Any kid, but especially a kid who's made a mistake.
"You can't just throw them away," he said. "If you work with them
give them tough love they can change."
Audio: The interview with Pineda
The Rev. Reginald Beamon is a man with answers to tough questions.
And he's willing to tackle the tough ones, he said. "The tough
questions have the easiest answers, but they're the hardest to get to."
For example, what to do about San Bernardino's escalating violence, Beamon said, is a question that is in our faces. It's real and it's now.
Audio: Listen to Beamon
Michel Nolan, Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 23, was a day of grieving - a day of tears and anger.
On that day, school psychologist LaTasha Cooper held sobbing students in her arms to comfort them as they mourned the death of their Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School classmate.
It "was the worst crisis I've ever had to deal with," said Cooper, who estimates she counseled about 200 students.
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By Michel Nolan, Staff Writer
Ken Joswiak is a man on a mission. He's been trying to catch up with his work for 25 years.
"The Center for Individual Development opened in October 1980, and I started one month later. I've been trying to catch up ever since," said Joswiak, manager of the center.
But for Joswiak, the effort is a labor of love.
"The center is my life," he said. "The reason I'm in the field is because I like to help people with disabilities."
Audio: Helping the disabled
Mary Valdemar went to San Bernardino Valley College looking for child care.
She didn't expect to find a new life.
The single mother of a 2-year-old daughter, Valdemar not only found quality child care, she found a new career.
She is now coordinating the college's Parent Education Center, where parenting skills are offered through free workshops conducted by qualified instructors.
"Our No. 1 goal for the center is that children will benefit by having a higher success rate in school and fewer problems in life," said Valdemar, whose daughter, Veronica, is now 13 and in the Gifted and Talented Education program at Colton Middle School. "The family will also benefit and, ultimately, the community."
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Marc Guillory worries about the violence outside on San Bernardino's mean streets.
But he's even more disturbed about what's happening inside the homes.
"Even if you fear a drive-by, there should be a safe haven at home," said Guillory, who describes himself as a passionate person who wants to see change.
Someone to take a kid fishing, maybe to the library.
Or just share some conversation.
Cost to adult mentor? Practically nothing. Value to kid? Priceless.
Rodriguez is mentoring-program coordinator for the San Bernardino Parks, Recreation & Community Services Department.
• Audio: Q&A with Gabriel Rodriguez]]>
Mynisha's Circle members encourage the community to attend its meeting at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 13, when the strategic plan in its draft form will be discussed.
The meeting will be held at Church of God of Phorphecy, 3030 Del Rosa Ave., at Lynnwood, in San Bernardino.
Click on "reports, resources" at right to read the entire draft plan.
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Improve overall quality of life
Members of Mynisha's Circle expect to see greater community involvement in civic organizations, participation in youth-based programs, a reduction in code-enforcement calls for service and an overall greater sense of safety.
Strategies include:
Read more at www.sbsun.com/troubledtown
Reduce juvenile abuse and offenses
In an attempt to protect the most innocent members of the community,
the third objective of the draft strategic plan aims to stabilize
families and strengthen family relationships that have been weakened by
violence, substance abuse or criminal activity.
Read more at www.sbsun.com/troubledtown
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Create a healthy business environment
Members of Mynisha's Circle want to encourage existing businesses and
attract new ones. The success of the effort will be measured by tracking
revenue from business licenses and business openings and closings. The
draft plan recommends additional collaboration between the city of San
Bernardino and the county.
The strategy includes:
Read more at www.sbsun.com/troubledtown
]]>• Read and read the draft plan in .pdf format
• More coverage of the work of Mynisha's Circle.
The plan has six major goals:
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Reduce Poverty
The four-pronged attack on poverty recommended by Mynisha's Circle relies on a combination of city and county programs to reduce the number of welfare-dependent homeless people and families, increase the number of livable-wage jobs and increase youth-employment opportunities. Members of the circle recommended these four strategies to help people achieve self-sufficiency.
Read more at www.sbsun.com/troubledtown
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Members of Mynisha's Circle - a community group formed in memory of an
11-year-old girl killed in what police say was a gang-related shooting, have developed a strategic plan to make San
Bernardino safer.
The plan has six main goals, and the group, which
includes city residents, city and county officials, and Mayor Pat Morris,
will host a public forum on May 13.
Read more at www.sbsun.com/troubledtown
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Abused, neglected, abandoned.
They are the at-risk children helped by Children's Fund, the nonprofit organization serving as a safety net for San Bernardino County's at-risk children.
Children's Fund makes miracles happen. Food, a warm bed, comfort. Whatever it takes.
As executive director of Children's Fund, Rebecca Stafford shares the heart-wrenching stories but works hard to change the endings.
"Sometimes children go from place to place with all their possessions in a grocery bag," said Stafford, a mother of two grown children.