As the second-grade children filed into the room, Martin's* tutor noticed that his assignment was different from the rest of his classmates'. While the other children sat down to read picture books and more advanced stories to their tutors, the reading instructor had placed an alphabet board at Martin's desk. "Just go over the letters with him," she advised. D

Kyle drills Thomas in basic reading skills during their one-on-one tutoring session.

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• A Place to Start • A Long Tradition • Returning to Roots • Letting Go •

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As Martin sat down, the tutor began pulling letters off the board. "Can you tell me what this one is?" she asked. Martin shook his head, no. "Well, how about this one? It's the last one." No, indicated Martin. The tutor noticed a scar under Martin's eye. When he caught her looking at it, he averted his head even further.

"I know," said the tutor brightly. "English is not your first language. Do you speak another language at home?"

"No," said Martin.

The tutor was puzzled as to how to proceed. Many four-year-olds can recite the alphabet. Martin was seven. She pulled down the letter "M." "Do you know this one," she asked, with hope in her voice. "It's the first letter of your name."

"M?" said Martin.

Good, thought the tutor, a place to start. She soon discovered that Martin could name the other letters of his name. They practiced those few letters over and over, then tried a few new ones before moving on to reading. Though Martin couldn't read the words, he listened with undivided attention as she read to him.

A Place to Start

Martin was one of 150 children at the Atlantic Street Center's Summer Academy in the summer of 1999. The Atlantic Street Center (ASC) has offered this program to elementary- and middle-school-aged children for the past 25 years. About 40 percent of the students enrolled in the 5-week summer course are homeless, at-risk, or in transition, and 90 percent are children of color. The Summer Academy is offered at Thurgood Marshall and Cooper Elementary Schools and Washington Middle School in Seattle, Washington. D

At the Summer Academy, children learn to plant, tend, and eat the produce from their garden.

ASC specializes in reaching children like Martin. Its mission is to help families and communities raise healthy, self-sufficient, and functioning children and youth. The programs are designed to reach the individual child at whatever level of development he or she has accomplished and to initiate growth from there. At the Summer Academy, morning classes are taught by certified teachers, with emphasis on reading, writing, math, and study skills. In addition, every student receives a daily session with a private tutor. This service is made possible by hundreds of volunteers, including church members, youth groups, and neighborhood friends who give their time over the summer.

Afternoons are fun times when the academic concepts learned in the morning are applied to cultural and recreational activities such as gardening, cooking, arts, sports, games, field trips, and opportunities for exploration. Last summer, Carla Stehr, a fisheries biologist from the Marine Science Institute, brought a cooler full of many sea creatures–starfish, crabs, and urchins—to the school. Some children reached in and touched the animals amidst a chorus of "Eeeuuu" from others watching. The following day, all the children were taken to Lincoln Park on Puget Sound where they could walk along the beach and find some of the very same creatures in their natural environment. D

Sisters attending Summer Academy together.

A Long Tradition

It is vital for the church to reach children like Martin at age seven, rather than waiting until age 17. He may have a learning disability, which, if caught, can be remedied or at least flagged, so that his education will be tailored to his needs. The Atlantic Street Center sends case workers into the Seattle schools, providing continuity in the way Martin is taught in school, in after-school activities, and in the Summer Academy. Though his self-esteem may be low at the moment, there is still time to celebrate his small victories, working to build his feeling of accomplishment and nurture a sense of belonging in his wider community, even though home may be a city shelter. The ASC also provides a family center in Martin's neighborhood so that his whole family can take an active part in his development.

From its humble beginnings, ASC has worked to promote the well-being of children by ministering to the whole family. A national institution of the General Board of Global Ministries, ASC was founded in 1910 by two young deaconesses— a teacher and a nurse: Jessie Gasser and Mary Jane Hepburn. They founded a settlement house to serve the large number of Italian immigrants arriving in Seattle's Ranier Valley. This center provided medical, educational, spiritual, and social aid to neighborhood families.

In the 1950s, the center began a school-based model of service, sending workers into the schools to try to bring down the rising delinquency rates in Seattle's nearby Seward Park area. Today the ASC continues to work in Seattle's schools, maintaining case workers in five elementary and middle schools designated by the public school system to receive homeless children.

David Okimoto, ASC's current executive director, has taken the center from a traditional model of treatment and counseling to an "asset-development model" in the 1990s. "We in social services are realizing that, if we wish to truly impact this generation of children, the best strategy is not to wait until problems surface to begin providing services," he says. "Most practically, we simply do not have the financial resources necessary to hire a large staff of therapists whose sole job it is to deal with problems." The asset-development model, explains Okimoto, identifies and develops youths' strengths.

"Our services in Holly Park are testimony to the power of the asset model," notes Okimoto. "In 1997, we opened the doors of our Holly Park Family Center, and recently we opened a Youth Center there. Holly Park was once a crime-ridden area that had a reputation of being unsafe. Then, the Seattle Housing Authority, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the City of Seattle stepped in to rebuild Holly Park. They envisioned a mixed-income community comprised of caring and committed individuals who were working together to create a warm, inviting, and safe community. D

When the weather gets hot, the sprinkler provides relief.

