Season for Sharing: From homework to job skills, Saint Florian Center helps at-risk kids

As a firefighter, Anthony Williamson usually sees folks at their worst moments. He additionally sees a number of the most unsafe elements of the town.

Years in the past, whereas en path to calls, he noticed kids leaping up and down on a unclean mattress that had been thrown away. It was their playground. He noticed children taking part in basketball on a court docket plagued by needles and damaged bottles.

“We might see children that had been simply in despair. They had been despondent. You might see the seems to be on their faces, like they did not have hope. … And so we had been like, ‘We have got to have the ability to do extra,’” stated Williamson, a battalion chief for the Indianapolis Hearth Division.

So within the early Nineteen Nineties, he and one other firefighter determined to begin a nonprofit to serve at-risk children in Indianapolis. They envisioned a corporation that doesn’t simply save folks once they’ve already reached all-time low, however that helps them at an age when optimistic affect issues essentially the most. They known as it Saint Florian Middle, named after the patron saint of firefighters.

At this time, the middle depends on a small group of firefighters who volunteer to supply quite a lot of companies, together with summer season camps and after-school packages. It serves predominantly Black and Hispanic kids, a lot of whom are from single-parent households.

The summer season camps final seven weeks. Youngsters undergo a structured curriculum that teaches them teambuilding and management abilities, health and survival techniques, philanthropy and social justice, CPR, entrepreneurship and extra. Throughout after-school packages, devoted to college students ages 10 to 14, volunteers assist with their homework, conduct management actions and train children sensible abilities on, for instance, confront somebody who’s tempting them to do one thing unhealthy.

The middle additionally has a program that teaches highschool college students interview for jobs and preserve them, amongst different issues. As a result of so many of those children have by no means traveled outdoors the town, and even outdoors their neighborhood, the middle additionally takes them on out-of-town area journeys, in addition to outings to native parks and museums.

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Williamson stated they rely virtually solely on donations, fundraisers, grants and firm sponsorships. Each time they’re quick, he and his volunteers use their very own cash to make up the distinction. As a result of the middle doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar headquarters, greater than 90% of the cash is spent on packages, Williamson stated.

Lori Jones’ 19-year-old daughter, Jaime, started attending packages on the middle when she was 7. Through the years, Jones watched as her daughter’s confidence grew.

“She flourished so, a lot,” Jones stated. “She was assured sufficient to really check out for the cheerleading workforce and the dance troupe, issues that she by no means actually wished to do earlier than.”

Jaime additionally excelled at college, finally getting an $80,000 educational scholarship at Butler College, the place she’s now a sophomore finding out communications and a member of the cheerleading workforce. Jones stated she’s contemplating turning into a sports activities reporter.

The middle is Williamson’s life’s work, a mix of every part that the school-teacher-turned-firefighter likes to do: serving to and educating kids.

Rising up, he was one in all 10 children raised by a single mom. The vacations had been one of many hardest, he stated, as a result of he all the time ended up because the one child with no presents. So on holidays, his group donates dozens of toys to a number of church buildings and organizations within the metropolis.

“I began desirous about working a summer season camp after I was in center college. That is how lengthy I have been desirous about doing this,” Williamson stated. “So to see it come to life is simply one thing which you could’t even describe.”

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What’s your group’s mission?

Saint Florian Middle serves at-risk children by serving to them excel academically and develop problem-solving and management abilities.

How many individuals do you serve?

The middle serves about 1,000 youth, ages 6 to 17.

What’s your group’s No. 1 want?

The group is most in want of:

• Culturally various books that painting children of various backgrounds and ethnicities
• Present donations for the vacations, like stuffed animals
• Film passes, museum tickets and different actions for youngsters

How can folks become involved?

Go to the middle’s web site, https://www.saintfloriancenter.org/, to volunteer or make a donation.

Making a distinction with IndyStar: Help Season for Sharing

The shared mission of IndyStar’s Our Youngsters initiative and annual Season for Sharing marketing campaign is to harness the facility of journalism to make a distinction within the lives of Central Indiana youth. We invite you to hitch us by making a monetary contribution. The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Belief will match donations dollar-for-dollar, as much as $25,000. All charitable donations are tax-deductible.

Funds raised throughout this yr’s marketing campaign shall be distributed in early 2023 to organizations serving primarily Marion County youth and households.

Go to indystar.com/ocdonate to offer on-line. In case you want to ship a test, please mail to: Central Indiana Group Basis, Attn: Our Youngsters, 615 N. Alabama St., Suite 300, Indianapolis, IN 46204. You can also donate by texting “SHARING” to 80888.

Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at kphillips@indystar.com. Comply with her on Twitter: @bykristinep.