To some people, summertime is boring —  and to others it is relaxing.  But for almost everyone it’s their time to do what they want.

There is a little bit of everything for everyone at the Y. Membership to the Durham YMCA includes access to other local branches in town like the Downtown Durham YMCA, Hope Valley Farms YMCA, Lakewood YMCA and YMCA at American Tobacco.
Photo Courtesy of the Durham YMCA.

Durham’s YMCA offers many summer activities for the young, but the most popular might be its camps.

Brian Huffman has been the executive branch director of Durham’s YMCA for seven years and will soon transition to a new role in the corporate offices as chief business officer.

“Many kids attend the camps,” said Huffman. “They serve over 500 kids a day.”

Two camps that Durham’s YMCA offer are Camp Skyline and Y Trainees at Camp Skyline. Both camps help kids stay out of trouble and also help them learn more about themselves.

Camp Skyline is a day camp for kids from K-5^th grade. In this camp, they work on self-development and do fun activities. The Y makes sure that during the activities kids stay safe.

“We spend over 30 hours before the summer even begins training our staff on how to program safe games and activities,” said Huffman.

The camp has weekly guest visits when people come in and talk to the kids. Camp Skyline tries to focus on building campers’ spirits, minds and bodies. They also focus on five character traits: Respect, responsibility, caring, honesty and faith.

Every week includes a different session and each session costs a fee in which parents can choose to pay weekly or monthly. The Y offers financial assistance for families that cannot afford the Y. Their financial assistance is funded through their annual fundraising campaign called We Build People.

The Y’s We Build People campaign has over 1,200 donors in the community who desire to give to the Y in order to serve the citizens.

“ This past fall, we raised $434,000,” said Huffman. “We will spend all of that serving our community.”

Another camp, Y Trainees at Camp Skyline, is a day camp for teens in the 9^th and 10^th grades. Here teens learn about leadership and how to work with others in groups.

With the teens working in groups, they learn how to work with others in the real world, such as working with people they might not get along with.

Huffman said historically that about half of all Y Trainees become Y employees.

The Y camps can teach time-management, self-confidence, leadership, the ability to think and much more.  Huffman tells the story of the transformation of a former camp attendee.

Huffman explained that one of the Y’s employees was once homeless and struggled to engage others.

“After several years in Y camps, he not only came out of his shell, but he became a leader,” he said.

“He is now one of our senior staff members at Camp High Hopes.”

If you would like to learn more about the Durham Y and their other opportunities, visit their website at http://www.ymcatriangle.org/downtown-durham-ymca or call 919.667.9622.

By Raeshawn Wall

YO: Durham interm

The Durham VOICE

thedurhamvoice@gmail.com

Janis Williams displaying one of the many learning accessories that Healthy Families Durham uses to help the children advance their developmental skills.
Photo by Marcus Christon

Healthy Families Durham, located at 411 W. Chapel Hill St., Suite 908, is a program of the Center for Child & Family Health. It was established to help fight the odds against struggling families in the community.

HFD was started in 1996 with a grant from Durham’s Partnership for Children with the goal of preventing area child abuse and to help identify children with special needs and promoting child health.  In 1999, Healthy Families Durham became a program of the Center for Child and Family Health.

Janis Williams is the program director at Healthy Families Durham and helped start the program. Before HFD, she worked with families from all walks of life who experienced difficulties.

The mother of two children is passionate about the child prevention field and served on the original task force for HFD.

She said the organization is a family support program that helps parents be “the best parents they can be.”

“By visiting the homes in Durham, we can provide information about child development, health, and safety,” she said.

The home visitation program focuses on children from birth to three years of age. HFD works to give children a good starting foundation and to prepare them for school.

Looking at the numbers, the need is in great demand.

According to the Durham’s Partnership for Children website, there are about 25,000 children up to age 5 living in the county. Nearly 46 percent live in low-income families.

As of 2010, the most recent numbers at DPFC, although the median family income in Durham County was $62,284, nearly 20 percent of children five years or younger lived below the poverty level.

Numbers like these are what Williams and the HFD staff deals with.

