By Stephanie and Eric Stradford
AMWS, May 18, 2013, Smyrna, GA – Youth Achievers USA Institute joined fellow winners here to launch a new era in community empowerment. “There’s a need to move from information to operation,” said Dr. H. Ben Williams, President, Cobb County Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
The Marietta-Roswell Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. put words to work in hosting their Fourth Annual Community Empowerment Summit. According to Cobb SCLC Chair, Dr. Cheryl Graves, “Delta’s here have been working to empower communities through awareness, advocacy, and action. Cobb SCLC is eager to forge partnerships.” The Delta’s focus on issues such as preserving the value of your home, improving your credit, and finding a job are fueling cooperative community strategies and igniting win-win partnerships.
Janice Mathis, Esq., a keynote speaker for this year’s Community Empowerment Summit, talks the talk for transforming rhetoric to reality. As Community Affairs Host on WAOK-AM/WXAG-AM/WVEE-FM, Mathis is no stranger to community needs. She walks the walk as Vice President of Legal Affairs for Rainbow PUSH – Atlanta, and as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.’s National Social Action Commission.
The Summit, designed to “move the community toward stability and growth,” will need to engage Mathis and other advocates more frequently to ensure goals and visions become measurable programmatic reality. “The goal is to empower the underserved in the community, particularly, during times of economic crisis and instability,” said Patsy A. Pattman, president of Marietta-Roswell Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Pattman has presided over the enterprising chapter for the last four years.
First Vice President Wilma Z. Davis is the chapter’s president-elect. Davis’ experience in developing and managing community programs identifies a key community asset for operating in decency and order.
The movement from information to operation will require unprecedented cooperation within and beyond partnering organizations. “We must further explore the concept that empowerment of all key players is necessary to stabilize growth,” said Davis.
The evolution from information to operation will need to build on the understanding of credit scoring systems and actually improve credit scores at the same time. Chapter member Patricia Mack, an investment specialist at PNC Bank, brings a wealth of experience and resources to address long-term economic challenges.
As a member of the Marietta Roswell Alumnae Chapter (MRAC) of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Mack and others will need to consider innovative economic programs to create significant positive impact in the Cobb, Cherokee, and North Fulton counties. Some key areas for economic program development include:
DSTMRAC 2012 Annual Report
Valuing our youth, fostering economic empowerment among families and businesses, qualifying community members to purchase a home and/or preserve its value in today’s economy, and identifying actual revenue generating opportunities to include jobs.
Deltas have been empowering women to empower their communities for 100 years. Founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world.
A sisterhood of more than 200,000 predominately Black college educated women, the Sorority currently has over 900 chapters located in the United States, England, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Republic of Korea.
The sorority programs are based upon the organization's Five Point Programmatic Thrusts
- Economic Development, Educational Development, International Awareness and Involvement, Physical and Mental Health, and Political Awareness and Involvement.
To learn more, go to www.dstmrac.com
Interactive reports courtesy of The American Mentor Wire Service, Youth Achievers USA Institute. For more information, www.YouthUSA.net/AMWS
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