Showing posts with label Prince George's County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prince George's County. Show all posts

July 13, 2017

Don't Save Face, Save our Children!

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Nelson Mandela

Education isn't a powerful weapon for many students in Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS). It has become a barrier for students who want to succeed.

It is alleged that graduation requirements decreased to increase graduation rates, and students' grades were changed to camouflage the accuracy of their in-class performance.

These allegations are serious and should be addressed to ensure PGCPS students have the proper resources and aptitude to excel in college, work, and life.

PGCPS are replete with minority students. Should it be assumed minority students aren't smart enough to meet basic graduation requirements? If this is the spirit among PGCPS leadership, don't save face; change its leadership.

October 23, 2014

We Plunged

Right into doing something we’ve never done before – host a Zumbathon® Charity Event! Since we’ve been out of the lime-light, we thought hosting a Zumbathon® would be a fun way to reconnect with friends and supporters, and make new ones.

We’ve supported Zumbathon® events to benefit heart disease and ovarian cancer. And one-year later we’re hosting our own to benefit women experiencing poverty in the Washington region.

The Zumba® Corporate Office approved our Zumbathon® Charity Event within two-hours of submission - a process that normally takes two-business days, and within four-weeks, only 10% of our desired participants have registered.

Lesson learned, we’re doing something we’ve never done before and its success can’t be measured solely on who showed up; but, on our commitment to work and move the weight of poverty off the shoulders of women who live with it daily right in our backyard.

Not achieving the desired results from this plunge will not stop us from doing it again. Poverty is growing, and we do not have time to be stagnated by fear, skepticism, or resistance.

If you want to experience growth and enthusiasm click here - this can result from trying something new.

September 26, 2014

I’m Not One of Them

My parents raised me different.

My parents told me, "Make sure you can take care of yourself," and I do.

These women need to stop lying on their backs, making babies they can’t take care of.

I’m not giving my money to support lazy women that don’t want to work.

These statements are from single mothers who were approached by The SOFEI Group to help us achieve our mission of empowering women to economic independence. The single mothers were divorced, widowed, and a sole parent with a strong support system.

What’s interesting is how proud they were to share their distinction without knowledge of our current and prospective clients. It will be impossible for women to thrive as a cohesive unit when we’re moved so swiftly to divide. Why talk about the wage gap between men and women or any other gaps that supposedly prevent women from progressing, when women allow social, political, financial, or ethnical differences create wedges?

Many women who have experienced or are experiencing poverty, did not choose it! They do not enjoy relying on the government or others to feed their children or meet their basic living needs. And, it's unfortunate these women experience a different type of judgment when they need assistance to regain their momentum after a divorce, death of a spouse, spousal abandonment, decline in health, or job loss.

Today's society is heading towards a downward spiral because women who carry the weight of poverty aren't participating at their best capacity. Madeleine Albright, (former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and US Secretary of State) states, "There's a special place in hell for women that don't help each other."

Women have the power to transform our society to be more inclusive and not divisive. It's a matter of choice. Which will you choose?

March 26, 2014

Jewel in The Hands of an Inexperienced Jeweler

Genesis 34 talks about a young virgin woman, named Dinah who “went out to see the daughters of the land” (Genesis 34:1). She was spotted by Shechem - a victim of lust at first sight, who took Dinah and violated her virginity (Genesis 34:2). A Jewel, such as Dinah, was defiled and violated because of Shechem’s strong sexual desire to have her (Genesis 34:3). In Hebrew, the definition of violated or defiled, means to be taken by force (i.e., raped). Shechem’s actions resulted in harm instead of satisfaction because Dinah’s brothers, Levi and Simeon lied, stole, and murdered for revenge.

Dinah was a Jewel taken by force, but there are many women (Jewels) who voluntarily place themselves in the hands of Inexperienced Jewelers due to:

Soft Spoken Words

According to Genesis 34:3, Shechem spake kindly unto the damsel. Women can become prey to soft spoken words if they were raised in negative environments, were victims of verbal, emotional, or physical abuse and never heard or experienced unconditional love.

Low Self-Esteem

Some women with low self-esteem try to validate their self-worth by clinging to the arms of wrong men.

The Biological Clock

Some women rush into marriage based on their biological clock instead of God's. Their friends have gotten married, and started families, and they feel like timing is running out for Mr. Right.

Inexperienced Jeweler Doesn't Know Her Value

This can happen for women with a history of broken and abusive relationships, as well as other issues they haven't allowed God to cleanse and heal.

Fornication

Many women are in the hands of Inexperienced Jewelers for the sake of Eros (lustful) love and have convinced themselves that if the sex is good, everything else in the relationship will fall into place. However, sex was designed to be good under the Union of Holy Matrimony.