Into the Homes in Hard Times

Every day, Williams plays her managerial role by supervising the staff of nine family support workers. She works closely with them to make plans for their in-home visits and to help solve any problems that may arise during those visits.

Each family support worker performs about three home visits per day across Durham. According to DPFC’s 2009 -10 annual report, 155 families participated in intensive home visiting services. Currently, the program serves approximately 130 families annually.

BJ Fusaro has been a family support worker with HFD for 15 months and enjoys her work with families for “long periods of time.”

She enjoys the developmental work with community children and families.

“Seeing the parents succeed in meeting their goals and seeing them get excited about the things their children can do is one of the most exciting aspects of this job,” she said.

While HFD is busy on its mission in the county, the slow economy has not made things any easier on the program. The project is supported by grants from Durham’s Partnership for Children. It can make the work of making local families healthier that much harder.

“The most challenging part of the job is keeping the funding stable so that the home visitors can provide these excellent services for families,” said Williams.

Although HFD receives a great amount of funding from Durham’s Partnership for Children, United Way of the Greater Triangle, Durham County Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting, and the AJ Fletcher Foundation, Williams is slightly concerned with the longevity of the program due to lack of funding.

“This is especially challenging in these days of budget cuts,” she said.

Even with occasional financial dismays, Williams remains cheerful and proud of the program. Her environment helps her maintain her happiness.

“I enjoy meeting the families and the young children and hearing about the difference that Healthy Families Durham has made in their lives”, said Williams.

“No How To Manual”

Like Williams, Fusaro believes their daily work with families is making a difference.

“The most important thing is that we’re supporting the parent-child bond in their own home where parents are the most comfortable,” said Fusaro.

Williams said each year improvements are being made for local families to find how HFD can better serve the local community.

The organization recently completed a random controlled study that found parents participating in the program were significantly less stressed and children participating improved also.

“Children who participate have significantly fewer behavior problems and sleep problems,” said Williams. “Also families that participate are significantly more connected to community resources.”

In addition, approximately 95 percent of children HFD work with are up-to-date on their immunizations and connected to a medical home – an important part of raising healthy kids.

HFD also makes it a point to continuously remind parents about staying abreast with their children’s immunization records. Although they cannot personally transport families, they can provide bus passes for families that lack transportation.

Fusaro feels that this in-home visitation aspect of the program is what makes Healthy Families Durham most beneficial. She said it gives family support workers the opportunity to provide services that work.

“Being in the home gives us information about what their strengths are,” she said. “Then we can best know how to help with strategies for meeting the needs and succeeding in goals.”

Healthy Families Durham said its goal is about reducing stress on parents and keeping them connected to helpful resources while working to improve child behavior.

“Children don’t come with a “how to” manual, and parenting is a difficult job,” said Williams.  “We all need a little extra support to be the best parents we can be.”

Anyone who is interested in volunteering or enrolling in the program should contact Janis Williams at 919.419.3474 ext. 310 or email at jan.williams@duke.edu.

 By Marcus Christon

NCCU Staff Writer

His weapons and armor are encouragement and relationships.

“If you make an investment in this relationship, it can take you anywhere,” said Atrayus Goode. The father of a 14-month old girl, Everette Rose, said building relationships with sponsors, students, mentors and community takes time, but is worth the effort.
Photo By Carlton Koonce

His objective – to prepare the leaders of tomorrow.

Goode is founder and director of Movement of Youth, an educational and mentoring program granting opportunities to a diverse group of community high school students choosing to chase higher education.

It’s a comprehensive program designed to strengthen academic performances while also fostering relationship and leadership skills and providing a support network for these future leaders to lean on.

Talented local college students from N.C. Central, Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill become mentors and friends to high school students in MOY and not only for a semester or two, but potentially for a lifetime. The trade-off is having these same students graduate, perhaps from these same universities, soon.

It’s happening already.

After starting in 2006 with 11 students and mentors, the non-profit movement has grown to about 100 students and mentors this year.

In fact, this is the first year that students from MOY’s first class are graduating from college.

When Goode started MOY as a junior at UNC studying interpersonal communications, he knew that’s what he wanted.

