No Silver Bullet

In my first post entitled, Sadness and Hope in Durkeeville, my observation pertaining to the tennis courts and lack of a skill center was not accurate. I learned the tennis courts are an integral part of a skill center operated by the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation (MWKF) after meeting, by chance, a board member of the foundation. Based this chance meeting, I realized I needed to conduct more research. I had the subsequent opportunity to meet with the foundation’s Executive Director, Terri Florio.

After my extensive conversation with Ms. Florio and tour of the facility, I have a new found appreciation for MWKF and the tennis courts. However, my research led to an interesting self-discovery period, which took me over a month to come to my conclusions that reinforced my prior convictions. Namely, helping the inner city solve its problems will not be easy and will require lots of fortitude over multiple generations. I hope that as a nation we have it in us because the results will pay dividends such as saving tax dollars and helping a group of people enjoy more freedoms and opportunities.

Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3) is unique in that it encompasses the inner city cores of central and northeast Florida, with the majority of the voters living in Jacksonville, FL. The common characteristics of these inner city cores are high poverty rates, greater incidents of crime and lack of job opportunities. There are many causes that lead to these less-than-desirable effects, but one form of intervention is programs like MWKF that work with the inner city youth to help them make better decisions so they can avoid a life of crime and conversely, have a greater chance of a more fulfilling and rewarding life than their parents and prior generations.

However, spreading the use of programs similar to MWKF is not feasible due to cost alone. Based on MWKF’s cost structure, I calculate it would require over $200,000,000 annually to help just the “at risk youth” in CD-3. There are other issues as well that prevent wide spread adoption of similar programs such as, lack of community support, not all youth will want to or suited to participate, etc.

There is no silver bullet or magic solution. So where do we start? Support programs like MWKF when we can. The following is also needed:
1. A desire in the community to affect change, which means acknowledging the issues and accepting responsibility when warranted;
2. A greater awareness, understanding and desire to help/mentor by those outside the community;
3. An ongoing constructive dialog between those in the community and outside the community; and
4. Effective leadership on local, state and federal levels.