Alabama volunteer gives kids the gift of T.I.M.E.

Mennonite Central Committee
Friday, 20 April 2001

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Sharron Carter doesn't need to coax neighborhood kids to come to the after-school program she runs at New Vision Ministries, her home church. As soon as they see her car in the church parking lot, she says, they pound on the church door and beg to come in -- even if it's not the program's normal hours.

"But I'm glad for that," Carter says. "These kids have so many things they have to run from -- it's good for them to have something they want to run to."

Around 10 to 15 children come daily to Carter's free program, which she calls T.I.M.E. (Teach, Instruct, Motivate, Encourage). In addition to help with reading and math, participants get computer training, a snack, devotions and lots of love and attention from Carter and volunteers from the church.

"I've seen kids just be transformed," Carter says. "They're shown a lot of love, but they know there are rules."

Carter, a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Church Community Worker, describes the development of the program as her long journey of understanding God's calling.

Three years ago, she was working in the corporate world and babysitting her kindergarten-age grandson.

"I realized he was so far behind, so I went to the teacher and found out what they were teaching. I made up worksheets and helped him one-on-one before school," she remembers.

Carter soon realized her grandson wasn't the only one who needed help, and she began to tutor regularly at the local elementary school. In August 1999, New Vision Ministries embraced her idea of having an after-school program at their building. "The church was especially enthusiastic about Carter's plan because they had earlier decided that creating an after-school program was part of their long-term vision."

Four volunteers from the church now assist Carter on a rotating basis. Most of the children, who range in age from seven to 14, come from single-parent homes.

"The boys in the program that don't have fathers in the homes, they respond so well to the young men who come in to help. I've seen [the children's] anger levels really go down -- it's amazing," Carter says.

She found out about MCC's Church Community Worker program through a visitor staying with her pastor, whose daughter she was tutoring. This program for people of color who serve in their home communities provides her with financial support -- an important benefit, since she had quit her office job.

In another providential encounter, Carter shared in church that she was looking for computers for the T.I.M.E. program. By the end of the day, a man who happened to be visiting donated enough money for five computers.

Carter is encouraged by the support she receives from participants' parents, most of whom would not be able to afford other after-school care. They help enforce her zero tolerance rule for fighting and cook dinner every Wednesday so the children can stay for an evening Bible study.

"Most of the parents are really young, and it's a blessing for them to have an older person helping train their children," Carter says.

Dionicio Acosta, service program administrator for MCC East Coast, has observed Carter in action. "What was inspiring during my visit with her, is to see that she is more than just a tutor to the children, at times she is also serving as their mother," he says.

During the school's recent spring break, Carter ran an all-day program, which she also hopes to offer during the summer.

"This is just one of those calls," Carter says of the T.I.M.E. program's success. "I tried to ignore it for so long, but I knew I was supposed to be working with children."

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org