The Clarkson, GA native knows a few things about building relationships – besides earning a degree in it; he had a mentor touch his life in the same way.

While coming of age in Charlotte, Goode found a mentor through the 100 Black Men of Greater Charlotte mentoring program, Wilbert Harper, a senior executive with BB&T. After being sent to UNC with a scholarship from the program, Goode felt the need to give back.

Harper was and still is a big part of that need. When Goode faced challenges as an adolescent, Harper pushed him, encouraged him, to keep trying.

These days, Goode and Harper stay in close touch but not as mentor/mentee, but as men.

Now Harper is Goode’s best friend and will be the best man in his upcoming wedding.

“He mentored by example,” said Goode. “When I needed encouragement as a kid, he showed me the richness of life.”

“It’s been great having a friend that doesn’t judge me.”

Taking Control

Mentoring was helpful for Goode. When the hard-times came, he was faced with a choice – to lie down or keep going. Harper showed him that there is always a chance for redemption, even when others told Goode there wasn’t.

“He taught me that ultimately you have power,” said Goode. “Either you can give it to others or take control.”

Taking control of their lives is what teens at Movement of Youth learn. With the help of community corporate sponsors and the mentors, they’re “exposed” to unique experiences.

Exposure is the key– a chance to see and experience the world.

There are campus visits to the local universities but also as far as Harvard, Princeton and MIT to expose students to campus life. There’s a Saturday Academy twice a month that exposes them to entrepreneurship and technology sessions. There are dining and business etiquette workshops and twice a year students participate in community outreach initiatives like the MLK Day of Service or A Walk for Breast Cancer.

Taking the movement’s walk with a mentor, with a story similar to the student, the kids learn the value of a sincere relationship. It could carry them a long way.

“The students need love, not criticism of how awful they are,” said Goode. “They need someone to tell them they can get here, they can achieve.”

“It’s what I feel like I’ve been called to do.”

Understanding Stories, Understanding Success

Interested students apply on MOY’s website or are referred by school officials like guidance counselors to the program. Afterward, a face-to-face interview may be scheduled where students are questioned about their lives and challenges they face.

To Goode, understanding the factors that impact a kid, such as hunger at home, helps mentors students are matched with to understand their story.

“We connect kids with mentors that have similar stories,” he said. “By understanding the story, you’re not as quick to jump to conclusions.”

Parent Shelli Porter and her daughter Krystal, a teen food critic for the VOICE, were invited to join MOY Krystal’s freshman year.

Krystal’s mentor is a student at UNC that keeps close tabs on her and offers support and advice on dealing with teenage challenges.

To mother and daughter, MOY plays an important part in the lives of students and the community.

“The college mentors and the activities that this group does will mold and shape their futures in a positive way,” said Porter. “Some students view college life as an extension of high school life and if those experiences were negative, it may make them choose not to pursue a degree.”

Porter said kids in MOY are learning that education can be challenging but fun. They are shown the world beyond the negativity and “envision” themselves achieving great things.

“They are the leaders, business owners, presidents of large corporations and educators of the future,” said Porter. “MOY is helping them recognize that fact early-on.”

Success in Goode’s mission is setting others on a positive path. Success looks different to everybody – for some it’s becoming a doctor, lawyer or CEO. For others, success may simply be being a good student or parent.

“Success can be different things but you have to be the best you,” Goode said. “Be your personal best and you’ve won.”

To get involved or to learn more about Movement of Youth, visit their website at http://www.movementofyouth.org/.

On a nice Sunday afternoon, when daddy could be inside watching football, he decides to take a walk with his son.

Everything is quiet.

Graphic by Keanne Jones, the Round Table, Northern High School

Everything is calm – until it is not.

“The road is a dangerous place,” freshman John Malik said. “You have to practice safe driving where ever you go, or someone is going to get hurt.”

Five-year old Jayden Chad Stokes and his father, Richard Stokes, were walking along the 600 block of East Montgomery Street in Henderson in late January, when they were hit head-on by a suspected impaired driver.

