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The mantra is in big block letters on one side of the gymnasium at The Children's Home Inc. in Town 'N Country: The Courage To Try.
It is a motivational expression for the residential facility's children when they compete in the Murphey Games, a mini-Olympicscompetition named after a former board member.
To have courage in their daily lives, however, they have to have hope. And for African-American kids in the child welfare system, hope is a dwindling resource.
On Friday morning, pastors from around the Tampa Bay area were invited to a breakfast to learn about African-American Families Unite, a task force of The Children's Home. Along with eggs, grits and bacon, the guests had to digest some staggering statistics.
African-American youths make up about 18 percent of Tampa Bay's child population, yet more than 44 percent of the children awaiting adoption in the child welfare system are African-American. Nationally, 39 percent of children in the foster care system are African-American.
I could go on, but as the Rev. Abraham Brown said at the breakfast: "You don't have to eat a whole cow to tell that it's beef. We have a problem."
The Children's Home facilities, which serve kids from around the area, are impressive. There is a pool, a school, a gym, a wood shop, refurbished cottages and bedrooms that would rival most college dorms.
"When I first got here, I thought this was a nice place to live," said Brown, who heads a prison ministry. "But a nice place to live is not a home. The men I visit in prison have a place to live, but it's not a home."
Ultimately, the charge of the African-American Families Unite task force is to put a dent in those staggering statistics. One of its first goals is to raise awareness that the number of black children entering the child welfare system is increasing, while the number of African-American adoptive and foster families is declining.
The task force sought out pastors as a way of spreading the word - not only about the children at The Children's Home, but all the African-American children in the area's child welfare system.
"The base of every family in the African-American community has always been the church," said Aj Jemison, task force member. "We knew as a task force, if we are to move this mission forward, the only way to do that is with (the church's) help."
One pastor already has lent a hand.
Greg Powe's four-year involvement at The Children's Home comes from a spiritual sense as leader of Revealing Truth Ministries, one of Tampa's largest African-American churches. As someone who was adopted when he was 2 weeks old, it also comes from a sense of gratitude.
Tears well up in his eyes when he talks about his first visit to the facility.
"Who knows what my life would have been if a family had not blessed me," Powe said Friday. "When I walked through this hall, it broke my heart to see and to find out there were kids that had been here for 16 years. And I guess it still does.
"What strikes me is, "Why are they still here?' The only answer that came back to me is No. 1, you haven't done anything for them not to be here."
Powe sought to find one or two families in his congregation to adopt a child, and he's succeeded. The task force would love to see one family from every church adopt one child.
"Our families as a whole, and I'm talking particularly African-American families, the whole structure is crumbling," Powe said. "It's not what it was 30 years ago or 40 years ago when families took care of their own. There was a grandmother there, there was an aunt there that picked up the slack when the family fell apart.
"But now we have grandmothers who are 30. They don't know how to raise a family. So it's up to us."
Personally, it would be easier for me to tell someone to marry a stranger than to tell a couple to take on the life-altering challenge of adding a child to their family. With three children of my own, I know it's not a challenge I'm ready to accept.
There are, however, other ways to help, from foster parenting to mentoring to simply spreading the word about this concern. Have a task member speak to your church or civic organization. For more information, contact Ellen Fisher at 864-1435.
We have to have the courage to try.
That's all I'm saying.
- Ernest Hooper can be reached at 226-3406 or Hooper@sptimes.com