A Hero's Welcome
Partnering with schools and families, Tony Hopson and his crew at Self Enhancement Inc. are transforming the community, one child at a time.
Story and photos by SAMANTHA MOORES
PORTLAND, Oregon—
Tony Hopson knows the neighborhoods of inner North and Northeast Portland. He grew up here, so the area’s problems and challenges are no surprise to him. He knows that, with the highest rates of unemployment, poverty, and violent crime in Oregon, this pocket of the city is often short on heroes and hopeful attitudes. He also knows that this doesn’t mean the kids in his community can’t have big dreams and bright futures.
Just look at what this North Portland kid has accomplished.
As founder and director of Self Enhancement Inc., Hopson, 45, spends his days nurturing dreams and cultivating hope. His nonprofit youth program works with kids from inner-city schools in the Portland district, supporting them in their academic classes, helping them develop new talents and skills, and teaching them the values and attitudes they need to become positive, contributing members of society.
Back in 1981, when Hopson was a young teacher at Jefferson High, SEI was born as a one-week summer camp that blended basketball drills and scrimmages with academics and life skills. That one-week camp stretched to two camps, then four. Fueled by grants, government contracts, and donations, SEI is now a year-round operation, with a full-time staff of 75, onsite coordinators in 11 schools, and extensive after-school and summer programs.
Nearly three years ago, SEI got a permanent home when Hopson opened the Center for Self Enhancement. Anchoring a small city park once controlled by drug dealers and gangs, the $10 million, 62,000-square-foot community center boasts multiple classrooms, a gymnasium with a regulation basketball court, an auditorium, recording and dance studios, a library, a computer lab, and a cafeteria. As Hopson moves through the center, greeting kids and catching up with staff, it is clear that this is a man who loves his job. Meetings and phone calls may consume much of his time these days, but his open manner and ready smile make Hopson accessible to folks from the community he serves.
"When I was growing up, I could always envision a positive future," he recalls. "We had role models that helped to motivate us toward something better. We had parents who were willing to pass on the skills and the knowledge needed to be successful. And I had a good peer group that challenged me to be the best that I could be."
The 1,200 kids SEI serves each year don’t have a lot of role models elsewhere in their lives. Most are from single-parent homes below the poverty level. Many are in foster care, or living with grandparents. A lot of these kids are not getting what they need, in both their families and their schools, stresses Hopson.
SEI is designed to fill in the gaps in these kids’ lives. For its school-based program, full-time coordinators serve as student advocates at five elementary schools (Applegate, Boise-Eliot, Humboldt, Vernon, and Woodlawn), three middle schools (Ockley Green, Tubman, and Whitaker), and three high schools (Benson, Grant, and Jefferson). Many are schools where student performance is lagging. Coordinators help each student develop an Individual Success Plan, where they set academic and social goals and plan strategies to meet them. They also work with teachers to make sure kids are keeping up in classes, and they meet with families to get them more involved in the school.
A structured after-school program complements the in-school support. Twice a week students stay after school for homework help and tutoring, and a curriculum that touches on drug and alcohol awareness and violence prevention; other days they ride a bus to the Center for Self Enhancement. After a snack and a mandatory homework period, kids pick two electives from a roster of academic classes and recreational activities: band, cartoon drawing, African dance, Fun with Numbers, reading enrichment, and much more. With budget cuts trimming the arts from many school schedules, this is often the only exposure students have to subjects like music and visual art.
"We’re trying to expose them to enough things so that we can find out what button turns them on," says Hopson. "And if you can find that, you’ve got them. Because now you can use that one thing to push them in a variety of other positive directions."
Daymond Glenn remembers well the "push" he got from SEI. As a freshman at Grant High, Glenn signed up for a summer basketball camp because he "got a free pair of shoes at the end." Now a poised, articulate 26-year-old, Glenn is starting his third year as the SEI coordinator at Vernon Elementary. More than any activity or curriculum, the program’s power lies in the relationships it fosters, Glenn believes. "There are so many intangibles that we do," he explains. "That’s the beauty of SEI. Just checking in with kids. Saying, ‘I like your outfit,’ or, ‘Your hair looks nice today.’ Giving them a hug. A lot of the kids are withdrawn socially. To see them break out of their shell or light up when I enter the room — it’s awesome."
Students are selected for SEI’s program according to a "barriers list," which catalogs a number of risk factors, such as low economic status, single-parent households, foster care, academic deficiencies, behavior problems, and so forth. More than 90 percent of participating students are African American, and about 50 kids are chosen from each school. Of these, 60 percent are "Greatest Impact Kids" (those who have a number of risk factors); 30 percent are "Intensive Intervention Kids" (those with nearly all of them); and 10 percent are "Leadership Kids" (those who demonstrate leadership qualities in school and among their peers). While SEI spends about $2,500 a year per child, families pay nothing for the program. For just $40 a year, students who aren’t selected can participate in SEI’s after-school, weekend, and summer programs. An additional 400 kids are currently taking advantage of these programs.
"Everything at SEI is done with class," notes Vernon Elementary Principal Linda Wakefield. Wakefield has worked with SEI for years, in three different schools, and has seen firsthand what it can do for students. "They have high expectations," she says. "That’s so important, especially for the kids who may not get them anywhere else."
What sets SEI apart from other youth programs? Four things, according to Hopson:
The relationship model.
Rooted in African tradition, this model is at the core of SEI’s philosophy. According to the model, staff move in and out of three roles — parent, mentor, and instructor — in interacting with kids.
Continuity of services.
Children begin the program at age eight, and can continue with it until they are 25. They work for years with coordinators who are often the only constant in their lives.
Comprehensive programs.
SEI works with kids in school, after school, during the summer, even on school holidays, so they get year-round, consistent support. Accredited summer classes allow students to make up lost credits and meet benchmarks.
A family-based approach.
Because at-risk kids usually go home to at-risk parents, SEI works with families to help them deal with their circumstances. This helps prevent a negative home environment from offsetting the positive gains children make.
SEI has earned numerous awards and accolades, including recognition from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for being a national model of violence prevention. But, for Hopson, the best barometer of the program’s success is what former SEI kids, like Glenn, are doing with their lives. (For an interview with another SEI student, see Voices.) Says Hopson:
"The ultimate goal for us is to raise up kids that can be positive role models to other kids. To raise up individuals that can contribute to society and be willing to give back, in the way that we’re trying to give back. So that all of this kind of perpetuates itself."
In Portland’s inner-city neighborhoods, the cycle has already begun.
Story and photos by SAMANTHA MOORES