Vincent Gregory of Henderson, 47, was driving a 1998 GMC truck when he lost control, hit a telephone pole, collided with the father and son, and then came to rest against a tree.

“[People] are just not thinking clearly when they are drunk,” senior Vince Camasura said. “They think that there is a one in a million chance of them actually hitting someone.”

The father suffered injuries, but little Jayden was not so lucky. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

“It makes me mad to hear stories like Jayden’s,” Malik said. “[He] and his father didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

Students at NHS are heartbroken by this tragic story, and many have several responses to the issue of drunk driving.

“It is absolutely stupid and careless of people to drink and drive because, not only are they endangering themselves, but they are also endangering other people,” Camasura said.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every day 27 people die as a result of drunk driving. In 2011, 10,839 people were killed in drunk driving crashes – one every 50 minutes.

“Teens and adults don’t think the effects of drinking and driving are real until they actually experience them,” sophomore Jesus Ayala said.  “It is [unfair] to other people that are actually being safe drivers because they are the ones that suffer the tragic consequences, not the drunk drivers themselves.”

Sadly, many teens today still choose to get behind the wheels of cars when they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. As a result, innocent people, families, and even little children, like Jayden, suffer.

“[Because] of the extremely negative effects of alcohol on a developing teenage brain, alcohol is never beneficial,” Spanish teacher Collin Brown said.

“Alcohol doesn’t do anything good for you [especially when you] mix it with driving. Teenagers have the worst record with driving anyways, so tossing alcohol in is just asking for trouble.”

Sometimes, it is even up to friends to step in and take control of a potentially fatal situation.

“If I had a friend [who considered driving drunk], I would take away their keys, call a taxi, or get someone else to drive them home,” Ayala said. “I would refuse to let them get in that car.”

Brown has experienced first hand the dangers of drinking and driving.

“The day that I got my license, a friend and I were going to go to the Durham Bulls game,” Brown said. “We were pulling down my parents’ street, turning left and I heard some tires screeching. I woke up and that’s all I remember.”

“As it turned out, a drunk driver was flying down the street behind me thinking I was turning right,” he said. “He t-boned my side of the car and threw me on top of my friend. We careened down a little hill and hit a tree. Luckily, neither of us was seriously hurt.”

Brown was lucky that he and his friend escaped the crash with their lives, but what becomes of the teenagers who choose to drive while distracted or drunk?

Gregory is now being charged with felony death by motor vehicle, driving while impaired, and driving with a revoked license.

“Think before you decide to drink and drive,” freshman Randall Crowder said. “If not, you may end up in jail for the rest of your life.”

Keep the Drive is a program sponsored by Allstate dedicated to promoting safe driving. It is a website led by teens all across the country who care about the safety of others and who have dedicated their time and effort to save the lives of their friends and family.

To find out how you can help make a difference visit www.KeeptheDrive.com.

Hillside High School Student Body President Cameron Hall participates in community activism, as well as five different extracurricular activities.
(Photo by Adriana Penley)

Hall said he became involved with activism after Hillside History Teacher Bryan Proffitt introduced him to social justice movements.

Hall revealed that he feels that his greatest accomplishment was the “Stop The Violence” walk to honor Hillside Senior Kaaylon Pamplin, who was killed during the fall semester.

He stated that he “publicly spoke on the issue of violence.”

“It feels good that I’ve shown myself capable,” Hall added.

Hall has also worked with Habitat for Humanity, and was a part of the Student Government Association State Conference where he did a presentation on community service.

Hall said that he is elated to be a “black male who isn’t focused on what others would expect him to be intent on, such as sneakers and girls.”

Hall then added that he dares to be different and that he prioritizes well. He makes time to participate in five different extra curricular activities: SGA, Kappa League, Ignite Freshmen Mentoring Program, Mock Trial Club and Debate Club.

Hall stated that there is a plus to “networking and getting closer to people of authority.”

Hall’s ultimate purpose is that “he wants to be remembered,” which was inspired by the rapper Curren$y who also “wants to live forever.”

