The Human Empowerment Life Program (H.E.L.P) was founded in 2015 to meet the needs of public school students in the Benton Harbor community. Although it has undergone change due to the pandemic, it still seeks to connect Andrews University with this neighboring community in constructive and meaningful ways. I spoke with founder Carlisle Sutton about the past, present, and future of the program, and why it continues to be a necessary part of the Andrews mission.
What is the H.E.L.P program?
The Human Empowerment Life Project is a program designed to build a team of trained volunteers who help reinforce positive values, develop a love for reading, improve metacognition, and increase the sense of psychological belonging among elementary students by fostering healthy relationships. The presence of students from multiple academic programs provides additional learning opportunities for the elementary students to learn of varied career options. The cultural and ethnic diversity of the University is reflected amongst the volunteers.
Why was it created?
Access to quality education is a human right. The Seventh-day Adventist church has long believed that “to educate is to redeem.” The biblical mandate to love your neighbor as yourself also informs our decision making as regards how we treat those in resource deprived circumstances. In 2015, when H.E.L.P. was created, the annual household income of the residents in Benton Harbor was 41% of the state average, the schools suffered from a shortage of certified teachers, and more than 95% of the students lived below the poverty line. In addition, all the schools of the Benton Harbor Area Schools (BHAS) were rated in the bottom 5% in their students’ academic performance with less than 4% of the students being proficient in key subject areas.
What are its main goals?
To build a lasting, trusting, meaningful relationship between the BHAS students, teachers, and administrators and our students, faculty, staff, and administrators so mutually beneficial learning experiences may be developed. Through the sharing of resources, there would be measurable improvements in school culture and climate that would create the conditions for improvements in classroom management and self-regulation. We have aimed to improve reading skills and comprehension, improve English Language Arts (ELA) test scores for the BHAS K-12 students, and develop a greater understanding and commitment to vocation among the Andrews University students and community.
What is your position/role in the program?
Program Founder and Director. Like so many, God placed the burden on my heart and He provided the support of friends and colleagues to enable me to develop and lead the program.
Why is this initiative important to you?
In 2013, I came to Andrews to learn how to serve my church. Instead, God showed me how to serve my community. This program has changed me and our student volunteers. Not only have we become more empathic and understanding of the challenges and resilience required by those in under-resourced communities, many of us changed our academic programs to be better-equipped to serve. In addition, H.E.L.P has brought me into contact with more than 700 student volunteers who are eager to change the world and thousands of grades 1-5 students who we have been honored to see grow over the years. Research shows there is a correlation between improvements in education and the impact on health, life-expectancy, and the quality-of-life indicators. Changing the educational outcomes would have a profound impact on the lives of the people of our community.
Tell me a little bit about the summer H.E.L.P program. What does it take from the original program, and what does it expand on?
Two years before covid, in discussions with the school district (because the literacy program was pretty well established), we went and explored some of the other needs that existed within the school. We found that many of the children were struggling with Algebra I. The success rate of the grade nine students was fairly low, so we worked with the school district to establish a summer program on the Andrews campus, where we brought in the ninth graders for eight weeks. They would do math from eight thirty in the morning until three in the afternoon. We would provide breakfast and lunch and transportation. We had a certified math instructor, and we also hired student tutors to work with the kids.
These are students who are doing credit recovery. After failing math in the school district, they were brought to our campus. During that summer, they all scored As and Bs. Because of the psychological sense of belonging that we were establishing, we found that the kids started to feel as if they really belonged on campus. By having daily check-ins and a trauma-informed approach, we would work with the tutors to create spaces for the youth to express their emotional state. They could have time-outs where they could go and debrief in quiet places. We gave them other devices that would help them cope with their challenging moments and self-regulate. They were really excited about being in the program, and they all passed.
We stopped because of Covid-19. This summer we are trying to start it again. The program will run for 8 weeks and begin in the middle of June. We will bring high school students to our campus and provide breakfast and lunch, engaged instructors, and a safe learning environment on a University campus. Instructors will be paid for their time.
What are some examples of duties volunteers carry out? Are there any skills or credentials you are looking for in volunteers?
We are working towards hiring students who could be mentors. For the summer program, we are seeking out four individuals who have a strong background in math, especially in Algebra I. We are also looking for a certified high school math teacher. All positions will be fully paid for forty hours a week throughout the program.
Volunteers should be emotionally prepared to support at-risk youth. We’re looking for individuals who are willing to answer questions about their family life, about their belief in God, about their value system—individuals who are willing to be authentic and accept that others may have different perspectives. They need to be open to the idea of listening and learning. Many of these kids have been through fairly difficult situations. They have learned to survive in those environments. There is a lot to be said for the fact that they are alive and that they are making progress. We want individuals who can come in and not see these kids as being broken and hard-pressed, but just see them as kids with a different experience. We want people who will love on them and support them through this journey.
Do you have any favorite memories or stories from your time with the program?
In response to the request of the teachers and administrators of the Benton Harbor Area Schools, we invited the grades 1-5 students to what became an annual Christmas production at the Howard Performing Arts Center. Each December, our team of volunteers would develop and produce a musical production. The University Choir, the Watchmen, Journey, and many of the best musicians were featured and they helped to make the occasion memorable. We also partnered with the music department, the Graduate School, Griggs Academy, the James White Library, Neighbor to Neighbor, and many others to provide small gifts and treats for our guests. Each year the teachers, and staff expressed their appreciation for the quality of the production which exposed their students to new sights and sounds that expanded their knowledge.
