What are you doing to lead others and to help the community, and what have been the results of your actions?

Several years ago I began serving young people in the Brightmoor Community one of the poorest neighborhoods in Detroit and often referred to as the Beirut of the city. Our goal was to create a model for urban youth development that is effective for all African American males. The basic premise of our model is to live in the community you serve, build, develop and invest in indigenous leaders through faith engagement and service learning. Our investment in young men has lead to perhaps the largest faith-based male leadership program in the Detroit area. Today there are thousands of young people who have been impacted by our work and the work has been acknowledge by two U.S. President both Clinton and Bush for our effectiveness in serving the most vulnerable young men in our society. There are multiple examples of program models that were birth through our work in Brightmoor. I will only highlight a few: RISE MENTORING PROGRAM a faith-based mentoring program designed in 1998 to serve exclusively young men engaged in the juvenile justices system or actively involved in gangs. RISE provided one on one mentoring from young men who themselves were Brightmoor residents and had been personally mentored by me. Super KIDS an after-school program developed primarily by young men to serve underachieving elementary school students in their community Brightmoor. The Harambee Movement that became a local and national young men's model for middle and high school age boys. Today, my full attention is given to investing in the next generation of African American leaders. For me it has been an honor to be a catalyst for change and to know that my ideas and work is being replicated throughout the United States. The young men I began working with have developed into university prepared professionals who understand community investment and are themselves committed to investing their lives to empower young African American brothers. Our most recent endeavor (2010) was to formed a collaboration to address health disparities affecting the African American community and particularly the Brightmoor neighborhood where I still live through Teach 4 Impact. Our goal is to have by 2013 hundreds trained youth health advocates and educators impacting their schools, peers and communities. I am committed to helping those engaged in urban youth development to have access to the best training, knowledge and technical assistance

Choose the project category or categories:
Brief summary of the community issue or opportunity the project will address:

Over 60% of the incarcerated males in the Michigan are high school dropouts. Dropout rates for Detroit Public Schools are highly disputed but none would disagree that they are too high. Some national groups have the dropout rate exceeding nearly 50% that number is highest among the Black males. Secretary Arnie Duncan says Detroit is "arguably the worst" district in the nation, "devastatingly bad for far too long". In addition to the dismal dropout rate discussed, black males lead the state of Michigan with the highest reported cases of STD's and HIV. 68% of the reported new cases affect young people between the ages of 15-19. The presence of active Black male role models is missing the lives of these young men. Finally the number of Black men entering or engaging the juvenile justice system is staggering. Rescue 51 will address high school graduation rates, juvenile justice engagement by Black males and college and post secondary educational attainment.

State how the project will work – the activities and timeline:

We understand that a one-size fits all approach cannot be taken to solve such complex social problems but that a holistic approach rooted in authentic relationships that extend beyond a program (s) are imperative. In order to negate the negative findings above, we propose Rescue 51, a collaborative effort that will equip, empower, and transform young men in Detroit, ages 12-18. The concept is to identify 51 "at promise" young men to benefit from holistic, collaborative, youth development. We have rendered the age-old African proverb that "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child" into a cliché. However, for 51 middle and high school aged young men from Detroit, Rescue 51 will become that village. Rescue 51 is a unique collaborative effort that represents four BME nominated individuals (Jason Wilson, President, The Yuinon, Shannon Gaston, Area Director of Young Life, Dennis Talbert, President and Founder of Empower Outreach and Raymond McCants, Renaissance High School Senior Student). Cumulatively this partnership has over 50 years of experience serving youth with quality development programming.Beginning potentially in Spring/Summer 2012, Rescue 51 will equip, empower, and transform 51 African-American male youth in Detroit, ages 12-18 through holistic, youth development services over a four to six year period (depending on the grade of the participant). For 51 middle and high school aged young men, Rescue 51 will become the "village" we often talk about but rarely manifest.These services along with an innovative "brotherhood wrap-around system" will ensure the high school graduation of all 51 participants with special emphasis on post secondary education and training preparation.Participants will receive an incredible menu of coordinated program services and activities including: The Yuinon Inc. will provide prevention awareness and training through its' S.W.A.G. (Students with Awareness and Goals)Program and anger management and violence prevention through its' Cave of Adullam Character Strengthening Martial Arts program via 12 week staggered cycles throughout the year. Young Life will provide a week of summer camp, fall retreats, spiritual enrichment, life planning and weekly small group sessions. Empower Outreach will offer year-round mentoring, academic enhancement, financial literacy training, job readiness, and leadership development. 21D (Raymond Mcants), a youth brotherhood fraternity will offer peer accountability, retreats and service opportunities.

State the results you wish to achieve:

Rescue 51 will demonstrate strategically collaboration to significant enhance the lives of Black adolescents males in Detroit. 100% of the participants will gain prevention knowledge related to drugs, STD’s, violence and sexual engagement. We expect all of our participants will graduate from high school or receive a GED and successfully engage college or another post secondary educational opportunity. All participants will participate in practical leadership development opportunities for engaging their peers in health advocacy, social justice awareness, peer leadership investment and brotherhood fraternity. Each participant will develop a personal missions statement/vision statement and career pathway. Finally we expect the participants will actively be engaged in peer mentoring, developing public information campaigns that will impact youth related health issues and encouraging academic excellence and educational advancement. There we anticipate a measurable gain in educational attainment by Black boys within the sphere of influence of the participants of Rescue 51,

Choose the project category or categories:

up to $50,000

Who is leading the project? State the name of the person or the project team:

Shannon Gaston, Raymond McCants, Dennis Talbert and Jason Wilson will lead the project.

How will the project engage others in this issue or opportunity affecting the community?

The Rescue 51 team is committed to community collaboration. The following organizations will partner with Rescue 51: Henry Ford Health Systems, Project Healthy Living, University of Michigan, PNC Bank, faith and community based organizations and the Wayne County Department of Children and Family Services. In addition to the 51 participants who will receive direct programming, Rescue 51 will reach an additional 1500 Black males through community engagement, service learning and teaching and learning opportunities. The Rescue 51 team will work diligently towards building larger collaborative throughout community and faith-based organizations, area universities and educational institutions including BME participants to work towards improving the lives of Black male youth. We will work towards increasing awareness around the issues of substance abuse and STD/HIV prevention, responsible fatherhood, and curbing incarceration and recidivating among youth and young adults. Rescue 51 will host a series of community forums through Empower Outreach’s Harambee Movement Conference. Rescue 51 participants will be equipped to take advantage of new media including social networking to bring culturally relevant messages of educational values, excellence, healthy living and prevention. The Rescue 51 Team will invest in participants who will grow physically, academically and spiritually with favor in stature within their personal environments and sphere of influence.