20TH ANNIVERSARY Ebony Lifeline support group to feature speaker at banquet

Weekend activities will culminate with a banquet.
CAMPBELL -- Dr. John W. Singleton will be the keynote speaker when Ebony Lifeline Support Group Inc. celebrates its 20th anniversary this weekend.
Roosevelt Park Pavilion 1 will be the setting from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday for a free cookout. A dance is planned from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Fellowship Hall, 2555 Rush Blvd., Youngstown. Tickets are $3 a person or $5 a couple.
Singleton, chief of employer relations and employee assistance program director at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., will be featured at a banquet scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel social hall, Youngstown. Tickets are $20.
Speaker's background
Dr. Singleton earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Southern California, a master's in counseling at Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate at Northfield University. He has more than 25 years of experience in conflict resolution, stress management and employee assistance programs.
He has held his current position since 1996 and also is a counselor and owner of New Columbia Counseling Inc. in Annadale, Va.
Singleton also has been a substance-abuse specialist at the Institute of Human Resources in McLean, Va.; outpatient director at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.; and drug abuse program adviser and outpatient counselor with the U.S. Navy, Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va.
He served with the U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Team and SEAL teams and as a U.S. Air Force tail gunner. He retired after 20 years of service.
About the organization
Ebony Lifeline is a grassroots movement that began in 1984 through the efforts of Robert F. Thomas and Luther Stubbs. The goal was to provide alternatives to minorities who experience difficulty in using established self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
Jerry Carter, executive director of the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic, supplies a meeting room for the organization.
Ebony Lifeline presents two radio programs as outreach to the community an a sports museum exhibit at Youngstown YMCA. Ebony is the host the All Sports Hall of Fame Banquet.
The organization has received the Tribute to Black Excellence Award in 2003 from Delta Sigma Theta sorority for outstanding work in the area of physical and mental health; the Mayor's Task Force Volunteer Group Award in 1999; and the Outstanding Volunteer Achievement Award for Support Group from Trumbull County Board of Alcohol, Drugs and Mental Health, now known as Community Solutions/Life Line.
For information call Ed Prayor Sr. at (330) 743-6193 or Markus Douglas at (330) 788-2251.