Durham high school students perform at the DPAC in 2012.
(Photo Courtesy of The Round Table)

The curtain rises for the opening of the show and reveals a stage filled with elementary, middle, and high school students from all around Durham.

This happens yearly at the DPAC for An Evening of Entertainment (EOE), a performance headlining singing and dancing that raises money for scholarships.

High school seniors performing in the show could benefit from this.

“It’s not about what school you come from,” sophomore Keilah Davis said. “It’s about coming together to help the seniors get scholarships.”

EOE started 33 years ago, and before the DPAC was built, it used to be held at a different high school each year. Students said they enjoy the opportunity to work together with other schools.

“My favorite part is meeting the professional choreographers and vocalists and meeting other high school students who aspire to be performers like I do,” sophomore Daekwon Richardson said.

At rehearsals, students get the chance to experience working with professional choreographers and conductors. The rehearsals start off at individual schools, and as the show date approaches, the elementary, middle, and high school students practice together.

“Rehearsals are tiring,” said freshman Taylor Walker. “We learn so much in so little time and it has to be perfect.”

Along with musical expertise, the students acquire other skills that will last a lifetime.

“They learn how to deal with each other as a team, and to interact with people and respect one another along with singing and dancing together,” chorus teacher Jeffrey Maynard said.

“When you get off stage, you can make these parallels to life all the time,” he said. “You can learn how to work with people and respect them and be more empathetic.”

EOE was initially created to grant scholarships, but it is also a way to allow students to interact with other students from all around Durham.

“[EOE] brings the best out of every school and proves that, when DPS works together, we can do something amazing,” freshman Lee Rodio said.

Even though the students practice long hours to perfect the show, the end outcome is worth it.

“I want the audience to see how much the students enjoy themselves and how they work together,” Maynard said. “I want the audience to have a sense of optimism about youth, not the usual ‘Teenagers this, teenagers that,’ but ‘Wow, look at what they can do up on stage.’”

Senior Gia Smiths Wanderer, winner of a Scholastic Arts Gold Key Award, makes use of techniques such as shadowing and foreshortening.
(Photo courtesy of The Round Table)

All four students had the honor of being able to enter a piece for competition in the Scholastic Art Awards. Patterson and Mincey both won Silver Key awards, while Smith was honored with a Gold Key.

With artwork from all over the region, including pieces from students at Durham School of the Arts, the competition was tough. To top it off, the participants could not be sure of what the judges would like.

“Your judge is really [the basis of] who wins what,” art teacher Tabitha Eller said. “Different judges are looking for different things.”

Smith’s mixed media painting, a self-portrait entitled Wanderer will continue onto a national competition. Eller believes that Smith’s piece is truly an accomplishment.

“[His] piece, number one, has got that foreshortening in a portrait which is difficult for a high school level, and number two, has that shadowing with the paint…[He] is painting on a college level,” Eller said.

Mincey’s entry, The Lamentation of Zach, is also a foreshortened portrait, though created with pen and marker. Patterson used pen and marker as well, while Alcocer’s piece was more three-dimensional, including elements such as foamboard.

Each artist was inspired by something different.

“I was just staring at buildings and thinking how cool it would be if they could fly and where we would go if Earth fell apart,” Patterson said.

Her drawing does indeed feature buildings floating above the surface of the earth.

Alcocer was influenced by something a little closer to the ground.

“I really like the detail of the Aztec and their culture,” Alcocer said. “Especially the Aztec calendar.”

Alcocer is not the only one inspired by culture.

“I like a lot of street art and a lot of graffiti,” Mincey said. “I stick to modern a lot more than historical art. Street art and graffiti give me a lot more inspiration.”

Artists gain inspiration from their peers well as cultural influences.

“I was inspired by the people on [deviantArt] that draw [pieces], like, thirty times as amazing as my stuff,” Smith said.

DeviantArt is an online community where artists are able to share their work with each other.

The artists have achieved many accomplishments this year. Teachers have noticed more improvement in student work this year as compared with previous years.

“I believe we are getting higher quality work out of the students because we are asking that of them, and we are teaching them in a different way,” Eller said.

While their work may be of excellent quality, some students would like to keep the pressure off.

