“You’re supposed to smile,” said one of the girls.
“Be respectful,” said another
“Stay in the kitchen,” said a third, to which a fourth replied, “That’s passé.”
The older girls were talking about where their values come from – parents, elders, media – and what it means to be a lady: Be respectful, sweet and quiet, sexy, be weak, mature and nurturing. But don’t be loud, dirty, nasty, or act like the ghetto, because people will pass judgment.
It was a lively discussion, this afternoon session of the older girls’ summer program. Like the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative’s (TGHI) year-round Youth Violence Prevention Program for Miami’s West Coconut Grove neighborhood, the summer program is designed to mix counseling and emotional support with engaging activities. There are sports, art projects, and field trips to places as diverse as Fairchild Tropical Gardens and City Hall. But whether the kids are making mosaics or taking their first ever Metro ride to visit the main library downtown, the goals of the program are always in sight: to help them build healthy self esteem; develop strong, positive values and resist negative peer pressure; learn constructive strategies for solving problems and resolving disputes; and experience the world beyond their community. In this way, the TGHI insulates their young people against the destructive forces in the neighborhood and helps them formulate their hopes and plans for the future.
West Coconut Grove is built largely of African American families where the cycle of poverty has been perpetuated for generations. Unemployment is especially severe, and decent, affordable housing scarce. An estimated 70% of households are headed by single women living with income at or below federal poverty line. A majority of these women come from a line of young, single mothers three, four or five generations long. Like their mothers and grandmothers before them, they had their first child in their teens, never finished high school, did not have access to appropriate role models or mentors while growing up, and have a history of being abused and/or abusing their own children. Although one of the smaller minority communities in Miami-Dade County, West Grove bears a disproportional concentration of social ills: teen pregnancy, flagrant drug abuse and trafficking, untreated mental illness, HIV/AIDS, domestic abuse, and violence of other kinds. The negative influences are so pronounced that, even among the professional families of this community, one offspring could be a prominent attorney and another could be strung out on the street. TGHI emerged from the needs inherent in this environment, which, in turn, dictated its evolution.
Merline Barton, who co-founded TGHI and serves as its executive director, had been working on economic development in this community for 24 years. She knew the families. They trusted her, and she attempted to intervene. Knocking on doors, she was shocked by the problems she encountered. Young mothers couldn’t buy milk or Pampers for their babies. Young men had been arrested. Aged men and women suffered abuse. Some had their social security checks stolen by their children or grandchildren, who used the money for drugs. Others complained that they were taking multiple medications and couldn’t understand why the doctor was prescribing more.
Working with Cherry Smart, a social worker, Merline tackled the problems one by one. Word spread. Thelma Gibson, retired nurse, community matriarch and founder of the Theodore R. Gibson Memorial Fund, gave Merline her blessing, lent her name, and offered her grandmother’s house for an office. Merline and Cherry, together with interns from four local universities, worked out of this tiny Grand Avenue house. Friends donated a computer and $1,000 for office supplies. It was 2001. Merline and Cherry began a formal program of outreach, education and testing for HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. The Thelma Gibson Health Initiative was born.
Clients coming for services would often bring along their children, most of whom were girls. They needed to be cared for while the adults were receiving help. So Merline cleaned out a store room and assigned a couple of interns to work with them.
“What do you want us to do for you?” Merline asked the children. After months of caring, of listening, of understanding, the girls very slowly began to open up:
“I go home and mommy’s strung out on drugs. I don’t have any food, Miss,” said one.
“My grandmother is looking after me because my mamma’s in jail. I don’t have any clothes, Miss. I can’t do my school work because I go to school and I’m hungry,” said a second.
“My hair is not done.”
“My hair is not washed.”
“I need underclothes.”
As it became apparent that abuse and neglect were rampant, Merline built a program of counseling. In partnership with social workers and mental health interns from University of Miami, Florida International University, Barry University, and NOVA Southeastern University, TGHI began to provide counseling for the children and gentle intervention with their families. By 2010, the program had grown to include case management, individual and group counseling, and family counseling. prevocational and vocational skills training, Life Skills, and more.
Today, 45 girls, ages 8-18, participate in three groups divided by age. They meet twice a week. With intriguing speakers – a hip attorney talking about the rights of youth and how to talk to authority, a nurse talking about developmental and sexual issues, a nutritionist addressing healthy eating – the kids are empowered to protect themselves. With programs in African drumming and other facets of their African American heritage and culture, their self-esteem is lifted which, in turn, helps them develop constructive relationships with their peers. On field trips to places they aspire to go – local colleges and universities, for example – and to places they aspire to avoid – like the criminal courthouse and county jail – the youngsters focus on their dreams and aspirations. In addition to the group meetings and counseling, they receive, as needed, mentoring, tutoring, GED referrals, resume writing, and help with college and financial aid applications.
Not so the kids. Word of mouth brings many to TGHI. Others come as the result of outreach activities at parent and community meetings, in the local library, and at the park. In addition, TGHI reaches out to the neighborhood schools seeking partnership. At a student’s first sign of trouble of any kind, TGHI wants to be contacted so that they can work with the child and the parents to solve the problem and help the child succeed in school.
The kids keep coming because the staff creates an environment of mutual respect. They know the staff cares about them. They trust the staff and they feel safe because they know the staff will help them solve their problems without judging them. They appreciate the consistency and having a place to discuss their frustrations.
And on some level, they probably know that TGHI is their ticket to a successful future. To date, the great majority of youngsters involved with TGHI have graduated from high school and gone on to college. This in a county where the graduation rate for Black, non–Hispanic students is just 57% -- the lowest of all demographic groups.[1] Pregnancy prevention is a central goal of the program as well, and since its inception only one girl has become pregnant.
And on some level, they probably know that TGHI is their ticket to a successful future. To date, the great majority of youngsters involved with TGHI have graduated from high school and gone on to college. This in a county where the graduation rate for Black, non–Hispanic students is just 57% -- the lowest of all demographic groups.[1] Pregnancy prevention is a central goal of the program as well, and since its inception only one girl has become pregnant.
The Youth Violence Prevention Program began in 2002 with 12 little girls and $5,000 in seed money from the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County. A boys’ group was added in 2010. Between the girls’ groups, the boys’ groups and youngsters not in the groups but receiving counseling, tutoring and other services, 135 children are presently involved at TGHI, funded by The Children’s Trust. In addition to the Youth program and the HIV/AIDS/Hepatitus intervention, TGHI also provides social services and case management to at-risk seniors.
In 2005, TGHI moved out of the tiny house in which it began and into larger store-front quarters across the street. Much of the programming takes place at nearby Elizabeth Virrick Park. Staff has grown to seven plus interns, who come from Carlos Albizu University as well as the original four schools, and program partnerships of other kinds. Operating budget for the entire TGHI, raised principally through grants, is $425,000, for Youth Violence Prevention, $350,000.
Thelma Gibson Health Initiative
3634 Grand Avenue
Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Coconut Grove, FL 33133
305 446 1543
[1] Source: Miami Dade County Public Schools Dropout and Graduation Rates, May 2004, May 2005, February 2006, March 2007, February 2008. Office of Assessment, Research and Data Analysis.
