I made a choice to start working with young adults and children. I have established my own business One Step To Life. My main objective is to motivate others to speak up and be accounted for. I am a motivational speaker for positive nonviolent events and I have been involved in many activities to encourage and strengthen the minds of our youth in the city of Youngstown. My dream today is to reach out and give back through all my experiences through life. I want to be involved in the vision for the City of Youngstown.
Executive Director of One Step To Life Glen and Kyiel Williams (wife)
The 20th Century has brought about difficult times in which our children need direction and need to learn the importance of education and life’s choices. The School Levy is important to me because the children of this day and age matter. It’s a need for our children to be educated and well conversed under the laws of education and how could that be done without the financial funds to govern our children. Throughout my life and in my community I have touched the lives of young children by inspiring them to stay in school, say no to drugs, become leaders, and prepare for life after graduation. Today, I stand on humble ground doing what I love, helping others. I am sincere and confident in what I do. As I walk this path, I focus only on a positive safe haven for our children. We are in drastic times and we need to take drastic measures. I am that drastic measure.
I never knew how much would be involved in forming my own business; it took a lot of hard work, persistence and determination to get where I am now. Although I pay out of pocket for a lot of the things that I am involved in and do on a daily basis, I never gave up. When you have dreams you should follow them. No matter what you have been through in life, no matter who you are and no matter where you came from, just know that you have to have the will to make a way. If you don’t have the will to make a change there is a 99% chance that life will pass you by. God put us all here for a reason, and I am a living witness to this.
One Step To Life had the pleasure of taping and airing shows for Teens and Young Adults. It was a great experience for myself and all the kids involved. DUE TO LIMITED FUNDS, One Step To Life, Inc. is asking that if anyone is interested in being a sponsor so that these shows can continue we would like you to call and schedule an appointment TODAY these possibilities. We look forward to whatever support you can provide. If you are able to donate privately, please also check for matching funds through your employer. Many companies have matching programs which you may not be aware of. If you require additional information about One Step To Life please contact me and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. You may also visit www.onesteptolife.com online or contact us directly by phone at 330-2593439 EXT 110 or 330-330-8569. You can also donate online. If you are sending your donation in the form of a check, please make it payable to One Step To Life.
Your Life is determined by the Choices You Make Love……. I love you enough to fight for you, compromise for you, and sacrifice myself for you if need be. Enough to miss you, incredibly when we’re apart. No matter what length of time its for and regardless of the distance. Enough to believe in our relationship, to stand by it through the worst of times. To have faith in our strength as a couple and to never give up on us. Enough to spend the rest of my life with you, be there for you. Where you need or want me and never, ever want to leave you or live without you. I love you this much. Never thought…it would be so hard staying away from you. I keep thinking of us together again. I miss you. Sometimes I can’t decide if but I always stayed, thinking it would be worth it. I told my self all the time to be strong and quit but I’m not a quitter, I fight for what I want and then I no longer want what I took for what I need out of my life in a knot. I need to untie my self from you and move on the moment you left. You looked back and I was gone. You thought I was going to chase you but you were wrong. DeZhane’
Death Death is a sad and sorrowful thing; it follows you forever and never leaves your side. Day in and day out it creeps behind you like a shadow of the pain you feel inside. Forever and ever its there like a leech sucking your soul till there is nothing left, You’ll remember it always and never forget.
By Samantha Gordon
When a Bell Tolls When a bell rings and an angel get it’s wings but the most beautiful angels become the protectors of a lost soul and watch over someone who is in need of love. So remember when the bell tolls and may be watching over you.
Justin Cumming
If you fall for anything, you will stand for nothing Where I’m From I am from turkey, From macaroni and cheesecake I am from the green kitchen. (steamy, it smelled like all the food at once.) I am from the yellow tulips that surrounded The stone fountain The enormous crabapple tree Whose bark was scratchy-I avoided it. I’m from chocolate suckers and five-dollar bills and from growing into a woman From Bernadette and Qiana. I’m from making out like a big fat rat And the aunt who gave a damn, From why did you do that? Am I too smart for you, With the sucker I stole from Candy World The apology that followed- I’ll never do that again. I’m from Patrick and Tinika’s Branch, Winnie the Pooh and that cat. From Youngstown, Ohio to Milwaukee, Wisconsin And back and forth and back From the Detroit Family reunion, a visit to MotownMy Dad loves to travel Up on top of my closet is a green album Pictures carefully placed cattycorner on the gluey pages Faces that are still with me. I am from those moments— A crabapple spinning down out of control Now, like a crabapple growing on its own.
