Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 7-9-21

Local
HCSO And AMIkids Breaking Barriers Community Forum
Last Thursday, the Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Office and AMIkids Tampa held the first of three Break- ing Barriers Community Fo- rums. Entitled, “Assumptions: Break- ing Down Our Percep- tions and Understanding Where They Come From,” it was held at Bill Currie Ford on N. Dale Mabry Highway.
AMIkids is a national non-profit organization that serves at-risk youth with 44 local programs. Deputy Timothy White and Deputy Tyler Wilson of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office are AMIkids mentors.
Those in attendance in- cluded an esteemed group of community leaders as panelists, youth mentors from Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office, as well as a volunteer group of youth panelists from AMIkids Tampa. Dr. Kathleen Heide, Professor, USF, moderated the discussion.
Chad Chronister,
Hillsborough County Sheriff said, “Having these forums will spark important con- versations, strengthen trust, and create positive changes throughout our commu- nity.”
"We are proud to partner with AMIkids to better the community we serve."
Michael Thornton,
Several members of the community took part in the Breaking Barriers Community Forum.
President and CEO of AMIkids said, “There is a se- rious need of bridge build- ing initiatives like Breaking Barriers to help foster a foundation of healthy com- munication, mutual trust, and understanding between our youth and their commu- nities.”
“These Community Fo- rums are an important com- ponent of Breaking Barriers, as they allow participants to share, but also listen.”
The forum provided a space for participants to share assumptions they may have made and share how these may have shaped how
they interacted with others. With guidance from Dr. Heide, participants worked to break down these as- sumptions by discussing how they can recognize when we make them and critically think about whether or not they are valid.
Previously, AMIkids launched Breaking Barriers as a program focused on creating positive relation- ships between law enforce- ment and youth.
Now, the program has expanded by building other relationships between youth and the community, includ- ing educators, health pro- fessionals, community activists, social workers, and others and exploring ways to embed the spirit of this
initiative in their everyday work. Currently in a pilot phase at AMIkids Tampa, this program will eventually be expanded to all AMIkids programs across nine states.
The first Community Forum included Commu- nity Leader Panelists: Cap- tain Marvin Johnson, Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office; Sean Sullivan, General Manager, Bill Cur- rie Ford; Fred Rosario, Site Director, Year Up; Elvin Martinez, Director of Community Relations, BAYS; Ms. Tamara Shamburger, former School Board Member, Hillsborough County Public Schools; and Leonard Burke, Director of Asset Management, Beneficial Communities.
FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 3-B