Sunday, June 5, 2011
Tarheel of the Week -Durham man helps youth get on the right track - Article from the News and Observer
- Staff Writer
Tags: tarheel
DURHAM -- .
As retirees and college students quietly coach several young men and women through high school equivalency practice tests at the John Avery Boys and Girls Club, Malcom Reed pulls up a message on his new Facebook page.
As retirees and college students quietly coach several young men and women through high school equivalency practice tests at the John Avery Boys and Girls Club, Malcom Reed pulls up a message on his new Facebook page.
A young man is asking for help.
"Wassup," the message says. " I was tryna c if u culd help me out. im tryna get bak in basketball shape and get in to a school."
Reed, the 30-year-old founder of the D3 Community Outreach mentoring program in Durham, is slowly building a reputation as a man who can and will help "knuckleheaded" youth turn their lives around. The author of the Facebook message found Reed through a friend who had just gotten into junior college in upstate New York.
Reed, a former college basketball player who made a few knuckleheaded moves of his own in his teen years, knows what it's like to need someone in times of trouble. And as a nod to the mentors who guided him to a better way of life, Reed gives his time, energy and money freely to young men who truly are committed to change.
He helps them study for GED tests and lines up volunteers to coach them in subjects beyond his expertise. He shuttles students to and from testing sites. He takes them on college tours, helps a few select students out with rent, tuition and books, and brags about their accomplishments as if they were his own children.
"For a young person to take the time and contact you," Reed says, "how do you turn your back?"
Reed was born in South Carolina but spent most of his childhood in a small community outside Ocean City, N.J. Things were tough. He never met his father and for years thought of his oldest brother as the man of the house. But when that brother, four years his senior, moved out on his own, Reed started having difficulties at home.
When he was 14, he came home one day to find his mother at the door with a knife, telling him he wasn't coming inside anymore. All his clothes, shoes, a radio and other possessions were outside in two garbage bags.
For two weeks, Reed was homeless. He slept near a trash can and did not go to school.
Then a man who owned an efficiency motel allowed him to stay on the property if he would do handyman work around the place. Reed, though, continued his spiral downward. Though he played basketball his freshman year of high school, he became ineligible his sophomore year, the year he got in trouble with the law for armed robbery and stealing a car.
Judge intervenes
Those legal troubles landed Reed in a Cape May County, N.J., courtroom, where a judge forced him to change his lifestyle. Not only did the judge, a tall, imposing man, send Reed off to a juvenile offender boot camp at a Cape May Coast Guard post, he also insisted that Reed keep up his grades, play high school basketball and return to his courtroom several times a month for a status update.
That judge, Reed says, even showed up at one of his high school basketball games. "It was a bit of excitement," Reed recalled. "It was like someone was checking up on me."
That nurturing experience, and his positive relationship with the high school basketball coach and an English teacher who challenged him to do better, led Reed to Ocean County College for two years of community college. More important, his experience in Toms River, N.J., led to the first of three post high school degrees that he cherishes today.
After two years in Toms River, Reed transferred to the Institute of Technology at West Virginia University to play for the Golden Bears. Those experiences afforded him an opportunity to try out for the Philadelphia 76ers, though he didn't make the team, and for brief professional stints with the Harlem Globetrotters and teams in France and Germany.
Though sports opened doors, Reed thought it was important to focus on books, too. He got degrees in business administration, business management and finance.
"I always thought I was going to be able to do great things with basketball," Reed says. "Basketball did what I wanted it to do - pay for my education. I always tell people I wanted to be able to fall back on my brain."
It was basketball, though, that brought Reed to North Carolina.
In the fall of 2004, he was to play with the Asheville Altitude, an NBA development league team, when an injury sidelined him. Reed went to Duke University for medical care and ended up staying in Durham. "I didn't want to move back to New Jersey," he says. "North Carolina and Texas were the two states I always thought I would end up in, and here I am."
Big brother Malcom
Reed tried his hand at business and worked at several drug stores. Then, several years ago, he launched a basketball program that evolved into the D3 mentoring program. Leon Frazier, a 23-year-old Durham Southern High School graduate who played point guard at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., credits Reed with much of his success.