In the third year of this production, we worked with the Boys and Girls Club of Benton Harbor to train the drama students of the Benton Harbor High School to be the actors in the production. It was remarkable to see the self-confidence grow as the teens prepared for the event. They worked hard to memorize lines and get into character. On the day of the musical, the exuberance backstage could only be matched by the screams of delight as the grades 1-5 students saw their older brothers and sisters in costume effectively delivering their lines on stage. It was a remarkable day for everyone. These experiences shape how people see themselves and their capacity to achieve.
Another memory I recall with great fondness took place at the end of the first year we had the math program. We carried our kids to the recording studio, where we asked them what they liked best about the project. They said that they thought we had become a family. They felt that our tutors loved to teach because they were so engaging with them. They really affirmed that our efforts to portray Christ in a practical sense worked.
Can you share some specific examples of how the H.E.L.P. program has positively impacted students in Benton Harbor?
Through the math program, all the Benton Harbor high school students who participated in the program were able to earn credits that counted towards their high school graduation. The fact that they were able to earn credits on a University campus helped them to see themselves as being successful. It helped them to feel as though Andrews University cared for them. Many of them wanted to come back to Andrews to pursue bachelors degrees in music and nursing when they finished their programs.
In many ways, yes, there was an academic achievement that we checked off, but beyond that, there was a social, emotional component where we taught them things like self-regulation and appropriate boundaries. They asked us, and we answered questions about drug use, premarital sex, the Bible, and God. We were able to open our lives and our experiences to them so that they could see what life could look like beyond the boundaries of a resource-deprived community.
Why is service to Benton Harbor communities particularly important?
Andrews University is just about 12.5 miles away from Benton Harbor. Our motto of seeking knowledge, affirming faith, and changing the world is a powerful one. It speaks to our intent to identify challenging situations and work with communities to develop solutions. I think if we are to really be true to our motto, we need to address the reality that there is a community so close to us where individuals struggle with access to affordable housing, food, medication, healthcare, and a sound educational system—all the elements that we assume to be essential for individuals to thrive. If they don’t have safety, health, and education, how then can we look at individuals and say, “Here’s Jesus” ?
My understanding from Ellen White is that she says, “Christ’s methods alone will bring about true evangelism.” Christ walked with people. He learned of their challenges and was able to identify with their needs. He cried with them, he laughed with them, he gained their confidence, and then he bid them “come follow me.” For us, I think we often do the “come follow me first, and then after you follow, join me with my religious value system, and then I will try to help you out with some of the other things.” Ellen White says Christ had “disinterested love.” I would love for us to see people, not because of what they can do for our church or our institution in terms of enrollment numbers, but because they’re people and because they have needs, challenges, dreams, and aspirations. If we could plug into those and partner with them and walk with them, I think our journey at Andrews would be so much richer. Above and beyond that, the community would also be a much happier and better place for everybody to thrive.
Based on where you’ve seen this program come from, where do you hope to see it go in the future?
I would hope that every department of the University would come on board, getting students to utilize their skills to support the community in a respectful manner. We have students who are doing physical therapy—how can they be part of this? We have students doing nursing. A lot of times we go in saying “We have the answer. We’re here. We want to do this”, without asking people “What do you need? How can we support you?.” The first thing that I think we need to deal with when we engage with Benton Harbor is the issue of trust. Too often, people come in with funds, want to do a project, stand and pose for the photos, and then the funds run out and they say “bye, see you later.” I think we need to demonstrate to the people that we care about them and that we’re there for the long haul.
I would like to see Andrews University develop a holistic effort, where we intentionally sit with the leaders of the various entities in Benton Harbor, whether they be the schools, churches, the Mayor's Office, and have real conversations about what resources we have and what we can share. I want us to be committed to ensuring that those resources are delivered regardless. Did we ask them what they need? Did we sit with them? Maybe what they first needed was to have somebody just sit and listen to them, figure out what they’re experiencing, and just cry with them. We don’t always have to go in with tangibles and say we’re there to change the day. Sometimes just having a presence matters. We can learn to have a presence, just listen, and respond in a respectful manner that says, “we can work towards helping you to get where you want to go.”
How can interested Andrews students/staff get involved?
They can email me at carlisle@andrews.edu. Beyond emailing me, at Andrews we have a Community Engagement Council headed by Paulette Johnson. They can reach out to her as well. Right now, she’s looking for individuals to lead in some of the various subcommittees. There are subcommittees for education, diversity and inclusion, religion, and more. If individuals are interested in really getting involved in community engagement, which is what this is all about, they can connect with her. I’m sure she’ll be happy to find a place for them where we can utilize all the skills and all the talents that are available. If individuals want to give money as well, we also have room for that. But right now, for the most part, the biggest thing that we would want is individuals to be able to commit to being part of the process for however long it takes. We need to understand that it took Benton Harbor decades to get where they are right now, and one summer or one year is not going to change the whole picture. We need to be in this for the long haul.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Anything our departments on campus can do to build a presence in the schools, or even bring the students to the campus, is important. There’s an Andrews student who was working with the student clubs toward establishing a mentoring program for Benton Harbor High School students. In that project, the chemistry club, the biology club, and others would go to their classrooms and share interesting science experiments, or talk to them about what it means to study science.
Over the years, H.E.L.P was made possible by the financial support of the Berrien Community Foundation, Versacare Inc., Elder Ted Wilson, President of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church, Adventist Community Services (ACS), Pioneer Memorial Church, Village SDA Church, and many other friends of the University. Their support helped pay for transportation, student meals, printing, volunteer events, and other associated costs. To the hundreds of volunteers, our University administration, our faculty advisors Charity Garcia and Melissa Ponce Rodas, our donors, the administration, teachers, and students of the Benton Harbor Area Schools, and community partners, my prayer is that someday soon, we will all hear, “well done!”
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.