By Ravine B. M. Cole with help from George Ella Lyons
Simple Decisions Joining a gang means sacrificing something else. In my case, high school was my sacrifice. Why sacrifice high school? It seems like it was, in the way. This way of thinking caused me to drop out of high school, make simple decisions, and create an unsafe environment for fellow students. What a simple decision to make. Being in a gang caused me to drop out of high school. What was supposed to be the best four years of my life became the most disappointing years. Well, at least the last three years were. Little by little, I worried about my gang members more than my schoolwork. On the other hand, they were a little or not at all worried about me. Leaving behind dreams and closing opened doors on myself, I dropped out of high school. All because I made a few simple decisions. “Check out my new 380 semi-auto. Yes, I brought a gun to school almost daily. So simple, why did I bring a gun to school? Maybe to show it off, rob someone, or to use it afterschool. The last thing on my mind was getting expelled. Fortunately, I never got caught with my firearm on school grounds. I caused such an unsafe environment for other students and staff members. I didn’t stop to think about the consequences. All I did was go! My simple decisions for my simple gangs took me off the right path. I’ve robbed the corner store twice and I ran into houses almost everyday. I skipped school to run up in anybody’s home. Not thinking, just action. I’ve skipped class just to rob other students. Then returned back to class laughing about it, school being the last thing on my mind. I was all out. Nothing was on my mind, but the streets. Shoot-outs were crazy because I feared losing my life. In this particular situation, I still worried about my members more than they worried about me in the same equation. “Rest in Peace Sunny B” it took me about a year after my friend’s death to realize how much this gang affected my life and me as a student. Therefore, joining gangs affects students as well as everyday life. What would you have sacrificed? Would you drop out of high school, create an unsafe environment for others and make simple decisions repeatedly? Writer Anonymous
By R..Shanelle
It’s so discouraging I don’t know why I bother I am so disheartened, what reason is there to smile? When I would do good evil is always present Am I the only one I pray the prayer of Elijah The world doesn’t want me because I choose not to fit in The church never did I stick out like a sore thumb And with all the heartaches and sleepless nights, I wonder Lord, do you still want me? Am I still your most prized possession Do you still love me? I know this road wasn’t easy but can something ease up? Can some good things happen to me? So that I can breathe easier or just give me a cool drink of water before I die I am accused at church, at home; please don’t let greater friendship repeat itself Or Mr. Q or even Anthony….I mean let’s be honest how much can one heart take before it fails or arrests? The hunger pains are a temporary distraction from the hurt that throbs in my heart…All these grievances I have diagnosed the inevitable, I have no choice but to succumb and surrender to the black hole I call depression The fighter, the individual, the one we know and love will be temporarily unavailable, not reachable at this time Will be replaced by the distant zombish, emotionless and mundane that was birthed Nov.9, 2007….affectionately named “The protector”….see you next year
When is Enough Enough Not claiming to be a professional, but like everybody else, we live and we learn. I want to shout out to all mothers and fathers who are going to be parents, whether that be the first time or second time parents. Don’t let life, the media or negative experiences in your own life affect your kid’s future. Because they are just that, THE FUTURE. When you are not on the level of maturity to raise a child, chances are it can be a cycle repeated. True it might take one to go through it to know how handle it, but you can take a stand now and make positive choices. For not only your life, but your child’s life too. We only get one life, why waste it on fighting and arguing over nothing when your child is the one that is important right now. We got mothers and fathers trying to grow up too quick, making babies when the grandparents end up being the ones that do all the work. The grandparents already had you so why are we buying the pampers and feeding the babies and making sure they are learning, living, eating, surviving. That is not our job it is yours. Psychologically a child does everything the people around them do, they cuss, the talk smack, they’re fighting, they bullying; they are doing just about everything that comes from home from who??….mommy and daddy. All I can say is provide a healthy home for your kids; healthy means more than getting the babies shots each month and dressing them in the finest clothes and shoes. If mommy and daddy can't get along, put your problems on the backburner for your child, it’s not the child’s fault because they didn’t ask to be here. Keep your child safe and don’t put your baby on everybody else because you ready to go out and kick it and put yourself in the same predicament. Teach your child early, get them educated and ready for preschool so they can have a fighting chance in these schools, because guess what, u been there, make it different for them so they will stay focused. Teach them morals and values and how to respect themselves so when they older your child will know how to make empowered decisions on their own. It wasn’t hard to lie down and make the baby but when the baby is here, you just don’t know. You can dress the baby, feed the baby, show off your baby, all day long, but when it come down to it--the baby is going to need you 100% of the time from birth until 18. It’s a cold world out here; he or she can learn how to fight without lifting a finger and handle themselves in the coldest winter storm because of the values that can be instilled in them now. Don’t wait until its too late, start making positive choices now. It can only make things better if you try. *Each year, almost 750,000 teenage women aged 15–19 become pregnant. The teenage pregnancy rate in this country is at its lowest level in 30 years, down 36% since its peak in 1990.