"To make a long story short, I went to four different schools playing basketball," Frazier says. "Malcom's like my big brother. He gives me a lot of tough love. He's a good man. He helped me stay strong." Frazier plans to graduate from college this spring and try out for professional teams overseas. But each summer, he returns to Durham and helps Reed with the mentoring program.
Later this spring, Reed will take 50 young men on a tour of colleges in New Jersey. He makes the students set up their own school interviews, but he arranges meetings and dinners with people who mentored him along the way.
Though D3 operates on a limited budget of about $40,000, Reed says, many people volunteer their time and fundraising events help supplement funds. Reed says he dips into his personal savings - money he has from real estate and other investments he made with people he met while in West Virginia.
Karyee Lewis, a new college student who grew up in Durham, has relied on Reed for help. In 10th grade, Lewis dropped out of school in Durham. He had brushes with the law and difficulties with his parents.
A friend introduced Lewis to Reed a couple of years ago. Since then, Lewis has obtained his high school equivalency diploma, revived his passion in playing football and enrolled in Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y. Reed has a lot to do with Lewis' new, optimistic outlook. Not only does he tout the benefits of leaving a familiar community to pursue an education, he reminds those who go to keep up with the people they leave. "He can act like a father sometimes and like a brother sometimes," Lewis says. "He took me under his wing. I wouldn't be in school if it wasn't for him. He just wants to see his people, people in his community, do well."
Though Reed has reached out to his mother and older brother, they have not reconciled since his difficult teenage years. His younger sister lived with him in Durham as she finished high school, but she has returned to New Jersey. Reed thinks of the people he mentors as family and helps them because of that, citing his lack of a family structure growing up.
"The fact that I never had it," Reed says, "that's part of what drives me."
"Wassup," the message says. " I was tryna c if u culd help me out. im tryna get bak in basketball shape and get in to a school."
Reed, the 30-year-old founder of the D3 Community Outreach mentoring program in Durham, is slowly building a reputation as a man who can and will help "knuckleheaded" youth turn their lives around. The author of the Facebook message found Reed through a friend who had just gotten into junior college in upstate New York.
Reed, a former college basketball player who made a few knuckleheaded moves of his own in his teen years, knows what it's like to need someone in times of trouble. And as a nod to the mentors who guided him to a better way of life, Reed gives his time, energy and money freely to young men who truly are committed to change.
He helps them study for GED tests and lines up volunteers to coach them in subjects beyond his expertise. He shuttles students to and from testing sites. He takes them on college tours, helps a few select students out with rent, tuition and books, and brags about their accomplishments as if they were his own children.
"For a young person to take the time and contact you," Reed says, "how do you turn your back?"
Reed was born in South Carolina but spent most of his childhood in a small community outside Ocean City, N.J. Things were tough. He never met his father and for years thought of his oldest brother as the man of the house. But when that brother, four years his senior, moved out on his own, Reed started having difficulties at home.
When he was 14, he came home one day to find his mother at the door with a knife, telling him he wasn't coming inside anymore. All his clothes, shoes, a radio and other possessions were outside in two garbage bags.
For two weeks, Reed was homeless. He slept near a trash can and did not go to school.
Then a man who owned an efficiency motel allowed him to stay on the property if he would do handyman work around the place. Reed, though, continued his spiral downward. Though he played basketball his freshman year of high school, he became ineligible his sophomore year, the year he got in trouble with the law for armed robbery and stealing a car.
Judge intervenes
Those legal troubles landed Reed in a Cape May County, N.J., courtroom, where a judge forced him to change his lifestyle. Not only did the judge, a tall, imposing man, send Reed off to a juvenile offender boot camp at a Cape May Coast Guard post, he also insisted that Reed keep up his grades, play high school basketball and return to his courtroom several times a month for a status update.
That judge, Reed says, even showed up at one of his high school basketball games. "It was a bit of excitement," Reed recalled. "It was like someone was checking up on me."
