Jean Rodgers, CEO of Stay Alive Past 25, a non profit organization, held a Youth, Young Adult and Community Forum with a star studded panel.
“This panel normally collect huge honorariums for their time, but they all waived it, putting forth efforts, giving their talents and lending ears to listen to the issues of teen pregnancies, STDs, teen suicides, teen related driving tragedies, gang activities, teen drop outs, teen alcohol and drug problems, low self-esteems, gun related death rates of teens between the ages 12-19 and more.
In Attendance, Grammy Nom/Multi-Award Winners Pastor John P. Kee and Former Director of A&R LaFace Records Grammy Winner Tony Mercedes, Former BET and LA Talk Show host Angela Segal, NFL Star Mike Rucker of the Carolina Panthers, Raul Martinez of Focul Point Productions, Yvonne Moore of Murder Victims Families' for Reconciliation in N.C., Isaac Applewhite of Parks and Recreations, Carolinas Medical Center Nurse Tara Brooks, R&B former Men at Large's Jason Champion and Major Vickie Foster of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
Famed Gospel Artist, John P. Kee hosted the event at his church, New Life Fellowship Center, located in the Double Oaks Community. Kee, who has opened an inner city school, tutoring ministry and a computer lab for the community, knows all too well the challenges that teens face.
“I deal with it on a daily basis, young men getting locked up for various reasons like non-child support, drug related issues, gang violence and the list goes on. My thing is, we know the ‘what’s’; we just need to work on the ‘how’s’.
“Our city officials came into Double Oaks, ripping off the windows and doors of buildings that they are tearing down to build upper scale condos and affordable housing.
But they seem to have forgotten those who work hard and support the economy of our city.”
“Among the displaced were senior citizens and Hispanic residents.” WAIM, a ministry under the umbrella of Pastor Kee’s church, went out to assist the senior citizens and others who were left homeless or with the challenge of finding a new home. “I’ll keep on giving and rebuilding this area for the kids and they’ll know that if no one else, Pastor Kee and Sis Felice believes in them.” Pastor John P. Kee’s websites (www.johnpkee.com) (www.partaker.org)
Tony Mercedes explains: “I came all the way from California because there are those of us in the ‘plastic city’ that are still genuine and really care. I have a problem with the typical annual charitable contributions, give your money, hugging the children, poising for pictures and giving out autographs.
Yes, it’s nice and makes everyone feel important but at the end of the day, no questions have been answered and no solutions given and this creates a repetitive cycle”. Mercedes, now the owner of his own record company and First Family Films, was moved by a young male in the audience who had just been released from jail after being incarcerated for eleven years. Tony Mercedes instructed his publicist to sell the product he’d bought with him and give all of the money to that young man.
The audience went crazy with excitement. “I saw the African Proverb of ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ in action today,” says an attending news reporter. Tony Mercedes’ website is (www.everysoldiercounts.com)
Angela Segal- former BET Single’s expert, 90’s talk show host and Judge of a syndicated show “Single’s Court”, also flew in from California to be a part of the panel. “It’s personal for me,” shares Angela. “I often say, I’m the woman that met Jesus at the well.
“We’re so quick to make a general judgment of those teens who mess up instead of taking a look at each individual situation. I know I was a teenage pregnancy. So often we want to point fingers at everyone else but not take the responsibility for our own actions.” Angela, now owns her own business, Ask Angela.com, a plastic surgery consultant firm and is a LA Talk Radio personality.
When asked by an audience participant what she does to mentor people around her, she answered “I fly across the country and talk to single women, compelling them to make better choices. Ladies, they don’t call me the ‘Keeping it Real Girl’ for nothing.”
“I won’t let you sit on my lap, that’s not my style. And I know my counsel can be harsh at times, but sometimes we need a good dose of reality in order to get better. We can’t continue to allow our young ladies to exploit themselves, they are worth much more than that. I don’t know them personally but I still care too much about them to not try to offer some good old fashion sound advice. Just like the award certificate says, one individual and one community at a time. Angela’s website is (www.angelasegal.com)
Jason Champion, former member of the R&B group Men at Large, graced the evening with his award winning vocals. Champion is a phenomenal artist, who also has a passion for the youth. He started the entertainment segment of the forum, sharing how touched he was by the event taking place in the room.
Champion draw huge crowds and could have been performing at a packed concert hall but stopped by to share uplifting songs from his recently released CD “Reflections”.
“I remember Jason when he use to sing R&B,” says an attending parent. “I use to listen to Men at Large and dance to them back in the day when music wasn’t filled with so much profanity and explicit content. I canceled all of my prior engagements to bring my sons to see someone from one of my favorite groups.”
