Darius is a fourteen year old ninth
grader with a fourth grade reading level and an IQ of 140. He is making his journey from childhood to
manhood in a city that has been heralded by National Geographic Traveler Magazine
(www.nationalgeographic.com) as the “Next Great American City”. At first blush, Philadelphia appears to be a
metropolis which is morphing into a vibrant urban center which three
internationally acclaimed academic institutions – the University of
Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and Temple University – call home. Glass and concrete office towers and
high-rise residential structures punctuate the expansive skyline of downtown
Philadelphia. They cast an imposing
shadow over the statue of William Penn which rests atop City Hall. Gleaming skyscrapers near Amtrak’s 30th
Street Station dot Philadelphia’s western skyline and blur the line of demarcation separating Philadelphia’s
downtown business district and University City.
The aura of glitz, glamor, and hopefulness generated by a vibrant urban
center attracts new businesses, investors, and high-income earning young
professionals and “empty-nesters”. Yet,
the “heart and soul” of an urban center is its neighborhoods.
Despite his innate brilliance, Darius
is floundering in school. His inability
to read at his grade level has been allowed to go unchecked. It is a scenario that has opened the door for
some of his teachers to characterize him as being “unteachable” and question
his intelligence. His academic
performance has been lackluster and his interest in school – a school that is
located in Philadelphia’s “heart and soul” -- dwindles with each passing day. Without positive intervention, as time
progresses, Darius will make a decision to either attend high school and
graduate or to drop out. As Darius looks
at the immediate environment outside of his home – a home that is located in
the “heart and soul” of Philadelphia – the nation’s fifth largest metropolitan
area, he cannot point to legitimate real-life options. His neighborhood is not basking in an aura
of glitz, glamor, and hopefulness.
Darius’ neighborhood is immersed in economic turpitude, sporadic
violence, and despair. For Darius and thousands
upon thousands of young men like Darius, resisting the gravitational pull of
the streets and engaging in illegitimate economic ventures is an uphill
battle. Strong male role models can
help Darius and thousands of at-risk young men like him resist the
gravitational pull of the streets, the lure of illegitimate economic ventures,
and steer them away from the “fast track to prison”. The SCI Graterford, PA Lifers Public Safety
Initiative can provide Darius and the thousands upon thousands of at-risk
youths who cannot see a future for themselves in a vibrant urban center with a
life line.
Created by an innovative group of
Thought Leaders at SCI Graterford located in Graterford, Pennsylvania, the SCI
Graterford PA Lifers Public Safety is designed to utilize cognitive
transformation as a vehicle to move at-risk youths to, among other things,
reflect on their behavior, appreciate the community in which they reside, and
to realize their worthiness and the potential they possess and must explore. The SCI Graterford PA Lifers Public Safety
Initiative is one of the critical solutions-based components of OPERATION FRESH
START ™. OPERATION FRESH START ™ is
crafted by The Honorable James M. DeLeon, a highly respected veteran jurist in
the Criminal Court Division of Philadelphia’s Municipal Court. It is a powerful results-oriented
multi-tiered blueprint for eradicating recidivism, creating pathways to
reintegration, economic stability, and renewed prosperity. Moving Darius and the thousands upon
thousands of at-risk young men who languish in our neighborhoods – the urban
center’s “heart and soul” -- to a space where they can unabashedly claim their
worthiness, recognize and explore their potential, and resist the gravitational
pull of the streets and illegitimate economic activity requires a change in
their mindset. For these young men, a
change in mindset is a critical piece of the puzzle to transcending the
spiritual, psychological, and emotional toxicity of their environment. To achieve this, the SCI Graterford PA Lifers
Public Safety Initiative mandates the establishment of Public Safety Initiative
Transformational Centers (“PSI Transformational Centers”) in churches and
mosques that will be staffed with strong positive male role models. Darius, and the thousands upon thousands of
at-risk young men in our neighborhoods are asking the proverbial question: “Do you
see me? Do you hear me? Do I matter?” Strong positive male role models will,
through the PSI Transformational Centers, help foster a spiritual conversation
which responds with a resounding “Yes!” to the proverbial question these young souls
ask. At the same time, these strong
positive male role ,models can help these young men effectively address their
academic challenges by, among other things, stressing the importance of
education, steering them to programs that provide tutoring which helps them excel academically,
and helping them identify and obtain or create legitimate economic
opportunities and real-life options.
Allowing
an urban center to have its “heart and soul” – its neighborhoods –mired down
with economic turpitude, violence, crime, and spiritual, psychological, and
emotional toxicity is a train wreck waiting to happen. An urban center is only as strong and
vibrant as its core – its heart and soul – its neighborhoods. Effectively addressing and resolving the key
challenges that make it difficult – if not impossible – for at-risk young men
in our midst to resist the gravitational pull of the streets and crime, to
understand the importance of education and achieving academic excellence, and
to adopt a mindset that helps them mature into productive and successful adults
who empower and strengthen the communities in which they live and work creates
strong and vibrant neighborhoods.
Economically self-sufficient and spiritually, psychologically, and
emotionally vibrant neighborhoods create and strengthen thriving urban centers
which, in turn, attracts new businesses, investors, and high-income earning
young professionals and “empty nesters”; expands its base which simultaneous
provides overburdened taxpayers with economic relief; and frees up capital which will be utilized
to improve deteriorating infrastructures and operating systems.
Implementation of the SCI Graterford PA Lifers
Public Safety Initiative will ensure that both the urban center and its “heart
and soul” – its neighborhoods -- are equally strong and vibrant.
And that is why the SCI Graterford PA
Lifers Public Safety Initiative is necessary.
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