Super Volunteers Inspire Others at Super Bowl

Written by: Evan Thomas, MCCOY Vice Chairman of the Board

It's easy to find information at the Super Bowl Village, because of Super Volunteers!Picture courtesy of www.indianapolissuperbowl.com

One of the most surprising and heartening things I’ve learned from MCCOY is how much community involvement we have in Indianapolis. I think we all know we have more than our fair share of issues, but good people wanting to help doesn’t seem to be among them.

That said, I really shouldn’t have been surprised by all the media accounts of how much the people of Indianapolis played into the success of the events leading up to the Super Bowl. The people made the difference. I believe that, but I also that it takes more than good people and their good intentions to bring off an event as big as the Super Bowl. It takes public – private partnerships, it takes corporate involvement and it takes planning. 

The city’s successful landing of the Super Bowl and its execution are a testament to Indianapolis can do. Indianapolis can be a world class city. We have hard evidence that we can form public – private partnerships that work, that the city’s corporate citizens will step up when called upon, and that we have the foresight to lay the groundwork today to achieve something audacious years from now. It’s not a theoretical anymore; Indianapolis does amazing things. Who would have believed a year ago or even a month ago that national media would be saying Indianapolis should be in the regular rotation to host a Super Bowl?

The real trick now is getting the good people, the companies, and the local government all pulling in the same direction without the pinnacle of American pop-culture awesomeness as the rallying point. It’s clear Indianapolis needs something to rally behind. We need something to pull us together. We need some audacious goal to set for ourselves and our city. 

What is it?

And zip lines, we definitely need zip lines…

February 2012: Champion for Youth

Congratulations to Rev. Malachi Walker for being chosen as the Champion for Youth for this month! Rev. Walker is the Executive Director of Young Men, Inc. Youth Ministry. Read below to find out what makes this man such a inspiration and a true Champion of Youth.

What is your profession or vocation?   I am a retired Indianapolis Firefighter.  I served on the department for 28.5 years, as well as an ordained minister within the Church of God Anderson where I am Associate Pastor of Great Commission Church of God.  I am also the Executive Director and founder of Young Men, Inc. Youth Ministry – a male empowerment ministry for at-risk males, ages 8 – 16.

How are you an Everyday Champion for Youth?   I believe that I am an everyday champion for youth because it has been one of the things that I live for throughout my life. I started organizing teen clubs and field trips to King’s Island for youth at age 16. Being from the Twin Hills Housing Community, we had to quickly learn how to ban together as youth and find positive things to do.  I guess that’s where my leadership and work with youth was cultivated.   I work with them every day in one capacity or another - whether it be by mentoring youth, going to a school to see about one of them who is in trouble, having a kind word to say to one who has lost their way or lost hope, or packing them into a 15-passenger van to see a Pacers game, experience the recent 2012 Super bowl Experience, or taking them to see firsthand the impact homicide has on the lives of black males. I truly feel that it is a calling from God to work with them and I am humbled that He has chosen me to be the vehicle of change and hope for Black males.

What impact do you hope to make on youth?   I hope to empower them to make good decisions and choices in life; instill in them the importance of education and what it means to be a leader in all areas of life mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I also hope to teach them how to give back to their community in the form of volunteering and community service so that they leave a lasting impact in the City of Indianapolis or whatever communities they eventually live in.  I feel this will help them to realize how fortunate they have been to have people who care about them and that they in turn will also be encouraged to give back and help others as they grow from boys to men.

What’s one thing that you wish an adult had told you when you were a young person?   I wish that an adult had really instilled in me and helped me to believe that “you can do anything that you want to do, as long as you work hard at it and put your mind to it.”   I also wish that they had told me that "life was a gift and the only things that matters as how you use that gift because we are not here on earth just to take up space; your life has meaning and purpose. It’s up to you to find it and use it to help not just yourself but others."

What do you want to do next to support youth?   I really want to try to find collaborative ways to work with other organizations and show them how to find jobs,   save money, and impact their communities.  I also hope to be able to build a full-fledged mentoring program for Young Men, Inc.