That nurturing experience, and his positive relationship with the high school basketball coach and an English teacher who challenged him to do better, led Reed to Ocean County College for two years of community college. More important, his experience in Toms River, N.J., led to the first of three post high school degrees that he cherishes today.
After two years in Toms River, Reed transferred to the Institute of Technology at West Virginia University to play for the Golden Bears. Those experiences afforded him an opportunity to try out for the Philadelphia 76ers, though he didn't make the team, and for brief professional stints with the Harlem Globetrotters and teams in France and Germany.
Though sports opened doors, Reed thought it was important to focus on books, too. He got degrees in business administration, business management and finance.
"I always thought I was going to be able to do great things with basketball," Reed says. "Basketball did what I wanted it to do - pay for my education. I always tell people I wanted to be able to fall back on my brain."
It was basketball, though, that brought Reed to North Carolina.
In the fall of 2004, he was to play with the Asheville Altitude, an NBA development league team, when an injury sidelined him. Reed went to Duke University for medical care and ended up staying in Durham. "I didn't want to move back to New Jersey," he says. "North Carolina and Texas were the two states I always thought I would end up in, and here I am."
Big brother Malcom
Reed tried his hand at business and worked at several drug stores. Then, several years ago, he launched a basketball program that evolved into the D3 mentoring program. Leon Frazier, a 23-year-old Durham Southern High School graduate who played point guard at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., credits Reed with much of his success.
"To make a long story short, I went to four different schools playing basketball," Frazier says. "Malcom's like my big brother. He gives me a lot of tough love. He's a good man. He helped me stay strong." Frazier plans to graduate from college this spring and try out for professional teams overseas. But each summer, he returns to Durham and helps Reed with the mentoring program.
Later this spring, Reed will take 50 young men on a tour of colleges in New Jersey. He makes the students set up their own school interviews, but he arranges meetings and dinners with people who mentored him along the way.
Though D3 operates on a limited budget of about $40,000, Reed says, many people volunteer their time and fundraising events help supplement funds. Reed says he dips into his personal savings - money he has from real estate and other investments he made with people he met while in West Virginia.
Karyee Lewis, a new college student who grew up in Durham, has relied on Reed for help. In 10th grade, Lewis dropped out of school in Durham. He had brushes with the law and difficulties with his parents.
A friend introduced Lewis to Reed a couple of years ago. Since then, Lewis has obtained his high school equivalency diploma, revived his passion in playing football and enrolled in Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y. Reed has a lot to do with Lewis' new, optimistic outlook. Not only does he tout the benefits of leaving a familiar community to pursue an education, he reminds those who go to keep up with the people they leave. "He can act like a father sometimes and like a brother sometimes," Lewis says. "He took me under his wing. I wouldn't be in school if it wasn't for him. He just wants to see his people, people in his community, do well."
Though Reed has reached out to his mother and older brother, they have not reconciled since his difficult teenage years. His younger sister lived with him in Durham as she finished high school, but she has returned to New Jersey. Reed thinks of the people he mentors as family and helps them because of that, citing his lack of a family structure growing up.
"The fact that I never had it," Reed says, "that's part of what drives me."
anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or 919 836-4948
Malcom Reed on The State of Things with Frank Stasio
Check out this link to hear an intriguing interview about the founder of D3, Malcom Reed.
Basketball carried Malcolm Reed from the Jersey shore to West Virginia Tech to the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Harlem Globetrotters. When he settled in Durham, he founded D3, a nonprofit that mentors kids through high school and beyond. The program currently has 106 mentees in college and a long waiting list. Malcolm Reed joins host Frank Stasio to share how he is changing the future of the Bull City one young mind at a time.
Basketball carried Malcolm Reed from the Jersey shore to West Virginia Tech to the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Harlem Globetrotters. When he settled in Durham, he founded D3, a nonprofit that mentors kids through high school and beyond. The program currently has 106 mentees in college and a long waiting list. Malcolm Reed joins host Frank Stasio to share how he is changing the future of the Bull City one young mind at a time.
 |
| Interview of Malcom Reed |
D3 in The Northeast Central Durham Community | Voice
In March of 2010, The Northeast Central Durham Community paper, Voice, helped to spread the word about the great work that D3 is going for youth in their neighborhood and our community.