Statistics found at www.guttmacher.org
Early College It is time to understand what Early College is all about, not only to the principals and staff but for the students too. I can not speak for the ones that are holding up their part, I’m talking about the ones that are not participating and giving 110%. Realize that if you’re not trying to understand how this can be beneficial to take your education to the next level, why don’t you just go back to public school? You say you want to be a part of history with Early College but where is the effort? It has been said that there students of early college are not putting forth the willingness to succeed. There’s been a few students that had to go back to their home school because they could not apply their selves to the plain and simple ideas of staying focused, doing their work and keeping your grades above a D average. What are the young adults striving for, what do they want??? Is it that you are crying out for help from others instead of the tutors that you have at the school already?? Maybe parents need to be more involved with their kids, maybe we as parents need to reeducate ourselves so we can be as tutors or teachers at home or in school. The time has come to take inventory and be a stop sign for our kids. Let’s hold our kids accountable for what they do in school and at home and parents “who will hold you accountable for what you don’t do?” Think about it, if you don’t participate in your child’s life, what signals are you sending them?? Help them understand how to be young adults. To be honest with you, they may be your babies but your babies are growing up to be young adults and they need to be taught as such. So to make a long story short, parents play your part.
Non Profit or Profit Check this out, as being a non profit myself, I find that it is hard to collaborate with different organizations. There is a sense of selfishness where some organizations don’t want to join forces to help people in the community, when there are gaps that need to be filled.
Could you say that we have broadened the playing field to educate and bring together structure filling in the gap between adults and children? I beg to differ. Because of our experience and our relationship with God, he has brought us together to open the doors and the minds of our children.
To be honest, you have to make a willing effort to see change come about in these organizations to help people that need support and guidance. With collaboration efforts we can achieve a lot more using the buddy system to refer to other organizations that have programs in place that you may not. We have to take this to another level of understanding; we need to stop thinking small minded.
So we need to stop believing that it’s all about the organization when it’s about saving the lives that are supposed to mean something to us. Why not collaborate. As being a grass roots organization myself, I go to different organizations to try and collaborate to bring something different to the table but I have not had positive outcome, at least not yet.
When I say, open minds for adults and open doors for our children that goes hand in hand with all organizations. Stop and think for a moment, if you can collaborate with 4, 5 or 6 different organizations that provide a particular service, why not? Fill the gap in the inner city that is already high in crime, lacking education and living in drug infested communities. We as leaders can bring forth and bring together adults and children to understand, how to live life on a new level.
I’m not saying it’s not out there, its taking a little longer time to successfully team up to accomplish one goal….SAVING LIVES. Nonprofit organizations are a crucial part of our society and I know that the more we are able to work together successfully, the more we will begin to see the ways in which we really do agree. No matter what our Vision or Mission is, each one of us is out to SAVE A LIFE.
