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In May, Shameka Pickett and her two teenage sons could no longer afford housing at the Budget Inn. They were homeless.

Five months later, the Picketts are transitioning out of Genesis Home, a temporary housing facility at 300 N. Queen St., and moving into a three-bedroom townhouse.

Pickett recalled moving to Genesis Home, saying, “We knew at that point that everything would be okay.”

Despite facing many challenges, Pickett said her boys and her faith have kept her going.

“God is my strength. He is my all in all,” said Pickett. “Without him I don’t know where I’d be.”

A Difficult Past

The family started living in the Budget Inn to escape a neighborhood in Durham where violence and crime were prevalent.

“I was scared for my kids, said Pickett. “It was dangerous because people had been robbed and shot sitting on their front porch.”

The breaking point was when Rhamir, 13, was caught in crossfire on the way to the store one night. He was not injured, but the shooting frightened the whole family.

The next morning they packed up everything they could carry on her backs, leaving behind many belongings, including family photos, Pickett said.

For eight months, the Budget Inn became their home because Pickett was laid off at her job and unable to find another. The family was living on her disability benefits from a herniated disc injury she got on the job.

When their money ran out, the Picketts were out of options.

“My mom was crying, and she didn’t know what to do, so we moved here,” said 16-year-old Darrius.

A Special Kind of Home

Genesis Home provides a place for families to regroup and rebuild, said Executive Director Ryan Fehrman.

Opening in 1989, Genesis Home was the first place in the area to provide shelter for the whole family, said Fehrman. Genesis was established by Durham Congregations in Action in order to fulfill that need.

“We think it’s important in a crisis situation for families to stay together,” said Fehrman.

The home houses 12 families, and they become very close, said Assistant Program Director Kisha Lunsford.

“It’s just a regular family but a cluster of families,” said Lunsford. “It’s like a village when they come here.”

Besides providing a place to live, Genesis offers a variety of supportive services to residents. Among these include financial training, support groups, job preparation, and tutoring for children, said Lunsford.

Genesis Home also serves as the designated referral resource for families in more difficult situations, said Fehrman. Those who have struggled with disabling conditions, substance abuse, and mental illness are welcome at Genesis.

Pickett and her family are part of a program called Turning Point that provides supportive services for these special cases, which Genesis offers through a grant, said Fehrman.

Turning Point provides care for families who have suffered from drug abuse, mental illness, or a disabling condition, said Pickett.

She is diagnosed with severe depression and has had issues with drug abuse in the past, but has been clean since 2008.

Pickett is taking classes to become a certified peer support counselor for those who suffer with drug abuse, ensuring she will get a job that can support her family.

For her though, it is about more than the money. She is glad that her story can provide motivation for others quit using drugs as well.

“Every person who does drugs is covering up something in their life, some pain,” said Pickett.

She hopes to help others acknowledge that pain and work towards recovery just as she did.

A Bright Future

Genesis allows families to relax and be a family again, said Darrius.

“Genesis Home, they brought us together…And now we get help to get back on our feet once we move out,” said Darrius.

As part of the program, Turning Point will pay the rent for the first year in their townhome, giving Pickett time to provide her family with a secure financial future.

Pickett said after everything they’ve been through, she feels good about the future again.

“I’ve waited for so long and now it’s finally here and it’s right what I needed when I needed it,” said Pickett.

Upon seeing her townhome for the first time, she beamed with joy. She couldn’t help but to raise her hands to the ceiling in praise.

Pickett said she can’t wait to watch movies and play games in the new place with her sons, whom she calls her best friends.

“It felt so good to see the beautiful place, and it’s ours,” said Pickett. “It’s perfect for me and my boys.”

Published in The Durham Voice 

Genesis Home: Providing Hope for the Homeless

Former Gang Leader Campaigns for Change

Once a drug dealer and the leader of a Durham gang, Otis Lyons now leads a movement called Campaign 4 Change to stop young people from falling into his former lifestyle.

“A lot of kids that’s acting up they tell people that’s trying to help, ‘You don’t understand. You don’t live my life. You don’t walk in my shoes’…they know I understand,” says Lyons.

