CRC Partnership with the Juvenile Detention Center
Comments from Education Tikkun Olam Team Members
Here is what members of CRC's Education Tikkun Olam Team had to say about why this is an important project for CRC:
"This is a civil rights issue. There are children in our city who do not reap the benefits of our society because they are poor. Not poor in spirit or in creativity or in ingenuity - they are poor when it comes to resources that most members of our congregation access as easily as we breathe.
"When we declare that all are created equal, we must begin to put in place the systems that will support our American vision. Clearly schools are not supporting the vision when only 50 percent of urban youth graduate and many of those who do are not proficient in reading. The result of that problem and others leaves us with students who break the law.
"The system in place for the students at the Juvenile Detention Center is a model of how juvenile justice can teach students without resources to be students with power and personal worth. It is only this personal courage that can keep them out of gangs. In fact, the Detention Center and Griscom School are shining lights in the St. Louis Public School System. It is the community's job to make sure this light has the cheerleaders it nees. And we're part of that community. If not us, who?"
--Gloria Morgenstern
"We are connecting with these children and young teens at a critical point in their lives. This program can help change their future - and their future WILL impact us for good or for bad."
--Philip Deitch
"The prison industry is one of the fastest growing in our country. This is one of the places where it starts and we can make a difference. Right now, at this place, in our city, we can make a difference. Also...pay me now or pay me later...if we do not act, the cost will be great for the kids and our community. We have already seen that.
"CRC and our CRC community makes a difference in so many lives and in so many ways. We can do this and have an impact. It is an amazing thing to watch and be part of! I have seen it before. We are so blessed in so many ways.
"Whatever your commitment of time or resources you can help us make a difference."
--Eric Friedman
"The kids at the Juvenile Detention Center are at a moment of crisis in their lives. I was impressed with the staff we met at Griscom School and the Juveniled Detention Center, who meet these children at a time of crisis and devote themselves each day to creating opportunities for the children to grow in positive ways. I think that CRC has the compassion, the resources and the will to support their efforts.
"I hope we are able to connect enough with the folks who work at Griscom School and the Juvenile Detention Center, and the children who are detained there, to be able to offer these children the vision of a different path and resources that will help them get there. I think we are going to have to listen hard to figure out exactly how we can do that. If we do, I think we will be successful in finding ways to connect and that the connections will expand our worlds and theirs."
--Monica Allen
And from Rabbi Randy...
"Jewish tradition is clear about the mandate of each generation to teach and mentor the youth of the next. "The world depends," wrote the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, "on the breath of school children." Our biblical Proverbs instruct us to educate each child according to their own way. What a wonderful guide for us as we prepare to serve the particular needs of the students at the Juvenile Detention Center."
NEXT: Program Kick-Off and Volunteer Orientation