“I’m just going to continue art as a hobby, and I’m thinking about minoring in college,” Patterson said.

Others intend to make even bigger accomplishments through art in the future.

“Art is all I want to do. I’m going to college so I can make a career out it,” Smith said.

Top on Smith’s list of colleges is Moore College, an art school in Philadelphia.

These promising young artists clearly have a passion for what they do.

“It’s what I’m obsessed about,” Smith said.

“It is great that she has chosen Hillside High School, where she will re-launch legislation for school transformation and turnaround. She couldn’t have chosen a better place,” Hillside Principal William Logan said.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan talks with Jametra Hinton’s Math I students, freshmen Fernando Bautista and Makayla Booker.
(Photo by Adriana Penley)

Sen. Hagan revealed that she is aware that the dropout rate has decreased. She said, “great progress is taking place here.”

Sen. Hagan stated that she is initiating the “School’s Turnaround and Rewards Act (STAR), which will ensure that resources will go to our lowest performing schools.”

Hillside students, including Jada Lillie, Cameron Hall and Braxton Becoats escorted Sen. Hagan to the classrooms that she observed.

Classrooms visited included Sarah Bausell’s AP English III class, Bryan Proffitt’s African American Studies class and Jametra Hinton’s Math I class.

Sen. Hagan interacted with the students. She was saying words of encouragement, such as “keep it up” and “every one of you is our future and will influence our country.”

“It was pretty cool for her to be at Hillside,” Freshman Fernando Bautista said.

Sen. Hagan concluded her visit with a press conference in the school library in which she explained why she is pushing for the STAR Act.

Drama Director Wendell Tabb said this year was one of the most successful in Hillside Theatre history. “Why Mosquitoes Buzz” ran at the school until late March. Photo by Kristen Mayo

“Why Mosquitoes Buzz,” Hillside High School’s latest theater production, could be headed to New York City.

“We will be talking with the Curtis Brown Agency in New York about other viable options for ‘Why Mosquitoes Buzz,’” said Wendell Tabb, Hillside’s drama director.

“Based on our audience reaction, I think it could do very well off-Broadway and perhaps eventually on Broadway.”

The idea for the play came from one of Tabb’s former students, Jasmyne Jones.

“I knew I wanted to do a children’s show based on an already published book, so I started the negotiations during the summer of 2012,” Tabb explained.

“I contacted the New York agency of Curtis Brown LTD and illustrator Diane Dillon after Ms. Jones thought that Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears would be a great idea, since it was one of the books she read to her first grade students.”

“It was quite a long process to receive the rights to do the play,” he said.

If the play does hit Broadway, Tabb said there is a chance that some students will appear in the production again.

“It is our desire that this story will continue as part of the National Common Core Standards initiative and our young people from Hillside will remain a part of the cast,” he said. “I am sure there may be some re-casting with a big name artist, but the ensemble will remain Hillside students.”

Tabb has brought productions to New York before, most recently in the 2003-04 season. In his 26 years at Hillside, he has brought plays to six of the seven continents.

He said that the play was a “huge success” and that it was the first time Hillside staged a play based on an award-winning book.

“It is hard to obtain the rights to turn published books into plays or movies. We are extremely excited and blessed to have been given this opportunity,” he explained, adding that it took students six weeks to learn about and develop their characters.

Jones, the playwright for “Why Mosquitoes Buzz,” is a 2005 graduate of Hillside. She graduated from North Carolina Central University in 2008, with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a licensure in elementary education and middle grades language arts.

She now teaches first grade at Sandy Ridge Elementary School in Durham.

Tabb said he wanted to end the season with a show for children and family.

“All of our shows have equal importance,” he explained. “The shows teach valuable lessons one way or another.”

This season was “one of the best in the history of Hillside Theater,” Tabb stated.

“All of our shows did extremely well,” he said. “The selection of a great season is so important in the overall process and I think we hit the mark with this one.”

Where was this conversation headed?