Lyons was raised in an impoverished environment, with his mother addicted to drugs and his father not around.

“Growing up where I grew up, people nurture you to be the next drug dealer or the next gang banger,” says Lyons. “They don’t nurture you to be a lawyer or a doctor.”

Lyons says he created the gang, the North Durham Vice, in his teens to gain a sense of power and importance.

At the age of 19, he was charged for assault with a deadly weapon and given a 30-year prison sentence.

“The great part about it was that [the judge] sentenced me to punishment, but it actually saved my life,” says Lyons.

While he was in prison many of the members of his gang were killed, and after serving only five years, his sentence was overturned.

After his release, Lyons was determined to make a difference, but he fell back into selling drugs.

Lyons says one night he dreamed that God paid him a visit, flashing incidents of all the times He had saved his life.

Lyons particularly remembers a time when seven men surrounded him to take his life.  One grabbed him from behind, put the gun up to his head and pulled the trigger. Miraculously, Lyons survived.

In the dream, Lyons clearly remembers God telling him, “You’re not a vegetable. You’re not in a wheelchair. You’ve got all of your senses. Why do you think I saved you?”

“To save others,” says Lyons.

The Act of Change

Campaign 4 Change started with Lyons doing workshops and talking to kids; then he realized that kids need something more than just somebody saying, “Don’t do that.”

He added skits and songs to the workshops, eventually creating a play called “Ridin wit’ Joe Crack.” Lyons says he created the play to educate young people about why to say no to the lure of gangs and drug dealing.

The play will give audiences of all ages a better understanding of what it’s like to live in poverty and to be faced with the same obstacles, says Lyons.

Moriah Williams, last year’s female lead in the play, says, “I like to use my talent to inspire young children in the community and adults, people who have given up hope.”

The tenth annual performance of “Ridin wit’ Joe Crack” is this January, with new performers auditioning each year.

Jakayla Hart, who now serves as Campaign 4 Change’s Youth Ambassador, was deeply impacted by the decision to audition for the play.

At the age of 12, when she tried out for the play Lyons says she was not ready for the stage but something told him to choose her anyway.

Hart explains, “All I wanted to do was be on stage. I didn’t care about the message or his mission statement.”

Hart started out by helping Lyons behind the scenes, until one day he decided to give her the opportunity to perform.

Lyons asked her to write a poem about why gangs are bad, but she refused. He soon discovered that it was because she was in a gang herself.

Hart says that was the day Lyons decided to take her on as his project and get her out of the gang.

“I spent a good amount of time thinking that would be my life, and it feels like almost immediately that was over,” Hart says.

She became his assistant, working her way up to the lead female acting role before graduating from high school.

Now a pre-med student on scholarship at Emory University, Hart says Lyons made her “think big.”

“I may have worked for it, but I never would have thought of working for it until I met him,” she says.

Lyons continues to think big with his goals for Campaign 4 Change.

The play was only the beginning. Revenue from the performance now raises money for the organization’s other work.

The Continuing Campaign

Recent additions to the Campaign 4 Change movement include Carolina Idol talent competition, Kings and Queens Pageant, and DON’s Basketball League.

Started in 2012, DON’s Basketball League has become an integral part of Campaign 4 Change.

Last summer, over 350 youths signed up for 100 spots total among 10 different teams. Everything is free: uniforms, transportation, coaching, and even halftime entertainment.

The only requirement from the players is that they do community service once a week and attend mandatory educational workshops on game days.

“It’s another production inside of a basketball game, and it’s all for these kids. They know that it’s all for them so that motivates them to be greater and do better,” says Hart.

“Basketball is the way we get to them…They’re little boys when they come in; they’re starting to think like men when they finish,” says Hart.

Lyons is constantly coming up with fresh ideas because he says his work will never be done.

“You’ll never stop gangs and drugs because it’s a multibillion dollar business over my head, so my goal is to really make a national impact,” says Lyons. “Not just help kids in Durham, but help kids all over the nation in some way.”

He does this by touring with volunteers and speaking on a topic that is often neglected: the seductive and lucrative lure of the drug dealer lifestyle.

“These kids that are out here waving guns and shooting and killing, people look at them as stone cold criminals,” says Lyons. “They are because of their actions, but they were victims before they became that.”