Hungry for Love and Affection

If an employee partakes of an unhealthy snack to satisfy their hunger, this can prevent them from enjoying a healthy, nutritious meal because they have become full from the snack. When we're hungry for love and affection we too indulge in unhealthy snacking (i.e., relationships) which blocks us from receiving the main entrée - a man designed especially for us.

So, are You a Jewel In The Hands of An Inexperienced Jeweler?

March 17, 2014

I Weep for Sisters Looking

I weep for Sisters looking
For a man that’s so hard to find
My sisters try, they trip, they tremble
Because the search goes on all the time.

I weep for Sisters looking
For security in masculine form
They’re tossed and thrown by emotions
Like a small ship in a big storm.

I weep for Sisters looking
For a “brother” whom they can respect
Not a pretty boy or millionaire
Just someone
With whom
They can connect.

I weep for Sisters looking
Because of the pain and heartbreak
They endure
The loneliness that turns to emptiness
Will there ever be a cure?

I say Yes, Dear Sisters,
There is a cure
A real cure from my point of view
For perhaps wisdom is dictating
That you pray and wait,
Serve and work
Until
Mr. Right
Finds You!

By Evangelist Emanuel Scott, Jr.

March 10, 2014

Fearfully Made

A young girl ran to her mother after school and said, "Let’s hurry and get to the car because I don’t want to get a tan." Mother’s response, "Why are you so afraid of getting a tan?" Her daughter’s response, "I’m not, but a girl in my group asked me if I was dark skinned because of the sun?"

A portion of Psalm 139:14 states, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works. Humanity was created in the image of God and He has never spoken negatively to Himself or to the people He chose to make an impact throughout the world based on their uniqueness.

Our children are our future. Let’s be vigilant of what we feed them – directly or indirectly. Critiquing or teasing people about their looks (especially their hues) is a waste of time. Everything God made is good and was created for His glory. If God can see the beauty, good, and glory in His creation, why can't we?

June 10, 2013

Everyone has had a free ride at least once

Entitlements – programs (e.g., Medicare or Social Security) funded by taxpayers that supposedly benefit non-taxpayers. How can this be especially for taxpayers that worked and contributed towards these programs? And, why are Entitlement programs on the chopping block to balance the budget or reduce the deficit in an effort to stop people from riding free?

Free riders are from different ethnic and economic backgrounds. They’re people who cheat on their taxes or avoid paying taxes due to tax shelters buried under complicated tax codes. They’re people who can afford to pay for healthcare, but choose not to; passing their expenses to the shoulders of people strapped with the high cost of health insurance. They're executives who receive government bailouts and bonuses, in spite of their misuse or ill investments of hard working citizens who lost their life savings. They’re also celebrities indulged with expensive gifts they can afford and may not want.

What about the poor? Are they simply sitting and waiting for a free ride or an opportunity to transform their lives? Not all of them. Why are the poor viewed differently when they’re provided with free opportunities or resources to improve their lives? Is it because the benefits to help the poor haven't been deemed a great investment?

Helping people transform their lives to become financial contributors to society can benefit us all. We just have to slow down enough to give others the same ride many of us were granted for free.

April 3, 2012

Got Power?

According to Target Market News 16th annual report Buying Power of Black America, the expenditures of Blacks rose to $507 billion dollars. The top five expenditures were:
  • Housing $203.8 billion
  • Food $65.2 billion
  • Cars/Trucks $29.1 billion
  • Clothing $29.3 billion
  • Health Care $23.6 billion
Who or what is being empowered as a result of this Black Buying Power? Is the employment gap among Blacks closing? Are the increasing numbers of disparities within the Black Community decreasing? Is the growing trend of poverty amongst low-income, women-led families being addressed? Is this buying power restoring or strengthening the Black family unit - a foundation in society?

It appears the Buying Power of Blacks is generating economic stability and wealth outside of their communities. Yep! It's helping other Ethnic groups establish businesses in socially and economically disadvantaged communities (i.e., underserved Black Communities) for members of their group. And, this buying power depletes the vitality of Black Communities because their money seldom returns.

If Black Buying Power isn't creating long-lasting, positive impacts within the Black Community; this Black Buying Power isn't powerful at all.

March 30, 2012

Why Plead the Blood?

Do you pray and ask God to stop your car as you approach a stop sign or red light? We may pray if our brakes feel like they're going out. Why do we plead the blood and rebuke the Devil when the doctor tells us, our smoking will lead to lung cancer, our drinking can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, or our sexual activities will lead to a sexually transmitted disease.

What do you believe is the driving force behind our payment of our own death when God sent Jesus Christ to give us life? Can the Devil or our sin nature simply be the blame? When are we going to take responsibility for our choices?

The next time we're diagnosed with some type of ailment, instead of rebuking the Devil and pleading the Blood of Jesus on the symptom, plead the Blood of Jesus Christ on the force that contributes to our emotional, mental, and physical death.

