Meet John Eads, the Director of Youth Services at VOA Southeast and a key figure in the formation of Light of the City, a front-line, hands-on ministry run by VOA Southeast to reach out to at-risk youth in Baldwin County, AL, through free, year-round after school enrichment and Bible study programs. Since 2008, the program has filled a crucial gap in the county’s lower-income communities, providing tutoring, enrichment, and an array of other services to children and families through a year-round after-school program and an annual seven-week summer camp.
Light of the City: Serving At-Risk Youth in Baldwin County, Alabama
2008 was the year the United States elected our first Black president. But that same year, in the mostly Black Douglasville neighborhood of Bay Minette, Alabama, an old, run-down building that used to house a segregated high school sat unused – a sad reminder of the ways the legacy of disinvestment in communities of color had lingered into the present.
Today, that school has been transformed. Now called the Douglasville School of Arts & Recreation, it’s home to a gymnasium, a banquet room, classroom spaces, a community garden, a walking track, playground equipment, and a pavilion.
That transformation was spearheaded by VOA Southeast’s Light of the City program, a front-line, hands-on ministry that reaches out to at-risk youth in Baldwin County, AL, through free, year-round after school enrichment and Bible study programs.
How One Campus Grew a Community
In 2008, the mayor of Bay Minette approached VOA Southeast to see if it would be possible to start up a youth program out of the old Douglasville High School.
From 1949 until 1970, Douglasville High School was one of two segregated public high schools for Black students in Baldwin County. It wasn’t until 1970 that students from Douglasville were transferred to Baldwin County High School after court-ordered integration. By the mid 2000s the building had been abandoned and fallen into disrepair.
“He challenged us to do it, and we did it,” said John Eads, VOA Southeast’s Director of Youth Services. Eads and his wife had founded another ministry for at-risk youth in Prichard, AL, in 2001 called Light of the Village, so Eads designed the new program, Light of the City, to mirror the one they already led.
The new program launched in 2008, and ever since it’s filled a crucial gap for Baldwin county’s lower-income communities, providing tutoring, enrichment, and an array of other services to children and families through a year-round after-school program and an annual seven-week summer camp.
“The beginning was very hectic,” says Barry Hurst, the current Director of Light of the City. Though he’s only been the director for two years, Hurst has worked with the program since it began. He recalls that when it launched in 2008, the demand from the community was overwhelming.
“We started with over 200 kids, and that was virtually impossible to do with the staffing and the campus we had when we first started. But as time went on, we were able to get rid of all the old buildings, we were able to get a new pavilion built, a walking track, outside playground equipment, and so on.”
Since then the staff has also grown: Light of the City employs lots of current and former teachers from the Bay Minette area for their summer and afterschool programs.
“We don’t just throw kids a basketball and say, ‘Have at it,’” said Eads. “The kids get organized activities – that’s a huge part of it. You can put a Boys and Girls’ Club anywhere but if it’s not controlled you’re just creating another problem.”
Instead, Light of the City has a high adult-to-kid ratio: about one adult for every 10 kids during the summer camp and one adult to every 5 kids in the after school program. Many of those adults are current or former educators who have a calling for working with children.
Today about 150 children are registered and 80 kids per day participate in the summer camp – most of them from the surrounding community in Douglasville and greater Bay Minette. But others come to participate from communities 20 to 30 minutes away such as Stockton and Pine Grove. It runs from Tuesdays to Fridays, and there’s a wait list to make sure the program can serve as many kids as possible while school’s out.
A Day at Bible Camp
Each day at the camp begins with a morning assembly, then the kids break into groups based on age and gender and cycle through an assortment of activities throughout the day, including Bible study, arts and crafts, outdoor and indoor athletics, and music and dance. At the end of the summer, Light of the City rents out the local community pool for a day-long field trip.
One student at this year’s Light of the City summer program, Trinity, says the Bible study is her favorite part of each day at camp.
“I’ve learned a lot more about the Bible than I’ve learned in the past,” she said. A student in the Bay Minette area, Trinity gets a ride to the camp each day from her parents.
“We start off [each day] having worship and dancing. Later on we have Bible study, then we go outside and play. I like all of it!”
A retired police sergeant for the Escambia County Police Department in Atmore, AL, and a coach for youth football, baseball, and basketball, Hurst said he’s seen all the ways things can go wrong for teenagers in bad conditions when they don’t have the guidance and opportunities they need.
“I’ve seen the good, and I’ve seen the worst,” he said. “Every kid needs direction. Every kid needs a role model, whether you want to be one or not. If I can be in a place where I can steer one child from going left, I believe I’ve done my heart and God is happy.”
While Light of the City is for kids ages 5 through 14, once kids age out of the program they get a chance to give back to their community and volunteer over the summer as a teen leader.
“It makes it all worth it when we’re able to see those kids mature and want to turn back around and come back and instill into other kids what was put into them when they came through the camp,” said Hurst.
In addition to building good practical working habits like showing up at time, working and communicating with others, etc. the teen leaders in the summer program develop a stronger sense of connection with – and responsibility for – their community.
“It gives them something to belong to that’s really positive,” says Eads. “They can contribute to that feeling of forward momentum. They have a role to play.”
The After School Program
After Labor Day, once school is back in session, Light of the City runs a free after school program three days a week for elementary school kids from 3:00 to 5:30 where local kids can get individualized tutoring and help with their homework.
Programs like VOA Southeast’s Light of the City that provide continuous care and individual attention for kids free of charge are priceless to working parents. The median income in Bay Minette is just under $37,000 – about half that of the $70,000 average for Baldwin County. Around 95% of kids in the program are low income and are on the “reduced lunch” program in school.
“A lot of working parents don’t have that time that my parents had to sit at the table with their kids and make sure they’re doing their work,” says Hurst. That’s what this after school program does. It gives those same working parents the opportunity that they can go to work while knowing their kids are some place where someone is helping them get to their work and making sure they understand it”
Help VOA Southeast Reach More People in Need
Since 1980, VOA Southeast has been answering God’s call to transform lives by reaching and uplifting our communities’ most vulnerable. Today, we positively impact the lives of over 47,000 people each year.
Our program, Light of the City, creates a positive ripple effect in the lives of the families it serves; it embodies VOA Southeast’s commitment to the well-being and growth of our children and youth. Programs like these do more than address the symptoms of social problems – they tackle root causes and lay the foundations for substantial improvement through long term community investment.
We rely on your support to make these programs a reality. Your contributions are what enable us to continue our work. Please consider donating today. Every contribution makes a difference.