Desire determines development
By Briana Aguilar
NCCU staff writer
the Durham VOICE
thedurhamvoice@gmail.com
Malcolm Reed came to Durham in 2006 with a vision to help at-risk youth. He has helped 107 children get into college through his non-profit organization D3 Community Outreach, Inc.
“My desire to act and to make a difference shifted from wanting to just give back to my childhood community in New Jersey, to wanting to help the disadvantaged youth in the community where I currently resided, Durham, North Carolina, and eventually nationally,” said Reed.
In 2006, Reed expressed his ideas to his close friend Donnie Clyburn and together they exchanged ideas and came up with the name for his non-profit organization, D3 Community Outreach.
D3 represents Reed’s personal motto “Desire Determines Development.”
Reed, who played for the Philadelphia 76ers, the Harlem Globetrotters, and for professional basketball teams in France and Germany, began to realize over the years that he wasn’t the only person who had been through struggles and come out successfully.
He credits his involvement in youth sport programs as the outlet that provided him with a place to release negativity.
Reed started creating programs to develop leadership skills and self-confidence so youth can take advantage of opportunities presented to them. The programs are offered at the John Avery Boys & Girls Club, public libraries, and other Durham locations that will donate space. Professionals recruited from the community volunteer their time and expertise to lead the mentoring workshops.
D3 has four core programs: The Annual Hayti Basketball League, The C.E.O (Cultivating Every Opportunity) Institute, The T.R.U. (Together Reaching Unity Mentoring Program), and the Shining Star Academy with a GED program. All but the basketball league are year-round programs.
The first program he created was the Hayti Basketball Summer League (no association to Hayti Heritage Center) for at-risk youth in Durham. The Hayti Basketball Summer League offers educational, leadership and advancement opportunities to males 14-18 who have been associated with gangs, along with youth from low-income areas, and youth who are considered “at-risk.”
The league has around 150 participants each year. Of those participants 50 are picked based on character and commitment to attend the Youth Empowerment and College Tour Trip.
The goal of this trip is to enhance the youths’ skills which can lead to healthy decision making, and ultimately create a healthier community. This year, the tour will travel to New Jersey to visit Rutgers University, Oceans Community College and Monmouth University.
The C.E.O Institute promotes the improvement of life and leadership skills in at-risk youth by helping five males and five females gain the necessary tools to understanding and succeeding in life.
The C.E.O Institute has workshops that prepare young adults for the challenges of adolescence and adulthood, along with activities to help each individual socially, cognitively and morally.
The T.R.U. mentoring program was designed to impact the lives of males and females ages 5-18 by providing adult guidance and support, giving them learning opportunities that promote life skills, life-enhancing values, and character development.
The Shining Star Academy helps students focus on life skills in order to be successful. The program is composed into two component Life Skill Seminars and GED classes. The academy consists of male and female students from 16-19 who have dropped out of high school.
Participants are selected on a first come, first serve basis and largely come from word of mouth referrals.
Through these programs, D3 wants to remain true to their mission “to foster a healthier community by developing a healthier child.”
Up to this point, funding has come mainly from Reed himself and partners. This year, however, they plan to do hold three fundraising events: the Holiday Classic, Annual Gala, and the Annual Charity Basketball Tournament.
The First Annual Gala will be April 16 at the Durham Armory, 212 Foster St. Tickets are $25 and the money raised will go towards the Youth Empowerment Trip. This will be a formal event. For more information contact Malcom Reed at 919-827-5959 or email him at info@d3communityoutreach.org.
Follow D3 on Twitter @D3 Comm-Outreach and on Facebook D3 Community Outreach, Inc.
Weblinks: www.d3communityoutreach.org.