March 26, 2012

Who's Tooting Your Horn?

Horn Tooting is the normalcy in many business environments. But when and how loud should we toot our horns?
  • When we’ve closed the deal on a sale? Toot!
  • When we’ve written a book? Toot!
  • When we’ve made our first million? Toot!
  • Appeared on TV or radio? Toot!
  • When we’ve been embraced by an elite or exclusive group? Toot!
  • Received a degree from an Ivy League college? Toot!
  • Best Business of the Year Award recipient? Toot!
Luke 14:11 states, For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbled himself shall be exalted.

If our clients aren’t tooting our horns, is our horn tooting in vain? Who's tooting yours?

October 6, 2011

Can't Find a Job - Create Your Own

Okay, it’s been weeks, months, maybe a few years and you still haven’t found a J.O.B. If your job search strategy has primarily been behind a computer pushing emails and electronic resumes, your resumes are probably being added to thousands of job seekers in a virtual recruitment center being daily purged by the delete button. Which means your livelihood is somewhat in the hands of a virtual recruiter with the power to move your resume forward or prevent it from reaching your desired destination – the decision maker who can hire you.

Let’s face it, unemployment can stink, but it can also be a sweet aroma when you decide to use this experience as fuel to take charge of your life in spite of the economy! You’ve heard the saying If It’s Going to Be, It’s up to Me. That’s right; it’s going to be up to you to create your own path to financial freedom. Not the government, politicians, Mama, Daddy, Pookie – You! Here are a few suggestions to make it happen:
  1. Develop a winning attitude and embrace the challenge to take charge of your life.
  2. Define and create your dream job description without thinking about your bills or the economy. Just dream big!
  3. Make a two-column list and write the required skills/resources needed to fulfill this dream job on the left side and your skills on the right.
  4. Create an interim dream job description if you don’t have 80 percent of the required skills for your ultimate dream job.
  5. Create a target-list of people/businesses that can benefit from your skills.
  6. Identify your working/business relationship (e.g., contractor, W2 employee, consultant)
  7. Make a list of people currently working your dream job and define what makes you stand out from them.
  8. Write and send a one-page letter to business owners with your knowledge and interest, passion and skills, a value statement, and business quote from someone that has experienced your work. Also, keep a log of businesses you sent letters to.
  9. Send a note or post card expressing your gratitude for business owners taking time to read your letter. Do this repeatedly until you receive a response.
  10. Network with people that are employed and have winning attitudes.
  11. If you’re low on funds consider the library, churches, community colleges, or volunteerism as resources to acquire the needed skills to create the job of your dreams.

September 23, 2011

The Number Nine Can Have Power

After spending nine relentless months looking for work at a local one-stop career center, an unemployed single mother regained hope to find employment when she learned how to build a career in customer-service from the results of a complimentary MAPP assessment provided by The SOFEI Group, Inc.

Filled with passion to provide great customer-service to her next prospective employer, this single mother landed nine interviews within nine weeks of attending The SOFEI Group's Microsoft Office Specialist certification training program. Her hope was restored and momentum to find employment soared, but something was preventing her from getting hired - her forgiveness for being unemployed!

This breakthrough came when a career development facilitator of The SOFEI Group looked her square in the eyes and said, “Your smile isn’t in harmony with the way you really feel about yourself, and maybe this spirit is resonating during your interviews - preventing you from getting hired.” Tears streamed down her face, because she had not taken time to confront her feelings of shame and guilt for being unemployed.

The single mother found employment after her nine months bout with the one-stop career center and nine weeks with The SOFEI Group, Inc. She had everything she needed to get employed, but her negative emotions were blocking her path to successful employment.

Our belief about ourselves will create the pathway to our destiny. Is your belief system blocking your path to your next career?

November 30, 2009

What's the Big Deal About Single Mothers?

What's the big deal about single mothers, I was raised by one and I turned out okay! Were the words of a business leader running for a Prince George's County Council position.

There are many successful leaders and great people that were raised by single parents. VEINC is not presenting single mothers as damsels in distress or victims of society. However, due to the increased percentage of households being led by single mothers not only in Prince George's County, Maryland, but within our Nation, it's a big deal when single women-headed households have in some regard become the normal family structure.

According to Sociology for Families, single-parent families are normally female-headed and single women typically do not earn the same income as a single man; thus, there is a consequent economic struggle and burden not experienced in a single-father household. Single mothers often must work overtime shifts to compensate for the low salaries, thus taking time away from their children and other domestic chores. This results in a child that is home alone, without adult supervision, or placed in a daycare service for up to 8-10 hours per day. Government subsidized daycare is not yet a realized dream, and many single mothers pay large fees for this service.

