BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN

dvaughan@heraldsun.com; 419-6563

DURHAM -- The East Durham Children's Initiative will do whatever it takes to make sure children are supported from cradle to college, Wanda Boone told the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham at its monthly community luncheon roundtable, held at Shepherd's House United Methodist Church on Driver Street.

The initiative is modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone. Boone co-chairs the East Durham Children's Initiative along with Durham School Board Chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown, Barker French and Durham County Commmissioner Ellen Reckhow. The initiative joins community forces to create a pipeline of support for East Durham children from birth throughout school and on to college or career. The goal is to partner with residents to help them succeed.

Affiliated schools include Y.E. Smith Museum School, Neal Middle School and Southern High School. There are several other community partners, including city departments, law enforcement, N.C. Central University, Duke University and political action committees. Holton Career and Resource Center is also hub for the initiative, Boone said.

Boone said that the initiative will continue regardless of funding, though they are applying for a federal Promise Neighborhoods grant.

"If we don't get help from somebody else, what are we as a community going to do about it?" Boone asked. "That's 'Whatever It Takes,'" she said, the slogan of the initiative.

Reckhow said that over her 20 years as a commissioner, "the thing that has struck me over time is we keep thinking we're doing something ... but we're dabbling." She said what they learned by visiting New York's program is that just one thing isn't enough for children or families. Rather, they need to be wrapped in support their entire childhoods.

The initiative brings together new and existing opportunities. Antioch Baptist Church offers parenting classes. Other churches offer after-school programs. A high priority is summer camps, which Reckhow pointed out contributes to the achievement gap between lower income families and middle and upper class.

"Creating opportunities where young people can excel and reach their God given potential -- that's what it's all about," Reckhow said.

Boone said that the initiative isn't going to just do something to or for the community -- instead the community will be just as much a part of it.

"Empowerment is returning a sense of hope and can-do to the community," she said.

For information about the initiative, visit www.eastdurhamchildrensinitiative.org.