MAHONING VALLEY Group promotes sisterhood

A concerned grandmother started the group after seeing young mothers at a baby shower.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Jasmine Crafter said she used to fight with people when she was in eighth grade. She'd get into trouble and end up getting suspended from school.
But now, the ninth-grader at Wilson High School in Youngstown has a new outlook. She wasn't suspended at all during the first four months of the school year, and she's been absent only twice.
She said the change has a lot to do with the Sisters of Serenity peer group, which helps her explore her hope of becoming a nurse and places a new focus on her violin playing.
Many teenagers are more interested in fighting and having sex, Jasmine said.
Or they're drinking, smoking or getting high, added fellow group member Latoya Allen, an eighth-grader at Youngstown's Hillman Middle School.
A different focus
But these girls have focused on something else.
Visiting Neoma L. McDowell has become their Saturday ritual, and the ritual of several other girls in the group.
It started out as McDowell seeking to direct the lives of her granddaughters, Danielle and Marisha Robinson. Since September, it has grown to a group of 10 girls, with more hoping to join in.
If Marisha didn't visit McDowell, she'd be "at home, watching TV," the Hillman eighth-grader said.
Danielle, a Wilson ninth-grader, said she'd be "talking to somebody on the phone, getting into trouble."
"We'd rather have something to make us better in our life," she added.
McDowell said she started the group after attending the baby shower of another granddaughter, 17, last year. There, she saw several young girls who had babies but didn't know how to mother them.
"I used to live in the projects, West Lake Terrace," said McDowell, referring to her life about 20 years ago. "I always had this thought in my mind that I wanted to take the young people and show them things. ... Last year, I got a burden in my heart, and I couldn't shake it."
What they do
With the group, McDowell has made crafts and played games. They also heard about truancy from a juvenile justice center worker and attended library and park events. Some are joining the Youngstown State University Students Motivated by the Arts (SMARTS) classical music program. The girls also volunteered at a Thanksgiving community dinner at a local church and plan to visit the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine next month.
McDowell also hopes to make trips to the Hale Farm & amp; Village in Bath, and to New York City.
As the group grows, McDowell has sought fund-raisers, and the girls recently sold Christmas cards. She bought each a teen Bible with the money they raised.
Now, she's hoping to find help to obtain violins and a clarinet for the girls who play at school and in SMARTS.
"Truthfully speaking, I enjoy it and, as time goes on and I start seeing changes in them, I'm grateful for that," McDowell said. "My main thing is trying to help somebody else be better. I tell them 'You might have a negative situation in your life, but you can take that negative and make it a positive.'"
It's obvious the girls have come to appreciate McDowell as they tell of the Bibles she bought and the bookmarks she made for each of them.
Girls' comments
"She's nice. She likes to go to church," said Delasia Levy, who's in sixth grade at Eagle Heights Academy in Youngstown. "She's very creative."
"She's helpful, especially with transportation," added Jasmine Smith, an eighth-grader at Youngstown's Hayes Middle School. "Because if she didn't come get me, I wouldn't be here."
McDowell, who married when she was 17, said she's trying to show the girls the importance of education and steer them they "don't make the same mistakes." At 63, she's retired from the Tamco Distribution Center in Austintown after having also worked for U.S. Steel in Youngstown.
"I asked God to make the way for me, and he's done it," she said. "Now I'm just trying to help someone along the way."
At McDowell's home, the girls chat, laugh and smile and can hardly wait to get a piece of her homemade poundcake. They call her Ms. Neoma or Ms. McDowell or Grandma Ne Ne.
Career goals
Among their career goals are nursing, pediatrics, teaching or computer technology. Over the months, they've broadened their circle to include other girls. Mariah Brown is a seventh-grader at Canfield Village Middle School. Kelsey McDaniel is in seventh grade at Boardman Glenwood Middle school and Kassidy McDaniel is a freshman at Boardman High. Brie'An Chapman is in eighth grade at Legacy Academy in Youngstown.
"I've been in other groups, but they don't talk about the stuff we talk about," Danielle said.
"Everybody can get their feelings out, too," Delasia said.
"And you don't have to worry about what people think of you," Danielle added.
"Especially when you have problems, you can just talk about it in the open and get advice," Jasmine Smith said. "With peers your age, you can talk to them instead of just grown ups all the time.
"If I have a problem, I can come here and relate it to the Bible or relate to my peers."