The big deal about single parenting especially for Prince George's County, Maryland is, it has the highest concentration of low-income families headed by women in the Washington metro region. And, low-income families headed by women are vulnerable to the cycle of poverty. The impact of poverty puts a strain on the local, state, and the government by investing money in reactive services and programs to support low-income families (e.g., emergency housing, food stamp assistance, or crime and gang prevention) instead of proactive services and programs (e.g., workforce training and development, entrepreneurship programs; affordable housing, childcare, and health care, and accessible transportation).

There's an old saying, If you keep doing what you've always done, you will keep getting what you've always gotten. And, we can no longer afford to allow politics as usual if we want to experience a significant change in Prince George's County.

The Status of Women and Girls of Prince George's County needs to be a top priority on the platform for all politicians running for local and state government. Make your vote count to ensure Prince George's County, Maryland will live up to it's motto, A Livable Community for all Prince Georgians, especially for low-income women-led families where the weight of economic instability rides on their shoulders.

Following is VEINC's wish list to strengthen the economic status of women and girls of Prince George's County:
  • Bring more livable wage careers to Prince George's County that offer benefits in health and work-life balance. Prince George's County main career industries are retail and hospitality
  • Work harder to ensure funding for Individual Training Accounts under the Workforce Investment Act is adequately funneled from the State to Prince George's County to increase participation in local education and training programs
  • Change childcare voucher systems to ensure vouchers are honored in a timely manner
  • Make public transportation more accessible to transit around all localities of Prince George's County, Maryland
  • Add more women politicians that will advocate on behalf of the issues relating to women and girls
  • Increase local funding to proactively address barriers that prevent women and girls from achieving economic independence and stability.

Ladies, make your vote count! Don't sit on the sideline and assume your challenges will automatically be taken care of, or your vote won't count. All votes count and you have the power to make a change for yourself and other women like you in your community. Make your voice known. Make your voice heard. And, hold your local and state representatives accountable to making positive changes and impacts on behalf of underserved women and girls of Prince George's County, Maryland.

November 23, 2007

The Spirit of Giving

Do you have the spirit? Yeah! Yeah! Do you have the spirit? Yeah! Yeah! Well let me see it in your walk...

One of my favorite cheers in high school was, Do You Have The Spirit. The cheerleaders really knew how to get the crowd excited and engaged in our school's sporting events, and it seemed like the crowd ignited a new fire in the players to strive harder to win if they were trailing behind.

It appears that the Spirit of Giving is more prevalent during the Holiday Season (i.e., Thanksgiving and Christmas) and many nonprofits do a great job raising money during this special time of year. What are their secrets or strategies? Who are their cheerleaders? And, what cheers do they chant to engage donors to give to support their cause(s)?

According to the Making Connections: The Nonprofit Sector in Prince George's County report conducted by the Maryland Association of Nonprofits, "80% of the nonprofit sectors with revenue below $25,000 are in Prince George's County, Maryland, compared to the state-wide average of 63%." How can this be since Prince George's County is known as one of the most affluent counties for African Americans in the Nation? In addition, the report states that the nonprofit sector of Prince George's County is small and under-resourced compared to its neighboring counties (e.g., Anne Arundel, Montgomery, or Howard) and the growth among this sector is not promising.

As an emerging nonprofit organization based in Prince George's County, Maryland, Virtuous Enterprises, Inc. (VEINC) can attest to some of the challenges that can plague the county’s nonprofit sector:

  • Capacity Building - Although well trained, many nonprofits do not have the ‘proper resources’ to implement creative and effective capacity building strategies. Some of the tools and techniques provided during training demonstrates 'what to do', but not 'how to do'.
  • Human/Social Capital - As the old cliché states, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” Building a business from scratch without the leverage of ‘human capital' can be a slow process and very few nonprofits have this competitive advantage.
  • Lack of Operational Funds - Many social investors are advised to invest in programs, not operations and many grant makers provide more funding to support programs instead of operations. The nonprofit sector has to be quite creative in raising funds to prevent their programs from losing its home or operating in the dark.
  • Social Cause is Too Small - Programs and services for women with HIV/AIDS or domestic violence, seems to outweigh services and programs for low-income, women-headed families.
VEINC transitioned to a nonprofit organization in 1999 and the organization’s focus changed, when our new cheerleader - The Washington Area Women's Foundation ignited our fire by presenting us with a 2004 Leadership Award for our innovative services and programs for underserved women and girls in the Washington region. VEINC was trailing behind since we thought our services and programs weren't needed, until we evaluated the results of our pilot programs and we are here to stay!

Social Investing is risky and our returns can vary. During this Spirit of Giving season consider investing in social causes that can strengthen the vitality of low-income, women-headed families. When we invest in families, we strengthen our society, because society is a collection of communities, and communities are a collection of families.

The return on your investment will be long-term, however, the results will be quite rewarding.