Pubdate: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2003 The Dallas Morning News Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 Author: Norma Adams-Wade, Dallas Morning News Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) PREVENTING PRISON TERMS FROM BEING A FAMILY LEGACY Former Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode told of visiting a prison last year and meeting three generations of one family - grandfather, son and grandson - who met for the first time while serving time in the same prison for separate offenses. The grandson, sentenced to life, added the footnote that he, too, had a son whom he had not seen. "I expect to meet him for the first time when he lands in jail, too, one day," Dr. Goode said the grandson told him. The first black mayor of Philadelphia - who earned a doctorate of ministry three years ago and now is a Baptist minister and social advocate - said the prison story makes a point. It illustrates the urgency of having mentors intervene in the lives of children who have a parent or parents in prison. Dr. Goode recruited mentors in Dallas on Sept. 10 when he spoke at the Belo Mansion Pavilion at a luncheon that launched the first Amachi program. Earlier in the day, he and a host committee talked about the program with mothers in a federal women's prison hospital in Fort Worth. The politician-turned-preacher founded the national Amachi program in Philadelphia to urge intervention by matching mentors from faith-based organizations with children of incarcerated people. He said Amachi is a Nigerian Ibo word that means "who knows but what God has brought us through this child." "We know we can change the direction of a child if we can put a mentor in their life," Dr. Goode said. His personal transitions have affected how he makes a difference, he said in an interview. "When I was young, I thought I could change the whole world," he said. "I know now it's best to change a small part of it." The Amachi program is his small part. It will operate in this area through the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas. During the luncheon, he detailed how faith-based groups are key resources to help "children of promise" who are at risk of joining their incarcerated parents. The Bureau of Justice Statistics bears him out. He said there are 2.5 million children in the nation - including about 70,000 in North Texas - - who have one or both parents behind bars. His research projects that about 50,000 of the North Texas children, about 70 percent, will become inmates without intervention, he said. The North Carolina native who grew up in Philadelphia said that at 12, he was "the son of an incarcerated father." But he said a pastor mentored and sent him to school, despite a counselor's prediction that he "was not college material." "They sent me" to college, he said. "They didn't ask me. I went and the rest is history. I went on to become the mayor of the fifth-largest city in the country." He asked people in the audience to come stand in front if they would join him as mentors. The Rev. John Morris, pastor of St. Mark AME Zion Church in Oak Cliff and his wife, Marcella Morris, were among about 30 out of the 100 people there who came forward. Dr. Goode led them in a pledge and had them sign volunteer cards. Mr. Morris said he would encourage his congregation to follow Dr. Goode's plan that mentors spend one hour a week for a year mentoring a prisoner's child. To inquire about being a mentor, call (toll-free) 1-888-887-BIGS (2447). ABOUT TOWN: Dallas County Director of Health and Human Services Betty Culbreath-Lister and nursing home owner Dr. Leona "Tiny" Hawkins are among nine women who will be honored at the annual Mary McLeod Bethune Recognition Luncheon which the Greater Trinity Section of the National Council of Negro Women sponsors. The luncheon will be 11:30 a.m. Sept. 20 at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel, 2222 Stemmons Freeway. Tickets are $45. Call 214-725-1504. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin