This month, our Middle Ground participants participated in the Museum at Home: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture creative writing program presented by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Each contestant chose a piece of art from the following options and wrote a poem or essay about it: Walking by Charles Alston, Arty by Nelson Stevens, or Rev. Martin Luther King by Charles Alston. See the submissions below: 

Christian C., 7th Grade 

Rev. Martin Luther King by Charles  

I think piece that I have chosen is show that the author is saying to hold your head up don’t give up. I say this because Martin Luther King never gave up. My favorite piece is walking. I say this piece is my favorite because they are walking as a family, staying by each other side. This artwork relates to my life because I have a quote “Stay up till you come up.” I still haven’t came up but I’m pushing to success one day at a time. “I have a dream.” 

Royality H., 4th Grade 

This artwork is beautiful. It shows how hard people work. This artwork shows justice for Martin Luther King Jr. The person who murdered Martin Luther King Jr. Was wrong because he needed to life a long life. I hope Martin Luther King Jr. Children pass away they are all buried in the same cemetery too.  

I like when he says in his “I had a dream” speech that all children, Black and white will get a chance to play together. It is not wrong for Black and white children to play together and Martin Luther King Jr. Wanted this for everyone. When I think of Martine Luther King Jr. I think of George Floyd because both men were murdered by white men and that wasn’t right. Martin Luther King Jr. Was alive, he would have made justice for George Floyd.  

I hope that Martin Luther King Jr. And George Floyd are dancing in heaven. I am glad they are both away from the pain in this world. Keep their spirit together.  

Samuel G., 4th Grade

This past month has been another busy one for our youngest participants in Baby and Little Steps! We continued our fun activities through virtual programs, with edible playdoh, make your own sensory bins, and lessons about the changing seasons.  

We also had a wonderful opportunity to partner with WAKE Up and Read, a local nonprofit committed to improve childhood literacy. They provided us with bags of activity books, picture books and other resources tailored to our youngest participants. Read more about WAKE Up and Read here: https://wakeupandread.org/

Kaliah connected with StepUp in March 2021, as she was facing challenges to finding employment due to a history of justice involvement. She had reached a speed bump on her journey called life and needed support. Since then, she has worked diligently to change the narrative her past wrote for her and has used the “sandwich approach” from the Employment Training Workshop to share her story with potential employers.  

Through employment training, she sharpened her resume and interview skills and accessed community resources that have benefitted her family. Just a month after completing employment training, Kaliah landed a job with MVP staffing.  She loves her work schedule, which allows her to be flexible with the schedules of her three children (9, 8, and 4). Kaliah and her children hope to join Step2 Life Skills next. Since Kaliah reached out for support from StepUp, she feels like she can win her race. 

The young adults in our Real World program kicked off Music Month by expressing themselves through song, poetry, and art! We welcomed back E. Jones from Jamla Records/RocNation to judge the music competition and share his insights on being “dedicated to your craft.” Real World was so inspired by E. Jones and he encouraged each of them to submit any music or poetry for critique. We’re excited for E. Jones to return for our Virtual Career Panel in a few weeks!

“I like this!”  - Royality Hill, Children's Program participant

Royality has enjoyed all of the April activities from decorating Easter eggs to talking about empathy to planting a garden. 

This month in the Children's Program, we celebrated Easter with an egg hunt and a basket full of activities thanks to our amazing volunteers. We also focused on nutrition and learned how to grow our own food. StepUp children got to plant herbs and tomatoes with the help of a lesson created by one of our Life Skills alumni!

We have had a busy and exciting March in the Children’s Program! Our youngest kids learned about spring flowers and planting in the Pre-K class, and just like the Middle Ground group, they had an educational and fun class activity focused on St. Patrick’s Day.

We hosted our first ever Positive Parenting Program virtual event for families and community on March 24th alongside Project Enlightenment and trained Triple P practitioners. StepUp staff, volunteers and families were all able to benefit from the evidence-based training that supports parents in raising resilient children. The sense of unity and excitement from everyone in attendance was encouraging as we all looked to how we can grow as parents and as families.

“It was the coolest virtual atmosphere! I liked seeing other parents all logged on to get parenting support. It was great to know that I am not the only parent struggling at times and that it’s ok to reach out to get advice and support. Everything I heard was practical and made lots of sense. I feel like I have more parenting tools to work with now! ” - StepUp participant

Along with the virtual event, pizza, snacks, door prizes and activities were also offered to our participants safely in their homes. It was a wonderful night for over 30 families. What a great start to the spring season!

We wanted to kick off the year talking about our hopes for 2021 so we asked a few of our staff to share their visions for the upcoming months at StepUp Ministry.

Ashton Herbert, Children's Program Coordinator: 2020 was a year that most people want to forget for multiple reasons not needing explanation. However, during one of the toughest years in recent history, we learned a lot about the resilience of families and most surprisingly for me; the resilience of kids. I have been blown away during the past 9-10 months of the pandemic, when a lot of families could have easily dropped out of the program, they stayed on with us, and adjusted right along with the staff of StepUp. My hope for 2021 is that we can take that resilience and apply it to other aspects of our lives. I learned a lot about strength and flexibility watching these kids adjust and make the best of it; all while their world shut down and changed drastically. Wishing everyone health and a lot strength for 2021.

Maxine Terry, Alumni Program Coordinator:  By end of 2021, I want to have five Alumni enrolled in certification programs to ensure they are on track to earn wages worthy of their work experience and demonstrating their ability to support their family.  I'm committed to working closely with Alumni as they maintain a commitment to 2021 being their best year yet.

Toney Jefferys, Employment Recruiter: My hope for 2021 is that we continue to build on partnerships with employers that see the value that StepUp participants and Alumni have to offer. We are excited for more opportunities for participants in apprenticeships, career choices and greater individual support for job seekers.

This year, I am incredibly grateful to our surrounding community for the overwhelming support of our StepUp children and young adults. I want to thank each individual, school, group, church, organization, and agency that donated to our wonderful children. It was such a pleasure to meet many of our new donors for the first time and such a joy to get to see our repeat donors.  When I contacted the parents to let them know that StepUp would be providing Christmas gifts and items for their children, many of them were overwhelmed with emotion and so excited for their children to be supported by the community. Many parents told me that they were not going to be able to do anything for their children for Christmas this year. Covid 19 may have affected our ability to be with each other in person this year, but it did NOT affect the generosity, the compassion,  and the giving hearts of our outstanding community members! On behalf of the families we serve, we want to thank our Christmas donors from the bottom of our hearts! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Colisha C. Stanford, Director of Children and Young Adult Programs