NCCU staff writer
the Durham VOICE
thedurhamvoice@gmail.com
Malcolm Reed came to Durham in 2006 with a vision to help at-risk youth. He has helped 107 children get into college through his non-profit organization D3 Community Outreach, Inc.
Members of the Hayti Summer Basketball League pose for a fundraising photo. (Photo courtesy of Malcolm Reed)
In 2006, Reed expressed his ideas to his close friend Donnie Clyburn and together they exchanged ideas and came up with the name for his non-profit organization, D3 Community Outreach.
D3 represents Reed’s personal motto “Desire Determines Development.”
Reed, who played for the Philadelphia 76ers, the Harlem Globetrotters, and for professional basketball teams in France and Germany, began to realize over the years that he wasn’t the only person who had been through struggles and come out successfully.
He credits his involvement in youth sport programs as the outlet that provided him with a place to release negativity.
Reed started creating programs to develop leadership skills and self-confidence so youth can take advantage of opportunities presented to them. The programs are offered at the John Avery Boys & Girls Club, public libraries, and other Durham locations that will donate space. Professionals recruited from the community volunteer their time and expertise to lead the mentoring workshops.
D3 has four core programs: The Annual Hayti Basketball League, The C.E.O (Cultivating Every Opportunity) Institute, The T.R.U. (Together Reaching Unity Mentoring Program), and the Shining Star Academy with a GED program. All but the basketball league are year-round programs.
The first program he created was the Hayti Basketball Summer League (no association to Hayti Heritage Center) for at-risk youth in Durham. The Hayti Basketball Summer League offers educational, leadership and advancement opportunities to males 14-18 who have been associated with gangs, along with youth from low-income areas, and youth who are considered “at-risk.”
The league has around 150 participants each year. Of those participants 50 are picked based on character and commitment to attend the Youth Empowerment and College Tour Trip.
The goal of this trip is to enhance the youths’ skills which can lead to healthy decision making, and ultimately create a healthier community. This year, the tour will travel to New Jersey to visit Rutgers University, Oceans Community College and Monmouth University.
The C.E.O Institute promotes the improvement of life and leadership skills in at-risk youth by helping five males and five females gain the necessary tools to understanding and succeeding in life.
The C.E.O Institute has workshops that prepare young adults for the challenges of adolescence and adulthood, along with activities to help each individual socially, cognitively and morally.
The T.R.U. mentoring program was designed to impact the lives of males and females ages 5-18 by providing adult guidance and support, giving them learning opportunities that promote life skills, life-enhancing values, and character development.
The Shining Star Academy helps students focus on life skills in order to be successful. The program is composed into two component Life Skill Seminars and GED classes. The academy consists of male and female students from 16-19 who have dropped out of high school.
Participants are selected on a first come, first serve basis and largely come from word of mouth referrals.
Through these programs, D3 wants to remain true to their mission “to foster a healthier community by developing a healthier child.”
Up to this point, funding has come mainly from Reed himself and partners. This year, however, they plan to do hold three fundraising events: the Holiday Classic, Annual Gala, and the Annual Charity Basketball Tournament.
The First Annual Gala will be April 16 at the Durham Armory, 212 Foster St. Tickets are $25 and the money raised will go towards the Youth Empowerment Trip. This will be a formal event. For more information contact Malcom Reed at 919-827-5959 or email him at info@d3communityoutreach.org.
Follow D3 on Twitter @D3 Comm-Outreach and on Facebook D3 Community Outreach, Inc.
Weblinks: www.d3communityoutreach.org.
Reposting - How do you contribute?
So much talk about how today's youth are so different from today's adults, yet, not many decide to make an investment into the lives of these youth whether it be through volunteering at local organizations that support them, donating time, space or money, opening the doors to their business so youth can intern or even their home so that they have a safe haven to help improve their way of life. How about the ultimate sacrifice of dedicating their everyday hustle from sun up to sun down to foster a healthier community by developing a healthier child?
Well, founder and president of D3 Community Outreach, Incorporated, Malcom Reed, has made his decision to make the ultimate sacrifice. From dawn to dawn he works with at-risk youth in the Durham, NC community molding them, investing in them, providing to them the support that so many mention that they need.
