ONE ON ONE | Kathryn Hawks Haney She gives kids -- and rest of family -- a chance

Tell me about Give the Children a Chance.
We're not just for children anymore. We've taken on new meaning because to work with people you really need to work with the whole complete family.
Why did you start the organization?
Because of the black-on-black killings in Youngstown, five years, six years, seven years ago, and it hasn't stopped yet.
We started out with a choir of over 200 young people, and we traveled all over Youngstown and the area. But as time went on people grew up. I thought they'd never grow up. And so we're beginning again.
Who has most influenced your life?
My mother. I don't think we realize that when we're children. But as we get older and look back I think even my decisions that I make now, although my mother is passed, and I am not superstitious, but I do believe what she has put in me is what I go to when I need help, when I need inspiration, things that mother said to me.
What's the best thing about Youngstown?
Kathryn Hawks Haney was born here. And what they are now doing -- city council and the mayor -- they're working on new improvements downtown to make Youngstown, as near possible, how it used to be.
If you could meet anyone who ever lived, who would you meet?
It would have to be Jesus. There's questions I'd like to ask him, things I'd like to talk about. ... (I'd ask) "Why Me?" Then I'd say, "Why not me?" and then I'd say "Thank you."
What is your goal at the radio station?
I think my purpose is information, to inform people what's going on. ... We need to know what time it is, where we are in Scripture. At 5 in the morning on our station, I open up with reading Revelation and the Book of Daniel.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Weight. Losing weight and keeping it off. Everything else kind of falls into place. I believe that once you conquer appetite everything falls into place. The Bible calls it gluttony.... God gave birth to us in a garden, and we did fine until we started eating out of a garbage can.
What's the most difficult thing you've had to deal with.
I would think the death of a granddaughter (who died of a brain aneurysm after doctors said she only had a pinched nerve).
It happened so suddenly after we were told she was all right, it would be OK. I don't think we're through dealing with it. We still call her name, and that's the things that just go on for time.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Gospel. I really like classical music.
What do you want people to know about Give the Children A Chance?
That we are available. That we are here to listen, we're here to refer. That we are open five days a week.
Sometimes people just need a listener, and we do all that. And that we're not just for children anymore.
What needs to be done to improve conditions for children growing up in Youngstown?
Programs that teach them earlier reading, getting back to basics: reading, writing and arithmetic.
Even though they have all the computer games and the other things, it seems like people need basics.
And maybe a lot less television and spending more time with family.
Do you think young people in Youngstown are more susceptible to crime?
No, not really. I think this is something happening worldwide. ... This is a world situation due to music and, I think, drugs.
What do you want to do when you retire.
I wouldn't even know how to retire because there's always things that people need.
There's a song that I play on the air that says, "It's all right to go home when your work is done."
So it's all right to retire when the work is done, but how do you retire when you're involved in the community?