Restoring Battery park
Campus organization joins relief effort with donation drive
The Commonwealth Times
By: Gayland Hethcoat
Date: 9/18/2006
Shortly after Tropical Storm Ernesto swept through Richmond, officials declared that the storm damage the city endured-water on roads, fallen trees and power outages-was mostly inconvenient.
But the situation was different in Battery Park, a residential area north of the Monroe Park Campus near Virginia Union University. After an underground sewer pipe ruptured there, causing water and sewage to flood the area, officials evacuated approximately 250 housing units. Sixty-one families were displaced.
To help these families, some of which remain without housing, the Association of Black Social Workers is taking donations for a drive at VCU, which will continue until the end of the month. The organization requests school supplies and clothing, which students may drop off at the Raleigh Building at 1001 W. Franklin St.
Stephanie Grady, the alumna chair of the ABSW, encourages VCU students to donate items for middle and high school students.
"The middle and high school students are being overlooked," said Grady, a social worker for Richmond Public Schools. She said she was motivated to begin the donations drive for these students when she attended a town hall-style meeting of area residents on Sept. 6.
"Nobody said anything about the middle or high school students," Grady said, "but they need the same things." Grady described the mood of Battery Park residents as frustrated, adding that many people "are wondering what's going to happen next."
"There's a lot of fecal matter in the streets, mud everywhere, snakes, rodents," she said. She mentioned one woman who returned to her flood-damaged house after Ernesto to find dead rats throughout the kitchen.
Several of the displaced families staying in motels had to relocate again last weekend to accommodate guests in town for the NASCAR race weekend, she added. Erika Holliday-Walker, the ABSW vice president and a student in the Masters of Social Work Program, said the main cause of contention is the damage to the sewer pipe, which officials knew needed maintenance in 2004 after Hurricane Gaston.
"When the flood happened, Battery Park residents didn't expect to be in the same situation they were in last year," she said. Grady called the ABSW donations drive a "grassroots approach," saying that ABSW members will give Battery Park residents donated items on a rolling basis as students drop them off. But students can do more than just donate, Grady said.
"Be cognizant of what's going on," she said. "Listen to the news. If you have the time, go to some of these open meetings that they have downtown at City Hall."
A lot of people like to talk about what's going on and talk about things that people should be doing, but it's about what are you actually doing. Anybody can talk about it, but very few people actually decide to do something."
Friday, November 9, 2007
Article on Order in the Classroom Forum
Richmond students' behavior is discussed
Friday, Oct 12, 2007 - 12:08 AM Updated: 08:58 AM
By MELODIE N. MARTIN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Social workers, educators, parents, volunteers and those who work in court, prison and mental-health systems gathered last night to address a shared concern -- student behavior in Richmond's schools.
About 25 people attended a community forum, sponsored by the Richmond chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers, to discuss solutions to challenging conditions in city schools. The event was held at Club 533 in downtown Richmond.
"When parents aren't taking care of their children, it's up to the community to do so," said Mabel Gilbert Wells, who co-chairs the Richmond social worker association's education committee with Sandra T. Mitchell.
Stephanie Garrison, court services unit director for the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, was one of five panelists. She said there are mechanisms to address truancy, criminal activity and other issues through the courts and criminal justice system, but they are a last resort.
"Parents are the key," she said, adding that community resources need to support strengthening parenting skills.
Fellow panelist Arlene Belfield, child and family mental health services director for the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, described tragic situations of children facing challenges both at home and at school.
"They will not be prepared to be productive citizens in the community, and they don't understand what it means to be parents or to be parented," she said. "When they step out into the larger world, they will have some deficits."
Belfield said her agency strives to help families function better through counseling, outreach and education. One program focuses on empowering parents to assume responsibility for their children and promotes a philosophy that case managers maximize usage of their skills to engage families before dismissing them as resistant to help.
"At times we label them as noncompliant or resistant, when we haven't used every tool," she said. "With some families, there are different personalities and they may not click."
