Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 9-8-15 Edition

Features
One Church One Child Of Florida Holds Education Forum
Among those attending the Education Forum hosted by One Church One Child were from left to right: LaKay Fayson, Sherri Youngblood, Susan Haynes, Elder Truman, Brenda Angall and seated, Cherry Green.
Family Members Of Fire Victims Find Strength In Unity
Last month, One Church One Child of Florida held its Education Forum at the First Baptist Church of College Hill, 3838 N. 29th Street. The pur- pose of the forum was to edu- cate members of the community with an interest in caring for children currently in the foster care system.
During the forum, those in attendance learned about adopting, fostering and men- toring children in the foster care system as well as partner- ing and volunteering with One Church One Child of Florida. The special guest speaker for the forum was Mrs. Susan Haynes, of The Children’s Home, Inc. Mrs. Haynes spoke about the services pro- vided to relative caregivers through their Kinship Services Network, a program with The Children’s Home.
Reverend Beverly Hills Lane, Senior Pastor of Bethel
African Methodist Episcopal Church, serves as the State Board of Directors President and the Regional Vice Presi- dent.
One Church One Child of Florida, is a faith-based, 501(c)3 non-profit organiza- tion created for the purpose of finding members of the com- munity who are willing to pro- vide a safe haven for foster children.
The mission of the organiza- tion is to “find at least one fam- ily in each church to adopt at least one child.”
To learn more about One Church One Child of Florida visit their website at www.ococfl.org.
For more information re- garding adopting, fostering, mentoring, partnering and vol- unteering, contact LaKay Fayson, Recruitment Coordi- nator, at (813) 985-7831 or lakay_fayson@ococfl.org.
fortable with the bars over all the windows, and our mother never knew that they couldn’t be opened from the inside, be- cause she’s never had a reason to test them. To her, they were just a part of the house.”
Lekia and LaQuana said if it weren’t for their big fam- ily, they don’t know how they would survive losing their children and their mother.
“Our mother’s birthday is September 27th, and we were all looking forward to having a great time,” said LaQuana.
“We are working really hard to raise the money to have a service for all four. It’s quite a task, but with the help of the community we will get it done.”
Lekia and LaQuana said it’s been hard getting through each day after the fire, and they haven’t been able to re- turn to the house yet.
“We lean on each other so much, now will be the time when we really need to be
MS. SHERYL JAMES strong,” said LaQuana.
Lekia and LaQuana said they still need help raising funds for services, and Ray Williams Funeral Home is as- sisting them.
Anyone who wants to make a donation, can do it through their GofundMe account, GoFundMe.com/UE38TB 3S.
On Thursday when Lekia Murray and LaQuana James came by the Sentinel office, both had to compose themselves before talking about their loss.
Lekia and LaQuana are the daughters of Sheryl James, and the mothers of Reshard Ashley (Lekia), and Romello and Emjay Jackson (LaQuana).
Ms. James, 61, Re- shard, 8, Romello, 8, and Emjay, 3, all died as a result of a Tuesday morning house fire on Paris Street.
“We’ve always been a very close family, and my sister and I allowed the boys to stay with our mother so they could at- tend nearby Sheehy Elemen- tary,” said the sisters.
“They really loved being with her, and she loved having them there.”
Lekia and LaQuana said their mother was very impor- tant to Mr. Clarence Fletcher, because she helped him with his health issues. She had been living there with him for more than 10 years.
“They were both aware of some of the problems the house had, and were trying to get some things done,” said Lekia.
“Mr. Fletcher built he house himself, and all of his children were raised there. The house had been in his family for more than 50 years. None of us were really com-
Emjay Jackson, Romello Jackson, and Reshard Ashley.
Dual Retirements Among Events Of Life Woman Celebrates
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
By all accounts, Ms. Shelah Watkins has much to cele- brate. After years of working on one job and then another, she has retired --- not once but twice.
A native of Panama City, Ms. Watkins moved to Tampa with her family. A teenager, she enrolled at Middleton High School and graduated in 1965. The family moved because her mother became ill and her fa- ther was away serving in the military. They needed to be close to other family members. “I started working, but in 1976, I moved to Chicago and it was there that I started working as a Civil Service Commission employee.
When she decided to move back to Tampa, she remained a federal employee and worked at the Post Office. “I had been working there for 26 years when they offered early retire- ment. I accepted it and retired October 31, 2003. Two months
MS. SHELAH WATKINS ... Celebrating Life
later, I became a paraprofes- sional with the Hillsborough County School Board.”
Ms. Watkins said she spent the last 5 years of employment at Lockhart Elementary School. But, in May 2015, after 11 years with the district, Ms. Watkins retired for the sec- ond time.
Since retiring, Ms. Watkins said she has been busy just cel-
ebrating life.”
Since retiring, Ms. Watkins
has participated in two 50-year high school reunions. In June, she was part of the Middleton High School Class of 1965. And, in August, she attended the Rosenwald High School 50th High School Reunion. She would have graduated from that school if the family had not moved. “I saw people at both reunions that I hadn’t seen in 50 or 55 years.”
Now, Ms. Watkins is con- centrating on doing some of the things she has wanted to do. In July, she and a friend traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, “for the sole purpose of eating at Sweetie Pie’s. We visited the famous St. Louis Zoo, the Art Museum, and the Arch of St. Louis.”
A member of New Bethel Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, Ms. Watkins is the mother of 2 children. She also has 6 grandchildren. Her hob- bies include bowling, writing poetry, spending time with family, and traveling.
PAGE 2 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015