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NEWSAE^e Cliaclotte $0iSt
Thursday, May 31,2007
Diversion keeps families together
Continued from page 1A
Of the hundreds of
women with children incar
cerated each year, at least
half have one or more chil
dren destined for foster
care. Most of these kids face
separation anxiety disorder,
learning challenges, and
become delinquent in
school.
"Summit House is a pro
gram of hope," said Sutton.
"It is a program of second
chances. It is a program that
addresses the abuses that
women have faced in their
lives and puts children first
to be able to keep a family
together and not tear kids
away from their moms and
stick them in foster care. We
collectively work to heal the
family as a whole.”
For the women of Summit
House, the program is not
only a second chance, but
usually a last chance. "We
are not a secured prison.
The program is voluntary
and the women are free to
go if they choose to, but
they have to face the conse
quences of that decision.
That consequence usually
means permanently loosing
rights to their children.”
Summit House focuses on
the transforming power of a
mother’s love for her chil
dren. Devonda Black, 24,
says it was the love of her
unborn child that made a
difference in her life. "When
I got pregnant with my sec
ond child, 1 knew I had to
change my life," she said.
As a teen, Black had trou
ble coping with the death of
her biological father. She
began acting out and hang
ing with the wrong crowd.
After a probation violation,
she was facing jail time. In
lieu of incarceration, Black
came to Summit House. She
now lives in the home with
her school-aged son and
newborn daughter.
Black said the experience
Historic life-saving
station resurrected
Continued from page 1A
Freedom Coalition, and Dellerva Collins, a Manteo town
commissioner who died in November 2005, were behind
those efforts.
The Town of Manteo paid for the cookhouse's exterior
facelift. With donations, community volunteers like Berry,
Austin and at least a dozen others have done the rest.
"We’re trying,’’ Berry said, pausing from his work for a
moment. "It’s come a long way. It really has.”
Last week, flooring had arrived but hadn’t gone in; Austin
and Alton Hardy of Manteo worked on the trim on the
other side of the 483-square-foot building. They were
determined to get the work done by the end of the week so
the museum would be ready for the pictures, paintings
and artifacts on loan from the National Park Service.
There’s an old telephone, its workings inside a wooden
box with two bells: a rusted compass with an attached
kerosene lamp used on the beaches; a telescope that still
shines; a faded breeches buoy; a worn canvas stretcher;
flares and a little brass flask that held gunpowder; a mega
phone: and signal lanterns.
The 60 men who made up the Pea Island crew from 1880
to 1947 saved at least 200 lives, Scott said, plucking men,
women and children from stormy seas and sound. They
were strong and dedicated and respected, living a remote
and perhaps lonesome life.
You can’t really put their contributions into numbers,
Scott added, not if you think about all those who were born
and touched because of the lives they saved.
"These men did the job and they did it extra well,” she
said, "and they did it without recognition.”
MLK statue returns to
Rocky Mount park
Continued from page 1A
The $58,000 statue, paid for mostly by private donations
and created by Erik Blome, was placed in the park in 2005,
but drew complaints that it didn’t resemble King.
City officials removed the statue, which has remained in
storage since then. Another sculptor, Steven Whyte, was
commissioned to make a second statue. Funding fell
through, however.
Two weeks ago, the city council was asked to put the Blome
statue back in the park. The board agreed, and a small group
watched Wednesday as workers hoisted it on its pedestal.
Malton Anthony, a regular park walker, initially said he
liked the "new” statue. But his reaction changed when he
learned of the statue's origins.
“The same one?” Anthony said. "1 think that’s a bad idea -
it’s a symbol of a black man, not Martin Luther King.
“If you’re going to put something up, put something up that
looks like him.”
Donell and Marilyn Lewis, however, were pleased that the
statue was back.
"It’s great - it suits everything out here, especially to have
it up in a park named after him,” Donell Lewis said. "It looks
straight to me; it looks nice.”
Council members Andre Knight and Reuben Blackwell, who
voted against putting the statue back up, said the city needs
to move on to other issues.
"The majority has spoken,” Blackwell said. “I'm moving on
to economic development and trying to bring life to our city.”
SILENT PROTEST AT N.C. CENTRAL
has made all the difference
in her life. “As a kid, I was
too sheltered," said Black,
who said she was raised in
the church. "There was a lot
1 didn’t know about rela
tionships and life in gener
al.”
Summit House gives
women the structure they
need to make better deci
sions. The program pro
vides mental health and
substance abuse treatment,
parenting skills, educational
coaching, after-care, and
employment skills.
“They teach us to make
the right decisions for our
families. They help us get an
education. They teach us
about relationships and the
consequences of [sex],” said
Black. “A lot of things that I
didn’t know. Now I have
goals.”
Black said that although
her goals are going to be
harder to reach because of
her criminal record, she now
realizes they are not impos
sible.
"I keep God first and my
dreams first.”
The women of Summit
House are a diverse group.
“Substance abuse knows no
color or ethnicity," said
Sutton. Women range in age
from 18-28 and come from
all types of backgrounds.
Some come from affluent
homes, and others come
from poverty.
Summit House began 20
years ago in Greensboro. In
1995, homes opened up in
Charlotte and Raleigh. The
program has tracked all its
graduates and has a zero
percent recidivism rate.
The Charlotte chapter cur
rently has four bedrooms
with two families in each
room. Summit House is in
the process of renovating a
new home. With the help of
Price Waterhouse Coopers
they are restoring a 10-bed
room home on UNC’s cam
pus. This will allow each
family to have their own
room and PWC is furnishing
a playroom for the children.
"We are growing,” said
Sutton. "We are providing
opportunities for more
women to heal themselves
and break the shackles of
abuse and addiction.”
Organizers are asking vol
unteers to help in the June 8
renovation of the new home
at 10929 Bonnie Cone Lane
off Mallard Creek Church
Road. To volunteer or make
a donation, go to
www.summithousechar-
Iotte.org or call the office at
(704)334-4423.
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N.C. Central University students staged a quiet campus
protest last week over the ongoing interview process for
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Jones is not among the three finalists.