"Through the efforts of Atlantic Street Center and a multitude of other organizations, we are helping Holly Park residents to recognize and develop their strengths by encouraging family to help family, youth to help youth, and neighbor to help neighbor. We are bringing together the community there in ways that we previously had not even considered." (ASC's In Action Newsletter, First Quarter, 1999.)

In addition to the Holly Park Center, the ASC runs the Southeast Family Center in the Beacon Hill area of Seattle. The family centers work together with other neighborhood organizations to offer counseling, support groups, parent education, and family activities to residents of southeast Seattle.

Sandra Hiramatsu, a member of the ASC Board of Directors, tells the story of how Mary Blackwell received a call from her son in California, asking her to take custody of his two sons. She knew she would need help with the task. So, before the boys arrived, she started attending ASC's Grandparent Support Group at the Southeast Family Center. Blackwell discovered that she was not alone and isolated in the community but found other grandparents facing the same task. She learned about custody issues and the judicial system, and she received emotional support. When the boys' father moved to Seattle from California, he wanted to put his life back on track. He started attending the Effective Black Parenting Classes and asked Blackwell to attend as well. That way, they could develop a consistent method for parenting the children together. "God has put people in our lives to help us get to where we want to be," Blackwell said.

Programs of the Atlantic Street Center

The mission of ASC is to help families and communities raise healthy, self-sufficient, and functioning children and youth. The approach to pursuing this mission is twofold. First—offer in-depth counseling services to stabilize families and help children and teenagers cope with serious issues. Second—offer youth and family leadership-development programs that build skills, strengthen families, and promote self-improvement.

Youth and Family Leadership Development: focusing on the positive to help youth and families build skills and confidence.

Family Centers: providing education, social support, and family activities to strengthen and empower families through:

• support groups
• citizenship and ESL classes
• parenting classes
• home/budget management classes
• community events/festivals
• computer labs
• personal health/fitness classes
• youth support groups
• drop-in youth recreation center
• counseling and referral

Youth Programs: building self-esteem and social skills and helping to create positive attitudes toward school, home, and community through:

• social and recreational activities
• community-service projects
• after-school tutoring and homework assistance
• positive role-model guest speakers
• educational and recreational trips

Summer Academy: improving academic performance and in-school behavior through a 5-week summer school for homeless and at-risk elementary and middle- school students.

Holiday Assistance: helping homeless and low-income families celebrate the holidays through our annual "Toy Store" and "Adopt-a-Family" programs.

Counseling Services: addressing issues of violence, crime, drug abuse, and poor performance among children and youth. This program strives to help young people cope with difficult issues and to strengthen families through case-management services and mental-health therapy. Services include:

• counseling and guidance
• problem resolution
• needs assessment
• help with shelter/food needs
• resource identification
• case-management services
• support groups
• social-skills classes
• emergency financial assistance for homeless families
• therapy for abused/neglected children
• family therapy/family communication workshops
• referrals to other services
• on-site case managers at 5 Seattle public schools with large numbers of homeless children

Returning to Roots

Although a few of the programs with homeless children have taken the ASC to schools in northern Seattle, for the most part ASC has remained a neighborhood- based organization. Funding comes from many diverse sources: from city, county, and state grants; local foundations and companies; United Methodist churches and units of United Methodist Women; individuals; and other church groups. The list of collaborators with which the ASC works to bring services to residents of southeast Seattle includes hundreds of agencies. These agencies range from hospitals and universities, schools and housing projects, to local organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Goodwill, and the YMCA.

"For those of you who know the 88-year history of Atlantic Street Center, it is interesting to realize that we are returning to our roots," writes executive director David Okimoto. "For the first 40 years, ASC was a neighborhood center. It was only in the 1950s that we turned to the traditional social-service model. Today, ASC looks more like a community or neighborhood center than a social-service agency. We are fulfilling our new vision of bringing the best treatment approaches together to develop and enhance the strengths of Seattle's youth and families. The impact of the asset model has set us on a new course, and for that we are profoundly grateful."

Letting Go

This summer once again the Summer Academy children will be exploring the rocky shore of Puget Sound. Perhaps Martin is still among them. He is a very careful and thoughtful child. Last summer, while some children ran from rock to rock, overturning them and gathering as many snails and crabs in their buckets as they could, Martin looked out over the blue sound and gazed at the reflection of the sun on the water. He spent much time with one rock, watching one crab sidle along, attempting always to hide on the down side of the rock as Martin slowly turned the rock over and over. The boy studied the crab's habits.

It was hard for the other children to let their booty go at the end of the day. All the crabs and urchins, the clams, and the snails had to be returned to the sea. That was part of the deal, their counselors said. Pockets would be checked. As children sadly tossed the contents of their buckets back into the sound, Martin straightened up and looked out over the sound again. It had been a good day, though he could have watched that crab a while longer.

There are many unusual traits in this child, Martin, that could make him a good researcher, a patient teacher of mathematics, or perhaps a tenacious scientist. The Atlantic Street Center has intervened to give him an even chance to reach his potential, despite the hurdles he has already experienced during his young life.

*Martin's name has been changed.

Community Centers: A Photo Essay
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