“I can’t believe that Jason is here with us,” says a 12 year old Taylor. “I’m so encouraged by his songs “Find A Reason”, “Always” and I think that his song, “The Life”, will help a lot of teens who think about not wanting to live anymore.”
“My favorite song is “Reflections” because it tells me when I look in the mirror, I can see myself just like God sees me and in his eyes I’m more than I can dream. I was glad I got his CD, Thank you Jason for spending your time and singing to us” (www.emigospel.com)
Mike Rucker, retired NFL Carolina Panther continues to involve himself with the betterment of the communities and saw this as another opportunity. Rucker, shared that it takes everyone working together to correct the past mistakes we’ve made with our children. Mike Rucker and fellow teammates Mike Minter, Mushin Muhammad and Stephen Davis founded and designed Ruckus House, a faith-based Child Development and Learning Center. They plan to franchise out a Ruckus House in every NFL city in hopes of making a difference in the lives of children before they reach the challenging teen years.
“We have a lot loose ends and it’s time for us all to tighten them up.” Mike Rucker, is one of the leaders in Mecklenburg and surrounding areas and is all for change. “I believe if we partner with each other, I’m talking about those of us who are on this panel; we can create a powerful force together.
“It’s good when we can do our individual efforts to combat teen drug use, gang violence, drunk driving, teen pregnancies, high school drop outs and other issues, but when we put those efforts together, that’s when we could potentially see a collective result.” Rucker supports a myriad of non-profit organizations, giving of his finances and time. Mike Rucker’s websites (www.ruckushouse.com) (www.vgrusa.com)
Major Vicki Foster, of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, took time to sit on the panel. She answered a lot of our questions candidly and an excellent source for our community. Her credentials alone qualifies her as an expert in her field.
Vicki has been a member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department since July of 1991 during which time she has held numerous positions and assignments within the Department. She has been a community police officer, a patrol Sergeant, community policing Sergeant, and Investigative Fraud Sergeant. She has worked as the Watch Commander and was a District Patrol Captain for almost four years before she became the Investigative Captain over Family Services. In September 2007 she was promoted to the rank of Major.
She is currently the Major over the Community Services Bureau where she is in command of the following units: Communications, Records, Crime Reporting Unit, Police Reserves, Animal Care and Control, Passenger Vehicle for Hire, Citizens on Patrol, Cadets, Explorers, Police Athletic League, Right Moves for Youth, Department Volunteers and Court Liaison.
In December 2004, she became a graduate of the FBINAA, Session 219. Major Foster has received numerous awards and recognition over the span of her career. She currently chairs the promotional committee for the Women’s Network where she focuses on providing assistance and direction to women who wish to advance in their career. In 2008, she created a non-profit organization called CMPD HOPE to help officers in financial crises.
Yvonne N. Moore was an active part of the panel as well.She has been employed with United Family Services Victim Assistance since 1991, where she has worked for the past 10 years in the capacity of Victim Compensation Specialist and Case Advocate. In addition to her on the job training, Yvonne has received numerous hours of training in Crime Victim Services, and is certified as a NC Victim Service Practitioner by the NC Victim Assistance Network. Yvonne is a homicide survivor and makes a personal commitment by co-facilitating a Homicide Survivors Support Group, sponsored by Victim Assistance.
Organization Affiliations:
Member of MVFR in (Murder Victims Families' for Reconciliation)
Crime Victims Coalition Serving Mecklenburg & Surrounding Counties
Tara Brooks, a Carolinas Medical Center Nurse was our medical expert for the panel. She was born in Warsaw, NY and raised in the same area. Tara graduated from SUNY, Alfred with a degree in Nursing and currently works as a recovery room nurse at CMC main. She has worked in high risk labor and delivery, pediatrics and home health nursing over the past 12 years.
Her passion is working on the mission field in Haiti. She's currently facilitating 6 adoptions (2 of which are my own!) and she absolutely loves helping these children and their perspective parents through this amazing journey of a forever family! Tara says she has been blessed to be able to use her nursing background a lot when she's in Haiti and enjoys using these gifts that God has given her.
Raul Martinez says he was grateful to have been included on the panel. Raul is very instrumental in bridging the gap between our Hispanic brothers and sisters. Raul Martinez is the owner of Focul Point Productions, an organization that produces events through collaborative action among professional artists in film, photography, music, writing, sound, visual art and theatre.
We had a lot of questions asked and a lot of them answered. But just like we said before, it’s going to take more than an annual forum to address the ongoing issues teens are faced with. The certificate of participation Ms. Jean Rodgers awarded her panelists with simply said “You have unselfishly proven to the masses that there are still those who dare to make a difference by taking the time to listen, respond and offer resolution. You have helped to set the standards and raise the bar for leadership across the Nation. Because of you, together we can say we have worked to make the world one issue better. Thank you for joining Stay Alive Past 25 and giving back to the community.”