Chasing Love There’s no greater love in the world than your children, but why do some woman put the love of a man first. Woman still are not realizing that your boyfriend is your boyfriend and your kids are #1. Your kids were here first and foremost, but when you put a man before your kids that you are just dating, that you just call your boyfriend, yo' boo and yo’ baby, kids don’t understand that. They don’t understand while they are at school dealing with peer pressure, struggling with homework, and living in poverty dealing with growing up in the world that we are living in today …”where is my mommy and daddy when I need them?”. The bad part about all this is, when your kids start acting up in school, getting bad grades, runnin' the streets and being disrespectful, you wonder why, why won’t my kids listen to me, why do he or she keep doing these things. When you weren’t there, they found other things to get into. Sometimes they might just isolate themselves and shut down and others might go all the way out. The mothers and even fathers needs to create that open door where no matter what your child might be going through, they will come to you for advice and communicate. If they can’t talk to you, who will they run too? If you raised your child, why let them run away from what they already have right there with you A FAMILY. Us grown folks are not the only ones that can forgive but not forget. So what do you think the kids are doing? It’s sometimes too hard trying to repair relationships after they are damaged. So the time is now to be a significant part of your child’s life and put them first because if you don’t … you just create obstacles for your kids future that we won’t understand until ……... you know the rest………..
Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you. ~Robert Fulghum
I Don’t Worry About People’s Sins & Issues, Because Those Are The Ones I’m Not Accounted For, The Less You Hate On Other People’s Life, The Better Your Life Becomes…. Nichole Hewlett After7 Photography
When Do 2nd Chances Begin? As you know, One Step To Life is about opening the minds and opening the doors of success amongst each other. Bottom line, I’m talking about people that should have love for one another. We are in a
state of emergency. I know in your mind you might be saying, what is this dude talking about? Everyday it is a war against us as people. It’s a constant fight for
jobs, it’s a constant fight for money and a constant fight for living. Yes I realize that we are in a recession and everyone is trying to survive but what about the people that are returning to society? And if you don’t know that that means, people that have been incarcerated for X amount of time that are coming back home. It’s a constant fight for them too. When are we as human beings going to realize the importance of being a family and no matter if an individual was incarcerated, if they ran a red light or behind in their taxes, the fact of the matter is they have been through a change and they have paid their debt to society. Is it not to say that its time to move on and its time and be given a second chance. We
as individuals need to stop persecuting individuals that have paid their debt. How do we help them and ourselves rebuild and strengthen the families that are suffering and mending old wounds? This is a new year, as being a convicted felon myself, I realize all the trials that a person will go through because I went through the same thing. I’ve been a returning citizen since 2000 and from that day forward, my life has not been the same. I am a very positive individual striving for success and it’s definitely been hard to do. Within this year, we will have between 10,000 – 20,000 returning to society and we need to be a part of welcoming them home, helping them rebuild their lives. The most important part of life is building families and our nation as one.
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OneStep Step To To Life, corporation, is pleased to announce that that it has One Life,aaOhio Ohionon nonprofit profit corporation, is pleased to announce it been has granted federal IRS tax exempt 501(c)3 status as of July 2009. One Step To Life will meet been granted federal IRS tax exempt 501(c)3 status as of July 2009. One Step Tothe needs of at-risk children, and their families who live in the inner Life will meet the needs youth of at-risk children, youth andprimarily their families who city liveincluding but not limited to: primarily in the inner city including but not limited to:
Walking steady path young adults and children to encourage active Walking aasteady path withwith young adults and children to encourage active participation in participation in community to volunteer work, non -violent economic community activities related toactivities volunteerrelated work, non-violent activities, job training, activities, job and training, economic opportunities, and sports. opportunities, sports. Coming as aawhole wholetotosupport support each other through positive and negative Coming together together as each other through positive and negative experiences. experiences. • • • •
Eliminating youth-on-youth violence Eliminating youth-on-youth violence Family violence Family violence Drug use Drug use Crime Crime
Through one-on-one support, education, motivational speaking engagements, and Through one-on-one support, education, motivational speaking engagements, and media media such as the internet and newsletters. such as the internet and newsletters.
One Step To Life monthly magazine continues to be One Step To Life monthly magazine continues to be issued to help improve relationships,
issued help improve relationships, a positive difference theinspire lives of make ato positive difference in the lives of make our young adults and childreninand all our to young adults and children and inspire all to achieve their highest potential. achieve their highest potential.
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