Tichi Pinkney-Epps, president of the Richmond City Council of PTAs, said teachers are responsible for educating children and spoke of the need to resist blaming parents.
"We need to change our attitude toward parents. Some of our parents don't have a grasp of what a good quality of life is about," she said. "You can't continue to go to them in judgment. Offer some help. Be an example of what help looks like."
Contact Melodie N. Martin at (804) 649-6290 or mmartin@timesdispatch.com.
Friday, Oct 12, 2007 - 12:08 AM Updated: 08:58 AM
By MELODIE N. MARTIN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Social workers, educators, parents, volunteers and those who work in court, prison and mental-health systems gathered last night to address a shared concern -- student behavior in Richmond's schools.
About 25 people attended a community forum, sponsored by the Richmond chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers, to discuss solutions to challenging conditions in city schools. The event was held at Club 533 in downtown Richmond.
"When parents aren't taking care of their children, it's up to the community to do so," said Mabel Gilbert Wells, who co-chairs the Richmond social worker association's education committee with Sandra T. Mitchell.
Stephanie Garrison, court services unit director for the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, was one of five panelists. She said there are mechanisms to address truancy, criminal activity and other issues through the courts and criminal justice system, but they are a last resort.
"Parents are the key," she said, adding that community resources need to support strengthening parenting skills.
Fellow panelist Arlene Belfield, child and family mental health services director for the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, described tragic situations of children facing challenges both at home and at school.
"They will not be prepared to be productive citizens in the community, and they don't understand what it means to be parents or to be parented," she said. "When they step out into the larger world, they will have some deficits."
Belfield said her agency strives to help families function better through counseling, outreach and education. One program focuses on empowering parents to assume responsibility for their children and promotes a philosophy that case managers maximize usage of their skills to engage families before dismissing them as resistant to help.
"At times we label them as noncompliant or resistant, when we haven't used every tool," she said. "With some families, there are different personalities and they may not click."
Tichi Pinkney-Epps, president of the Richmond City Council of PTAs, said teachers are responsible for educating children and spoke of the need to resist blaming parents.
"We need to change our attitude toward parents. Some of our parents don't have a grasp of what a good quality of life is about," she said. "You can't continue to go to them in judgment. Offer some help. Be an example of what help looks like."
Contact Melodie N. Martin at (804) 649-6290 or mmartin@timesdispatch.com.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
November Events & Activities
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
Fri, Nov 2 at 6p
J'Ainel's House
SCENT-SATIONAL FUNDRAISER
Nov 5 - Nov 20
Click link for more information
http://abswvcu.blogspot.com/2007/11/scent-sational-fundraiser.html
RICHMOND CHAPTER MEETING
Nov 8 at 6:45p
Club 533
700 N 3rd St
Richmond, VA
HOSPITALITY HOUSE FOOD DRIVE
Nov 12 - 20
Donations can be dropped off in the student lounge
Raleigh Building
Room B-14
VCU CHAPTER MEETING
Nov 16 at 6p
Raleigh Building
1001 W. Franklin St
Room 112
Richmond, VA
SOCIAL WORK STUDY GROUP
Nov 18 from 6-9p
Cabell Library
Group Area
Second Floor
Fri, Nov 2 at 6p
J'Ainel's House
SCENT-SATIONAL FUNDRAISER
Nov 5 - Nov 20
Click link for more information
http://abswvcu.blogspot.com/2007/11/scent-sational-fundraiser.html
RICHMOND CHAPTER MEETING
Nov 8 at 6:45p
Club 533
700 N 3rd St
Richmond, VA
HOSPITALITY HOUSE FOOD DRIVE
Nov 12 - 20
Donations can be dropped off in the student lounge
Raleigh Building
Room B-14
VCU CHAPTER MEETING
Nov 16 at 6p
Raleigh Building
1001 W. Franklin St
Room 112
Richmond, VA
SOCIAL WORK STUDY GROUP
Nov 18 from 6-9p
Cabell Library
Group Area
Second Floor
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