional literature for "Jesus Ministries," a nondenominational ministry that Harris Charity heads and that shares the Thalhimer's space on Sundays, is evident throughout the organization's fifth-floor work space, as well as the makeshift first-floor shop where the wares of youngsters - from handmade pillows to used baseball cards - fill space once occupied by jewelry and cosmetic counters.
But in a statement issued Friday by the group, spokesman Samuel Tanguma said "prayer or any other religious activity is not a mandatory part of daily activity or any YOS school program."
Program participants are not required to take part in any religious services. While church groups occasionally join the group for "praise singing and a prayer lunch hour," that occurs only on Wednesdays, she said. And, such activities are not mandatory, she said.
Kilgore and Deputy Attorney General William Hurd, who reviewed the group's grant application last week, concurred that there is no mention of religion in its stated goals.
"We find no indication that the group's activities were to have any kind of religious component," said Hurd. "If there's a problem, it arose after the grant was made."
Hurd said that only after interviews with Harris Charity and others, expected to take place this week, can his office say whether any line has been improperly crossed.
"Clearly taxpayer funds cannot be used to buy communion wafers," he said. But whether any activity falls on one side or the other of guidelines established by the courts "is very fact-sensitive," he said.
Kent Willis, executive director of the Virginia ACLU, said his organization is not opposed to any organization's pursuing religious goals, "but not with funding from the government."
The program described in YCI/YOS literature calls for schools of urban planning, education, business and the arts. Academics and entrepreneurial training are to be offered to welfare recipients, ex-offenders and young people, it says.
Harris Charity has worked on her dream since 1989, gaining support along the way from some substantial members of the Richmond community, including former Police Chief Marty Tapscott and executives at a television station.
A major coup was achieved last year when she was given permission by its owners to use the vacant Thalhimer's building.
But the brightest day of all came in February, when Allen and a security contingent trooped down from the Capitol to announce the $69,000 grant. Allen, who had not met Harris Charity before that day, praised the program as an example of community action against welfare dependency. She thanked God for the governor's involvement.
Since then Harris Charity has amassed a staff of nine, including her husband, Oliver Charity, and has opened the doors to 22 youths and three welfare recipients.
"In order to put a program like this together, it had to come from a higher source," she said last week. "It didn't come from Liz. All I'm doing is sharing this with other people."
by CNB