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Program SpotlightWould You Give a Year to Change the World?Published Friday, November 13, 2009The first thing you notice is the red. Fleece vests, pullovers, windbreakers, jackets – all flaming red. Though the sun is hot and they're gritting their way through push-ups, squat thrusts and knee bends, Friday morning calisthenics, most of these 80 City Year Miami volunteers are wearing their red. These young men and women, City Year Miami corps members, want to be seen, and red is the symbol of what they bring to the youngsters they mentor: Hope.In September 2008, with a big boost from Children’s Trust funding, the first generation of City Year Miami was born. Eighty young men and women between the ages of 17 and 24 pledged that Opening Day to devote a year of their lives to help thousands of youths in our community succeed in school and in life. Over the past year, corps members logged 140,000 community service hours. Nearly 90 percent of those youths fulfilled their pledge – and many are back for a second year, this time as project managers. The retention rate is extraordinary considering youths subsist on a stipend of $250 a week before taxes, work in close quarters and in diverse groups Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and must arrange for their own transportation and housing. Why do they do it? Dan McGinnis, 23, returned for a second year in Miami. McGinnis was studying psychology at the University of Tulane in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina blew in. “The devastation was gruesome, horrible,” he remembers. After the hurricane, McGinnis began working as a mentor in the schools. “It was totally refreshing compared to what you learn in college. I had two wonderful kids, and it was great to experience their lives.” That experience prompted him to volunteer for City Year. This year, McGinnis is a program manager with City Year’s Young Heroes program, which operates programs on Saturdays in five area middle schools – Brownsville, Allapattah, Coral Way, Richmond Heights, Jose De Diego. The corps members talk with the middle schoolers about big issues in the world such as hunger and homelessness, and teach them skills to go out and do something about them. City Year was formed in Boston in 1988 by Michael Brown and Alan Khazei, then roommates at Harvard Law School. The two men sought an answer to their question: Would young people be willing to commit to a year of community service?
“We talk about idealism as a process – imagine, recruit, transform, inspire and idealism,” explains Dan Yoder, “It’s about a young person seeing the world as it is, feeling the frustration of what’s out there and then being empowered to go out and do something to change it.” “Ultimately the idea is to equip young people to become the most skills citizens they can, and the vehicle for that is service,” Yoder said. The 80 corps members are out in the field – in seven elementary schools and one middle school – around the county Monday through Thursday. Three Fridays a month everyone convenes for the day at City Year Miami’s headquarters, on the fifth floor of an office building on Flagler Street. Corps members man the phones, talking with potential new members and seeking new inroads for service at more schools. They train on the bank of computers to learn more about City Year’s Whole School, Whole Child core philosophy and research for presentations they must make to their peers on key topical issues. City Year is a values-based organization that steers clear of any party partisanship or religious affiliation. They teach values drawn the stories of cultures from around the world. These “Founding Stories” share the ageless wisdom of teamwork, compassion and service to a greater good. Martin Luther King’s notion of the “beloved community” is present, too. Corps members dress in uniform – khaki pants, shirts, boots and, of course, their bright red vests and jackets – all donated by sponsors Timberland and Aramark. They exercise together and train together. They do lots of routines to spur teamwork and camaraderie. The comparison with the military is unavoidable. But while young men and men in the armed forces train for combat in Iraq and the faraway mountains of Afghanistan, City Year volunteers wage their battle in the streets of America: helping students succeed in school and training the next generation of young leaders.
One Friday a month is reserved as a “service day.” On the Friday we visited, City Year started their day with calisthenics at Goulds Park in South Dade. “How are you feeling City Year?” a project manager shouts to the corps members spread across the asphalt court. “City Year always ready!” the 80 members answer in one loud voice. The group splits into teams to begin the service projects – mural painting, landscaping, mulching, organizing a basketball and kickball tournament – all planned for the day at Pine Villa Elementary, adjacent to Goulds Park. Dorothy Pinkston is in her first year as assistant principal at the school. She watches with a big smile as the teams go to work. “City Year give our kids hope,” Pinkston says, explaining how the youth serve as mentors in class, sit side by side as lunch buddies and then guide the after-school program. “The kids are a lot more under control – and the mentors are the key players. We’re so grateful City Year is here, otherwise we wouldn’t have the bodies to make the interventions.” Freud Honorat is part of the Miami City Year work group helping with the makeover at Pine Villa Elementary. Raised in Little Haiti, Honorat attended Horace Mann Middle School, then went attended South Miami High where he played football. He went to Miami-Dade College for two years – and then found out about City Year. “I always wanted to do something in my neighborhood, but I didn’t have a way to address what was going on,” said Honorat, who tutors during the week at Paul Dunbar Elementary, just minutes from where he grew up. “City Year gave me a chance to make a difference.” Written by Michael R. Malone |