Do you work directly with youth?  Yes, I work directly with youth and have been doing so since I was a youth myself.  I now work directly with youth – mostly African American males – through Young Men, Inc.  Every summer I work with 80 - 100 African American males through the Young Men, Inc. 10-week summer empowerment camp. We meet on Tuesdays, Thursdays, as well as some weekends and other days to keep them off the street, show them how to make good decisions and choices, and how to respect themselves and others.  We have a military style of discipline and a points system for rewards that allows participants to earn a trip to Kings Island, college tour, and have an awards and recogntion banquet at the end of the 10-week program. We then try to match participants with mentors that follow them throughout the rest of the year.  However, due to a limited staff and funding, we are currently unable to match all participants.

What percentage of your time is spent working directly with youth or families?  At least 50%

Week of Feb. 6: Legislative Update

Wow is all I have to say at the midpoint of the 2012 legislative session.  Last week marked the deadline for bills to crossover to the other chamber and business was concluded on Wednesday for a much-needed break for the Super Bowl.  The Right to Work bill took center stage and a great deal of time was devoted to debating, or avoiding debate, on the issue.  For better or for worse, the bill passed and hopefully this means that we can re-focus on the more important issues that got lost in the shuffle.  One key victory that did happen was the human trafficking bill that passed with lightning speed and went into effect before the Super Bowl.  Hopefully the attention brought to the issue as well as the stiffer penalties curbed a lot of the trafficking that happens in Super Bowl host cities. 

MCCOY has been monitoring a wide variety of bills and, for the most part, is supportive of the majority of them.  A couple of the bills that MCCOY is actively supporting are one that requires the establishment of a child care ministries advisory committee; a bill creating a “Family Friendly” designation for schools; a bill to educate schools about child sexual abuse and create guidelines and materials for prevention in schools; and the creation of an advisory committee on early education within the state Education Roundtable.

There are a couple of bills that MCCOY has some concerns about and will continue to monitor as they move forward.  One bill deals with giving schools more freedom to suspend and/or expel students for behaviors that occur off-campus and off school hours.  In current law, schools can make that determination based on “unlawful” activities by a student.  This bill strikes the word “unlawful” and opens the law up for a school’s discretion.  The intended purpose of the bill, according to its author, is to allow schools to address cyberbullying and cheating.  However, this is not specified in the bill.  Given our state’s already high suspension and expulsion rates, we should exercise caution in this area.

Another bill of concern deals with drug testing of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients.  The law would revoke TANF benefits from an individual who tests positive for drugs and would withhold that benefit until the recipient is able to test negative.  There are various other penalties and details in the bill, but the unintended consequence of this bill is that children would be harmed as they would lose their benefits.  Michigan attempted to implement a similar law, but is was struck down in federal court as violating the Fourth Amendment.  MCCOY is working with partner coalitions and organizations to speak out on this highly controversial bill.

For more information on the bills moving forward that pertain to MCCOY’s public policy priorities, please visit our blog, which is updated every Friday or sign up to receive legislative update e-mails here.

Join MCCOY for a glass of wine in Fountain Square and learn how you can prevent child sexual abuse

47,000 Indianapolis children (1in 5) will be sexually abused before they reach 18 years old. That is enough kids to fill Victory Field 3 times. Or The Children's Museum 9 times.

Sadly, we have seen several national headlines about child sexual abuse these past few months. The bad news: many of these cases were preventable. The good news: many future cases can be prevented. By understanding the risk and putting practical safeguards in place, we can drastically reduce the cases of child sexual abuse in central Indiana. MCCOY is a local facilitator for the Stewards of Children program and we want to tell you about it!

In response to this ongoing tragedy, MCCOY and Huntington Bank invite you to “Take Courageous Action: Empowering Women to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse.

Ladies, come to this event on Thursday March 8^th from 6-8pm to learn how you can protect all of the children in your life. Join other female community leaders at the New Day Meadery in Historic Fountain Square to learn about the Stewards of Children program and the 7 Steps that you can take to prevent sexual abuse.

Tickets are $20 and include wine tasting, gourmet cheese, and chocolate treats. Join us and take action! Click HERE to register or contact Alyssa.Newerth@mccoyouth.org for more info.