Those of you who know me, (Roxson) understand how much I love the Family and Youth Service Center. We see some awful things, but we also see how the good in people is so much greater than the evil. Yesterday, I needed to find my inner peace; I’m worried about a particular child, so I walked through our gardens. I began to focus on what survived the devastating string of hard freezes we suffered through down here in Louisiana. It hit so fast and then just wouldn’t let up. We had time to protect the Peace Garden so it fared pretty well, but we didn’t have the money to manage the sidewalk orchard. We did our best to protect the roots but didn’t have enough money to wrap the trees and vines. We planted the Sidewalk Orchard about 2 years ago with funding from Dudley DeBosier (#DudleyDeBosier) to provide fresh fruit to people who walk up and down Government St. We have a full block so we planted all kinds of trees and vines. As I looked closely at the freeze-burned branches and leaves, I found life. Little leaves were beginning to show themselves. I lost two trees but 30 survived. Then I thought of the child that sent me outside to find clarity through my worry. I thought of how one garden was protected but the other was left to the theory of “survival of the fittest”. Even with the cold, harsh winds beating down for days, those 30 trees and vines continued to survive. One plum tree even shows signs of blossoms. It was GOD’s message. The children we often work with live through tough times, may not always receive shelter and protection, but they stand hard against all that batters them. The world that seems determined to destroy them has less power than they have. They want to live, they want to blossom, they want to bear fruit for the future. It’s a struggle and they look pretty rough on the outside and often are hardened by the elements but inside is a survivor. Sadly, we don’t win every battle, sometimes the battle is too hard. Children get lost so easily. It’s so hard to carry the loss because we remember when their little eyes sparkled and their hearts held hope. In the past two years, the funding we get to work with child survivors of violent crime has been cut to 1/3 what it was. To be fair, everyone went through the same cuts but my pockets are just not deep enough to pick up that kind of loss. I have a question: Are you a person who looks at something that is beaten down and sees the LIFE under the damage or one that just sees the brokenness? Do you toss it away to give room for something prettier or save the one that survived in spite of the odds against it? I know my answer, do you?

With absolute gratitude, I can’t wait to tell you about the wonderful weekend at the Family and Youth Service Center all thanks to a total of 105 students from LSU . The Pre-law Society of LSU was joined by friends from across LSU to help get our Collaborative Co-op Building closer to being ready to begin accepting new partners to the Center to fill a 13,330 square foot building with services for children and families throughout the five-parish area of Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes. Sunday was anything but a day of rest with two shifts of amazing students, once again, from LSU that began with the organization efforts of LSU’s NAACP working across colleges with representatives from Law, Bio-Engineering, Kinesiology, Education, Marketing, and on and on. I’ve never had a weekend so surrounded by brilliant minds who are also dedicated to making a better world and not willing to wait for tomorrow. We organized and cleaned areas that included the “Library of Forever Books” and . . . drum roll. . . the room that will house classes that include our new Life 101. This course will teach a broad spectrum of essential life skills including sewing, basic car maintenance, simple house repairs, how to cook using fresh fruits and vegetables, financial literacy, and the critical life skill of “Getting a Job and Keeping a Job”. We have another day scheduled for Saturday, February 24 starting at 8:30AM . Come join us in preparing our Collaborative Co-op Building for its pilot Life 101 course! Stay tuned for the month of March. We’re going to set records!