YOUNGSTOWN Hope is focus of speaker's key message

Start toward an education immediately, no matter what the situation, she said.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Henia D. Johnson has experienced a lot.
Johnson's been a drug addict and a single mother. She's reached education milestones from a general equivalency diploma to a doctorate.
She's worked in state government and been a social researcher. She's started support groups for homicide victims' families and for men and women who are in jail.
All that points to one thing, which she will share this weekend.
"Hope. Hope for tomorrow," said Johnson, now a post doctorate fellow at the University of Michigan's Substance Abuse Research Center.
Johnson, of Lansing, Mich., is the keynote speaker for the Mayor's Task Force on Crime and Violence Prevention's annual banquet Monday night. The group's 2001 Peace Awards will be given. There, Johnson will talk about how unity leads to community success.
Schedule: First, she will spend the weekend in Youngstown.
Sunday, she will be part of the Mayor's Task Force Day during the service at 11 a.m. at Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church.
Saturday, Johnson will conduct a wide-ranging town hall-style talk from 9 a.m. to noon at Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church on Parkcliff Avenue.
She will discuss topics ranging from education and substance abuse recovery to voting and breast cancer.
Johnson hopes to reach younger people so she can impart the views that brought her success. That means starting toward an education immediately, no matter what a person's situation is now.
"Everyone has to start where they are," Johnson said. "A GED has served me well."
Accomplishments: She went from there to a bachelor's degree in psychology at Cleveland State University, a master's in community services from Michigan State University and a doctorate in sociology from Syracuse University.
Before that, Johnson founded several advocacy groups for prison inmates and one named VOICES, a support group for families of black homicide victims. There is a chapter in Youngstown.
From 1991 to 1995, she was a public information officer and regional liaison for Lee Fisher, former Ohio attorney general.
There, she saw the importance that voting plays in the lives of struggling black residents. Voting for those who will help is an important piece of getting people back on their feet, Johnson said.
"People across the racial divide can't give up their vote," she said. "Your vote is your voice."
rgsmith@vindy.com