DIANE MAKAR MURPHY Mom's influence benefits another generation

Ilene Dixon credits the way she lives her life to her mother.
Ilene, who is the program director of YUMADAOP -- the Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program -- admires her mother greatly. She attributes her own determination to help at-risk children ("And aren't they all at risk in Youngstown?" she says), to promote education, and to shoulder responsibility, to Katie Tarpley.
"She's my hero and my role model," Ilene said.
It is easy to see why. Katie Tarpley, according to Ilene, raised eight children mostly as a single mother working as a domestic. She saw all eight through high school and into college, where half earned degrees.
"She had a strong work ethic and she valued education," Ilene said.
Responsibility: That work ethic began young as Katie's mother -- Ilene's grandmother -- had a stroke at 38, leaving Katie the primary caregiver. She maintained that role for the next 43 years, even as her three boys and five girls required her attention, too.
"She'll be 73 in October," Ilene said, "and she's just as determined as she ever was."
And so is Ilene. Her responsibilities at the prevention agency might make another person run and hide.
Ilene monitors and writes grants. She keeps track of the program objectives and achievements -- keeping involved in a number of schools (include Hillman Middle School, Eagle Heights Academy and North Elementary School, among others), outreach centers like Needle's Eye, and adult sites. She supervises a staff of six.
She spreads YUMADAOP's message of prevention through speaking engagements and also teaches at an after-school program two afternoons a week in collaboration with Weed and Seed, a community prevention program.
"I'm the kind of program director who doesn't sit behind a desk. I'm hands-on," Ilene said.
And she loves it, saying she "likes to get up every morning and go to it."
"My mother did farm work. Most of us helped with the picking in the summers," Ilene said. "At home, we all pitched in. The way my mother had it set up, we were all responsible for each other. I was responsible for the four [siblings] younger than me, and the oldest, my sister, was responsible for everyone."
School: Education was a priority for Katie's kids. "Now, when I look at these kids in the schools, I say, 'Don't tell me you can't, cause you can!' " Ilene said. "I have high expectations. Sometimes, I'm like a parent. I like playing with the kids. I'll start right in and jump rope and play games with them. I listen to their music, so I can keep up on the lingo."
She even made a rap video for them, based on the poetry she has had published.
In working with the after-school program, Ilene is part instructor, part prevention specialist, part mom. Fifty-two kids benefit from the program, held downstairs at Martin Luther Lutheran Church in Youngstown four afternoons a week. Elementary children attend one day a week; middle school kids two days. The ratio is from 5 children to one adult, to 15 to two adults.
"People want us to put more children through the program, but it is more important to be successful with the ones we do help," Ilene said. Independent pre-testing and post-testing assure the program developers that students are benefiting.
The day: Participants arrive after school, get a full meal, time to do homework, arts and crafts activities, game time, physical education and lessons in avoiding drugs, alcohol and other dangers. A bus takes them home around 6 p.m.
Overall, YUMADAOP, by Ilene's estimate, serves more than 1,200 kids a year through its various prevention programs. Many of them benefit from Ilene's influence and, in a not so round about way, from Katie's.
murphy@vindy.com