THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 5, 1996 TAG: 9601040126
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER BENNETT, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 157 lines
DURING THE HOLIDAYS, five young men, some of whom may have at one time been found standing on the street passing a 40-ounce bottle of beer, took to the streets to do something quite different.
As part of a new mentorship program, the youths spent an afternoon delivering gifts to less fortunate elderly and disabled citizens of Virginia Beach. The recipients of the socks, shampoo, razors, coffee and other goodies were grateful.
``It's great because I haven't had a Christmas in I don't know how many years,'' said William O'Neal, a 52-year-old Vietnam veteran.
Having lived on the streets of Virginia Beach for more than 12 years, O'Neal celebrated his first Christmas in a home (Cookie Filbritt's Elderly Care).
The young men, too, expressed the personal rewards of giving.
``It made me feel good inside, like I lit up their lives a little bit,'' said Larry Chapman, a 16-year-old honor student from Williams Village.
Chapman and his buddies are the recipients of some help themselves.
Ten adult males who attended the recent Million Man March in Washington are mentoring the five youths and about 15 others from several Bayside neighborhoods as part of the Community Action Resource Empowerment (CARE) program.
The mentoring, which began this fall, is aimed at keeping the youths from becoming juvenile crime statistics.
In 1992, young black males between the ages of 12 and 24 accounted for 65 percent of all victims of violent crimes (excluding murder) in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The lifestyles of some of these African-American youths living in selected Bayside neighborhoods placed them at similar odds. Growing up, some have seen the harshest side of life - a side many residents of Virginia Beach never see.
``People think of Virginia Beach like it's wonderful - big houses and Lexus (cars) . . . like you can walk around with a million dollars in your hand and won't nobody take it,'' said 17-year-old Demontre Mitchell of Princeton Lakes. ``But we live in the low-income section (where) crackheads are stalking.''
Guns, violence, heroin, open drug-dealing, robbery and ``marijuana is an everyday thing for some people,'' Mitchell added.
Although Princeton Lakes and other high risk neighborhoods, such as Williams Village, Lake Edward and Northridge, appear relatively attractive on the outside, they are plagued by many of the social ills often considered risk factors for juvenile crime.
To offset such elements, CARE was formed in 1990. Its mission is to work in conjunction with community policing, to strengthen the relationship between high crime neighborhoods and police in order to solve community problems. Virginia Beach police officers are assigned to specific neighborhoods, explained Officer Shawanda Jackson. Hence, police become a more visible and regular presence in each area.
CARE develops and implements programs with the ultimate objective of empowering residents so they will manage programs independently in time, according to Carol Williams, CARE chairperson. To address community concerns, CARE employees, police and residents meet in regular meetings.
At a fall Northridge community meeting, neighbors and police were discussing youths being disrespectful. Mitchell, who had been mentioned, walked into the meeting with some grievances of his own, recalled Malissia Lee, a housing programs supervisor for the city. Lee asked him to bring some of his peers to the next meeting to address their concerns.
He did. In fact, about 20 young men showed up. Some complained of police harassment, others about the school district. But they all agreed on one issue.
``There's nothing to do around here,'' they said.
Realizing that many of these youths had been expelled from school or were jobless, Lee said she made them an offer.
``I made a pact with them,'' Lee said. ``They'd have to work or go to school in exchange for recreation of their choice - basketball.'' From there, CARE started the mentoring program for young males ages 14 to early 20s.
Since the historic Million Man March had just passed, Lee challenged some longshoremen who attended the rally to put that spirit to work in mentoring young men. They agreed.
Now, members of local 1248 of the International Longshoremen's Association and other professional men spend Thursday nights at Bayside Middle School. There, they talk, relate and play basketball with about 20 young men weekly. Because some of the volunteers have similar backgrounds as the youths, they understand their role in the program.
``When I was their age, I had a rec center and guys who looked after me. They showed me organization and discipline, and gave me an alternative,'' said Kevin Boone, a mentor working to establish a community basketball league. He admits, however, that it's not all about the game.
``Right now, basketball is just the bait to get them here,'' he said. ``We slide in some discipline, respect, morality and principles.''
While traditionally the parents' job, teaching youths about personal and social responsibility now must come from different sources, said Jim Belin, a neighborhood facilitator at the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation who counsels parolees. Youths often are left unsupervised because many parents are single and work away from home. Belin said that if positive people don't spend time with youths, the negative elements of society will.
``We are competing with drug dealers who can offer them $150 sneakers,'' Belin said. ``We can give them talk, but no money in their pockets,''
This makes the job harder, but not impossible.
``If parents aren't (providing guidance), some institution has to provide it, other than the penal institution,'' Belin said. One youth participant in the mentoring program said that seeing so many of his peers go to jail prompted him to stop selling drugs and go back to school.
The importance of these programs are shown through the ripple effect in which young people influence each other, Belin said. Results from the mentoring program, therefore, are yet to be seen since it is still in the beginning stages. The program also develops as it unfolds, Lee said.
``This is not a program we went to school for,'' she said. ``We depend on the guys for help and input.''
Contrary to the traditional fragmented approach to social problems, numerous public and private agencies, as well as residents, are included in the planning and implementation of this CARE program. Such a collaborative effort helps tackle various needs in one setting.
But more participation is needed.
In addition to the 10 mentors who volunteer, even more are essential to make the program a success, Lee said. In addition, they require funds and resources that will complement their own fund-raising efforts to purchase equipment for the basketball league. Even more importantly, the young men need jobs and job training.
With the help of the community, police, schools, local businesses and the mentors, these young black men may have a brighter future than statistics predict for them and the generations that come after them.
``We have brilliant minds, but the streets turn them into juvenile delinquents,'' Lee said. ``They just need to be nourished, nurtured and redirected.'' MEMO: Call 426-5750 for more information.
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
BRINGING HOME THE MESSAGE
Staff photos, including color cover, by CHARLIE MEADS
Connie Newman, who lives at Gregory's Adult Home Care Center,
receives a holiday gift bag from Larry Chapman, 16, of Williams
Village.
CARE mentor Arcelious Carlisle, left, passes out gift bags
containing socks, shampoo, razors, coffee and other goodies to
teenage delivery men Larry Chapman, right, Keith Baker and Demontre
Mitchell.
Virginia Beach police officers, like Shawanda Jackson, are assigned
to specific neighborhoods to become a more visible and regular
presence in each area.
LEFT: Ron Clark, who works for Virginia Beach's Community Services
Board, watches young men play basketball at Bayside Middle School.
In CARE's mentoring program, basketball is a reward for work and
education.
ON THE COVER: Under the watchful eye of another mentor, two youths
from Williams Village tip-off the action. The adult volunteers talk,
relate and play basketball with about 20 young men weekly.
by CNB