Speaker Drew Doll (left) and Mark Daughtridge, a member of Trinity United Methodist Church, discuss CoSA in the Durham. A typical circle consists of four to seven community volunteers and a core member, the offender. Though working with sex offenders, CoSA’s prime goal is reducing sexual victimization in communities.
(Staff photo by Carlton Koonce)

But that is the message shared during the most recent community luncheon roundtable hosted by the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham.

Held every fourth Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. at Shepherds House United Methodist Church at 107 N. Driver St, the lunches are a chance for citizens and community agencies to discuss social issues important to Durham.

The lunches are free and open to the public.

This particular afternoon’s speaker was Drew Doll, coordinator of Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA). It’s an organization consisting of groups of volunteers and professionals providing support and accountability to sex offenders after their release from prison.

The program is a partnership between the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham and the Durham County Criminal Justice Resource Center.

In reducing recidivism, or the return to prison, with sex offenders, their purpose is simple – “no more victims.”

Ignoring the problem, says CoSA, puts the community at risk.

The Problem

Founded in Canada in 1994, the concept spread to the United Kingdom in 2002 and found its way to Durham County last year.

Depending on the study being viewed, one in three girls and one in five boys experience some form of unwanted sexual conduct in life.

The North Carolina Department of Justice’s website states there are 263 registered sex offenders in the county. Regardless of sentences, over 90 percent of sex offenders come home and, according to Doll, the police “can’t do it all.”

Speaking to the audience of about 50 people, Doll said treating offenders like “lepers at the gates” feeds into the isolation and secrecy that eventually leads them to repeat offenses.

“GPS, probation and parole don’t tell all the answers,” he said. “Monitoring doesn’t tell you what their thinking or the people they’re associating with, but a relationship with this person will.”

In CoSA, offenders and supporters write down an agreement that everyone is held accountable to. It may be as simple as the offender agreeing not to hurt anyone or refraining from crime or drugs. In turn, supporters agree to walk with and help offenders along the way in achieving their goal.

“No More Victims”

Offenders receive daily contact from CoSA members. The idea is that having an inner circle of friends along with an outer circle of professional help, such as substance abuse counselors or help finding housing will help offenders succeed.

CoSA follows other circular community models for re-entry like the local Genesis Home for those returning from homelessness. Doll cited research showing high-risk offenders in these support circles are 70 percent less likely to re-offend and offenders that do not have friends or family need this support.

The organization asks volunteers to be willing to give a year to build trust and transparency with offenders but stresses they must be willing to be in relationships with people that did “bad things.” Volunteers receive about 25 hours of training including victim’s rights and forming relationships.

CoSA doesn’t pretend to be able to “fix everything” but said the concept works because of the relationship.

“The power of relationships to change lives is incalculable, especially when people expect you to succeed,” Doll said.

The luncheon was attended by representatives of several churches and agencies including Durham Crisis Response Center, an agency offering services to victims of domestic or sexual violence, and Durham Congregations in Action.

Rev. Spencer Bradford is executive director of DCIA and a member of CoSA’s Steering Committee.

Circles, he said, have been beneficial to Canada and the UK and Durham should also be able to accomplish the same.

“It takes commitment and training to work with pedophiles in the community,” said Bradford. “We want to do our part to prevent further victimization with these circles of safety.”

Reaching Out

While attendees munched over plates of steaming food, I spoke with community member Jharmick Meeks. He has attended several roundtables including discussions on community gun laws and charging youth with adult crimes.

“You have to reach out to improve this community,” he said. “We can sit here and talk all day, but the problem is still out there.”

With April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month, it is a sentiment echoed by Doll.

He recently had a talk with a group about CoSA. A man came up to him and said he initially did not want to attend because he had had a family member that was raped and murdered by an offender.

Doll said, “He told me after the talk he wondered how it would have been if that offender had had a circle.”

CoSA is hosting a community town hall lecture titled Sexual Abuse Prevention and You: A Community Response April 25^th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Criminal Justice Resource Center at 326 E. Main St. If interested in learning more, email Drew Doll at drew.doll@durhamcosa.org or call 919.228.0997.

And if you haven’t had a seat at the community luncheon roundtable, it’s worth a try — you might learn something while eating with neighbors.