Volunteer Moriah Williams says they tell young people: “Hey, the street isn’t the only way…you don’t always have to fall where society wants you to. The same way I followed my dreams, you can too.”

In this way, Lyons and the volunteers are able to use their stories to help others along the same path.

“Performing spoken word pieces turned into giving motivational speeches to other drug dealers and gang bangers who were trying to get out of the lifestyle,” says Hart.

Lyons is thankful not only that he was able to escape his former life but also that he has been able to help so many others in his position.

“I still don’t know why [God] chose me,” says Lyons. “I’m just so thankful and so glad because I love my life.”

Published in The Durham Voice

A Museum Created by the Community for the Community

The creation of a museum of Durham history has been discussed since the 1940s, and on Oct. 12, that concept became a reality as the city came together to celebrate the opening of the Durham History Hub at 500 West Main St.

The opening day celebration was a reflection of the museum’s creation, with support and input from a diverse group of Durham residents, organizations, and businesses.

“I am most proud of the number of hands that have touched this project…What excites and energizes me the most is that people want to see this happen and want to see the history museum take off,” said Executive Director Katie Spencer.

Coming Together to Celebrate the Museum

The celebration began with a parade down Main Street reflecting Durham’s past and present, ranging from Civil War reenactors to members of the Hillside marching band and the Bouncing Bulldogs jump rope team.

After remarks from Mayor Bill Bell and other community leaders, the History Hub opened its doors to the public for the first time.

“We are always talking about good things happening in Durham, and today is a good thing happening in Durham,” said Bell.

“We just need to thank all of Durham for what you did because we couldn’t have done it by ourselves,” said Lew Myers, chairman of the board of directors.

The fanfare continued all day with performances and activities from a variety of local groups, including musicians and storytellers.

The goal was to try to involve as many people in the celebration as possible, said Spencer.

A Hub for Durham History

The museum, once a bus station, is called a hub because it gives an overview of Durham history while providing links to the city’s more individualized historical sites, said Myers.

“I think it’s important to have a central place where people can gather and reflect on the past…that’s what’s been lacking in Durham,” said Spencer.

“It’s really astounding because I remember it as a bus station,” said Bell. “The location is great because it’s in the heart of Durham.”

The Hub also hopes to supplement what the schools are doing by bringing in local history, said Spencer.

Owen Bryant, history teacher at Durham Academy, said he looks forward to bringing his students to the museum.

Bryant said students need to know that Durham has an important place in history, like the other places they learn about.

Knowing the history of Durham helps you connect to where you live, said Bryant.

Spencer said, “There is that impact of seeing your city through the lens of history, with historic eyes, that adds this deeper level of going through the city.”

Coming Together to Create the Museum

The History Hub began to move forward in 2004 when Durham’s Cultural Master Plan named a museum of history as one of the city’s highest priorities, said Spencer.

Since then, community input has been involved in every step of the museum’s creation.

In the beginning stages, a feasibility study was conducted with community members to access their vision for the museum, said Spencer.

Raising the $175,000 to renovate and build was a community-wide effort as well.

Money for the museum came from grants, corporate sponsors, and individual donations, said Spencer.

Once the space was secured in July 2012, the museum threw a big party showcasing preliminary exhibit designs and asked those in attendance to critique the plans, said Spencer.

“We want people to walk in the door and see themselves in Durham’s past and feel like what is highlighted is worth while and meaningful to them,” said Spencer.

Now that the doors have opened, the museum still offers opportunities for people to share their own perspective and tell what is left out.

“It makes the process of writing the museum ongoing,” said Spencer.

“We’ve got an opportunity to present history in a new way,” said Myer.

For example, the story room allows people to come in and record their stories of Durham’s past that will be archived in the library and incorporated into future exhibits.

Spencer said the interviewing and writing she did for her community journalism class at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the class that now produces the Durham Voice, drew her into the work of storytelling.

“Stories are significant at a family level but they are also significant at a community level to carry the memoirs forward,” said Spencer. “I hope that we are able to help this community grow and plan by using where we’ve been to inform where we’re going.”

Published in The Durham Voice

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