The department of juvenile justice indicates that issues associated with at-risk youth include:
"youth crime, violence, sex, substance abuse, poor academic performance, etc. " They do not fail to mention that research shows that at-risk youth struggle with complex issues and scenarios that are brought on by peers, mentors, family members, and difficult social environments."
So, with all of these "issues" faced by so many youth in the community one would think that there are a plethora of free governmental, non-profit and other organizations that are working to mitigate or eliminate the majority of these issues. But, as we look around, as we read and even text we know that the doors of these organizations are not open and are not being held open by youth eager to take part in their programs. I am sure there are various reasons why but I will try to keep this posting short.
If the majority of "at-risk" youth are from low socio-economic backgrounds, if they have nothing positive that interests them and they feel is worth getting into, if all they know about sex is what they learned on "the playground," if they do not get the help they need in school becuase the 30 other children in the classroom are in their same position what do we do?
Let me ask you: what have you chosen to do??
Well, if your in Durham, NC you have heard of Malcom Reed and his movement to make a change in the lives of these kids through a variety of FREE, I repeat FREE, programs that produce results. Visit www.d3communityoutreach.org for more information on these programs.
It is not enough to solely talk about the issues that youth face. It is more important that we invest in programs such as D3 Community Outreach that build relationships with youth so that students who have left high school can obtain their G.E.D, so that the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child" shows investment and commitment from mentors to youth being mentored, so that the same opportunities for development of life and leadership skills provided to those who can afford the after school and summer camps and who are chosen first for school clubs and trips is afforded to the "at-risk" youth in the community, and so that during the summer when the sun is high in the sky and employers are not hiring youth without the experience, transportation, "look of the company," etc., D3 is hosting their annual Hayti Basketball Summer League which ends with a 50-person Youth Empowerment and College Tour, that encourages youth to stay in school and take on responsibility for themselves.
Well, founder and president of D3 Community Outreach, Incorporated, Malcom Reed, has made his decision to make the ultimate sacrifice. From dawn to dawn he works with at-risk youth in the Durham, NC community molding them, investing in them, providing to them the support that so many mention that they need.
The department of juvenile justice indicates that issues associated with at-risk youth include:
"youth crime, violence, sex, substance abuse, poor academic performance, etc. " They do not fail to mention that research shows that at-risk youth struggle with complex issues and scenarios that are brought on by peers, mentors, family members, and difficult social environments."
So, with all of these "issues" faced by so many youth in the community one would think that there are a plethora of free governmental, non-profit and other organizations that are working to mitigate or eliminate the majority of these issues. But, as we look around, as we read and even text we know that the doors of these organizations are not open and are not being held open by youth eager to take part in their programs. I am sure there are various reasons why but I will try to keep this posting short.
If the majority of "at-risk" youth are from low socio-economic backgrounds, if they have nothing positive that interests them and they feel is worth getting into, if all they know about sex is what they learned on "the playground," if they do not get the help they need in school becuase the 30 other children in the classroom are in their same position what do we do?
Let me ask you: what have you chosen to do??
Well, if your in Durham, NC you have heard of Malcom Reed and his movement to make a change in the lives of these kids through a variety of FREE, I repeat FREE, programs that produce results. Visit www.d3communityoutreach.org for more information on these programs.
It is not enough to solely talk about the issues that youth face. It is more important that we invest in programs such as D3 Community Outreach that build relationships with youth so that students who have left high school can obtain their G.E.D, so that the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child" shows investment and commitment from mentors to youth being mentored, so that the same opportunities for development of life and leadership skills provided to those who can afford the after school and summer camps and who are chosen first for school clubs and trips is afforded to the "at-risk" youth in the community, and so that during the summer when the sun is high in the sky and employers are not hiring youth without the experience, transportation, "look of the company," etc., D3 is hosting their annual Hayti Basketball Summer League which ends with a 50-person Youth Empowerment and College Tour, that encourages youth to stay in school and take on responsibility for themselves.
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