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Page 8A THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday, January 21, 1988
The Relatives
Helping Families In The Charlotte Community
By Lora Vanderhall
Post Staff Writer
"Children are the world's most
valuable resource and It's best
hope for the future," quoted John
F. Kennedy. The youth of today
are faced with problems and sit
uations that sometimes cause
them to runaway. These prob
lems may be at home, in school
or with friends but there is a
place, right here in Charlotte,
where children can go before
they take to the streets.
The Relatives is an emergency
shelter providing a safe, legal,
and responsible environment
(1-14 days) for youth at risk un
der age 18. TTie shelter is locat
ed at 1100 East Boulevard and it
is open to all youth under age
18.
In 1974 the Social Planning
Council of the United Communi
ty Services formed an indepen
dent study coihmittee to look
into the problem of runaways
and the community services
available to them. The need for
a facility for runaways was evi
dent as a result of this survey.
The Relatives was founded in
September, 1974. It is the only
licensed program in Mecklen
burg County where runaways ,
abused, neglected, and other
youth in crisis have direct ac
cess to services 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
The employees at Relatives
consist of quelled full-time and
relief staff. They have been
trained to handle a large range
of problems. Brian Capron,
Program Service Director, said
the problems usually come from
three categories of families. "(1)
Families with runaways due to
physical or emotional abuse. (2)
Those who are pushed out or
homeless. (3) Mutual consent
situations where the parent and
child agree that there is a "time
out" period needed." There are
two professional counselors
(one male, one female) on duty
at all times.
The relatives offer the child in
crisis a responsible alternative.
Young people may come on their
own, with their family or con
cerned others. Services are con-
fldential and include individual
and family counseling, referral
and follow-up. Most clients are
Mecklenburg County residents
but services are avalilble to
youngsters without regard to
county or state residency.
Their main objectives are: 'To
serve as a responsible alterna
tive to the streets, jail of other
justice system involvement,
both for at risk and other young
people in crisis situations. To
function as an advocate for the
family, viewing the crisis as sig
naling a family problem rather
than as a problem with any one
member of the family. To en
courage the strengthening of
family relationships and return
the child to a responsible living
situation."
A young person is allowed to
stay at The Relatives Initially for
a "time out" period of 72 hours.
Children are encouraged to
make contact with their parents
Immediately but they are not
forced to do this. However, they
are required to have contact
with their parents within 72
hours of arrival. Parents may
call any time to And out if their
child is in the program.
While in the program a youth
has access to hot meals, clean
clothing, shower facilities, coun
seling service, 24 hour crisis line
and a residential program. Tire
house has nine bed spaces.
The Relatives use Reality
Therapy which teaches youth
and family members how to take
responsibility for their own ac
tions. The therapy is based on
the belief that people have four
psychological needs that they
go through life striving for: love,
recognition, fun, and freedom.
They have basic house rules
such as no drugs, alcohol, sex or
violence, doing a chore each day,
attending a daily group meeting
and being in by curfew. Realiz
ing the need for greater supervi
sion of younger children, those
13 and under are guided by
slightly different rules.
Follow-up is provided for three
months for all youth and fami
lies who desire it. This includes
referrals to appropriate commu
nity agencies, counseling ser
vice for when a child returns
home, and alternative place
ment when needed.
The Relatives have added a
new dimension to their services
called Project Safe Place. The
Project is a network of trained
business and community volun
teers offering neighborhood
sites to teens seeking help.
Some of the Safe Place sites are
cOnvlence stores, fire stations
and grocer}' stores displaying
Photo Uy Calvin Ferguson
Venetria and Heather Davis' mother, Janice Davis, pins Martin
Luther King Jr. souvenir buttons to her children's coats in prep
aration for their participation in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Parade held in Charlotte.
The Relatives is a special place, with special people to help youth and their fanuiies through problems.
Stratford
the Safe Place symbol. Employ
ees in these locations will be
trained to help others in need.
The Relatives Intend to increase
the availbility of Safe Places
throughout the community so
that all troubled youth may have
somewhere to turn to.
Willie Stratford, Sr., co-
chairman of the capital funds
drive, says he became involved
with the program because at an
earlier age he was a runaway
and he can empathize with
these children. "Young people
are our most Important product
and anything we can do to pre
vent them from running away,
we should do. We are currently
trying to raise funds to Insure
that this service is always avail
able. We need your help."
The Relatives is a private, non
profit corporation. It's operat
ing funds come from individual
contributions, government
grants, churches, civic groups
and corporations. For the past
thirteen years they have operat
ed out of a rented facility. Re
cently, they purchased the
mortage on the current site.
The Relatives emergency shel
ter Is available to all youth un
der age 18, without regard to
race, religion, or socio
economic background.
Helping Young Men Reach Their Goals
Special To The Post
By Marian Wright Eidelman
Nobody knows better than an
athlete that a key to reaching a
goal is to avoid obstacles.
That is why professional ath
letes are the linchpin of an in
novative new program In Virgin
ia schools designed to help
teenage young men reach their
career goals by avoiding the
huge obstacles of teen parent-
ho^. The program, called Ath
letes Coaching Teens (ACT 1)
was created by the Virginia De
partment of Mental Health,
Mental Retardation and Sub
stance Abuse Services.
Sports stars like former pro
fessional basketball player
Bobby Dandrldge and All Ameri
can football player Tim John
son have come in person to the
schools to provide visible role
models for the young men. The
program also recruits young
athletes from the student body
to help their young classmates
to set and achieve their goals,
whether their ambitions lie in
sports or in medicine or law or
business.
The student leaders partici
pate in six Initial training ses
sions and then lead smaller
workshop groups in which
young men talk frankly about
their responsibilities and their
choices. Important Issues sur
face, like the long term conse
quences of fathering a baby too
young: what it can do to that
scholarship, that potential job,
or those coUege plans.
Program sponsors have found
that even students who had dif
ficulty speaking up can become
ACT I helps young men fulfill their ambitions.
more communicative in the
company of peers who are- com
fortable talking about their
lives. Programs like ACT I are
not a magic answer to the prob
lems of our male teens. But they
do make several Important
steps in the right direction by:
• Setting a Positive Tone In
Working With Teenage Males.
Too many of us have written off
our teenage males as
"Incorrigible." But people with
first-hand experience working
with teenage males disagree. We
need a new approach to helping
teenage young men. one that af
firms their strengths.
« Involving Many Parts of the
Community in Helping Teenage
Young Men. Teachers at Virgin
ia Commonwealth University
helped to develop the curricu
lum, train and supervise leaders,
and evaluate the program. The
Richmond Community Services
Board builds bridges to the
community and tracks down
needed resources. The Rich
mond City Schools help identify
student athletes and keep the
program running.
For more Information on ACT
I, contact Tamara Stovall,
DMHMRSAS Office of Preven
tion, Promotion and Library Ser
vices, P. O. box 1797, Fdchmond,
VA 23214, 804-786-1530.