August 18, 2005
By Allison Scahill

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In the 1970s, Theressa Hoover United Methodist Church was on its way to permanently fading out.

Then the Rev. William "Paw Paw" Robinson Jr. stepped in.

"I was not convinced that the regular, traditional United Methodist membership would take off and grow fast enough to support and sustain a ministry in this building," he said. "I just saw an opportunity for this building to fill a void."

Robinson has been a key part in creating a series of programs through a United Methodist ministry called Black Community Developers to serve the community of Little Rock.

The programs include Paw Paw's Day Care, after-school and summer youth programs, gang intervention, a faith-based substance abuse program, housing for formerly incarcerated men, Jobs Partnership, affordable housing and a partnership with the Minority AIDS Network.

Deborah Bell, director of community development for Black Community Developers and daughter to Robinson, said the Black Community Developers started about 25 years ago, when midtown Little Rock was a depressed area with gang violence and significant drug use.

"There was a lot of transition as far as people moving out of the community, and Rev. Robinson has a real passion for people who are underserved," she said. "So the first thing he did was really reach out to the community to find out where a need was. Our programs have been need-driven based on what the community feels are services that are absent from the community."

The day care was the first program, and it was there that Robinson received the nickname "Paw Paw."

"I have several grandkids, a whole gob of them, and they started calling me Paw Paw. Then the other kids just picked up the name," he said. "So we just decided that we would name the day care center Paw Paw's Day Care Center. That's how that whole thing started back in 1981."

Karen Robinson, director of Paw Paw's Day Care and Robinson's youngest daughter, said she has worked at the day care since the beginning.

"There wasn't a day care around, and 25 years ago we felt like we needed one," she said.

The day care is not just a place for kids to play but to learn as well, she said. She teaches children from 18 months to 5 years old dramatic play, writing and computer skills.

"A lot of things (the kids) are doing is learning, but they don't know they're learning. They're having fun," she said. "I feel like I'm helping them a whole lot. Some of them come in and can't get along with others emotionally. It's all about reaching (out) to the kids and finding out where they're at and working with them physically and emotionally."

A home for men

Will's House is a house for formerly incarcerated men to live who want to turn their lives around. Sandra Mitchell, the housing coordinator, said she manages the property and housing for the 16 residents there.

In most cases, residents who live there hear about it through the Hoover Center, the treatment center of Black Community Developers, she said. When a man completes 30 days of substance abuse treatment and is eligible, he is referred to the facility.

"Will's House is different, and what makes it unique is that it's an ongoing, permanent housing facility, so there's no length of time that the person is required to stay," Mitchell said. "A person can reside at this facility as long as they need the supports and the structure to get them to where they need to be."

Residents are required to participate in support groups, attend house meetings and maintain the quality of the house.

"One of the success stories that we have is one of the residents that completed the program was featured in one of the local hospital newspapers because of his recruitment of other employees," Mitchell said. "He is a success story because he has his own apartment, has his own car and he was promoted. He attributes that to job partnership."

Will's House, named after Robinson's late son Willie Ray Robinson, celebrated its first year April 9.

Job training

Jobs Partnership is a job training and life skills development program. Frankye Stanley coordinates the sessions, which begin in April and September each year.

"We instruct those individuals who are unemployed or underemployed in gaining the skills and techniques that they need to be able to obtain employment and stay employed," she said.

Participants attend two two-hour classes a week for 10 weeks at no charge and are given a graduation ceremony upon completing the program.

"To me, the program is extremely important because there are a lot of people who are unemployed or underemployed, and they come to us literally suffering from low self-esteem, helplessness and feelings of insignificance," Stanley said. "And for us to be able to sit down with them for 40 hours and help them to realize there are concepts, skills and techniques that they can apply to their life that will enable them to gain the employment that they need, the self-confidence that they need, then it's a win-win situation for all of us."

Since classes started in 2001, 164 students have graduated, and 87 percent remain employed, Stanley said.

"We have one individual who came to Jobs Partnership, had been unemployed for several years, didn't have any idea how she was going to continue," she said. "She was homeless and had a very negative attitude toward life as a whole. When she came through Jobs Partnership, she began to see that it wasn't hopeless, that there was a life for her. She went through the classes, she graduated, started working with one of the businesses who partners with us to hire our graduates, and has been promoted on that job three times."

The youth program includes middle and high school students, Bell said. A female counselor and two male counselors provide after-school services that include tutoring, mentoring, cultural awareness and gang intervention.

"The staff serves as a surrogate – they go to court with them, they're in school with them and (are) just really involved in their day-to-day life to ensure that they don't stay on the streets, that they realize there is a home and somebody cares about them outside their immediate family," she said.

Housing help

The Black Community Developers Affordable Housing program provides new homes for lower-income residents in Little Rock. Charles Vann, housing coordinator, said the program assists potential homebuyers with credit reports and application assistance, and offers counseling and education on buying a home.

Raven Gregory has lived in her new home for eight months. The future law student said the neighborhood was rough before new families moved in, drawn by the houses.

"Before the homes were here, drug activity was pretty high, and gangs and things of that nature (were in the neighborhood)," she said. "Since I've been here, you don't hear about many break-ins, definitely no drug homes. The crime rate has definitely gone down. I feel good and secure in my home. I'm very comfortable here."

Caroline Williams, wife, mother of four and hospital worker, said she contacted Black Community Developers after her home burned down.

"It has helped me and my family tremendously. Before we moved here, we were living in a rented home, and we lost that house in a fire," she said. "We had to live with some relatives for about a year and a half, so when we finally got the house, it brought peace with the family and it put us together. It really did help our family a lot."

The Black Community Developers received the Power Surge Award from Power Play magazine, which recognizes an organization that has made an extraordinary professional move that could significantly affect a community or industry in Arkansas.

Deborah Bell said her position is more than just a job; it's a ministry and a large part of her life and faith journey.

"A job is something that when you leave it, you leave it. But when you're in ministry, it's always with you. It's always a part of your heart. It's with you when you go home," she said. "It's not all about dollars. God always provided, and he still does. I'm so fortunate. It's just been a blessing all around. This is where God placed me, and this is where I need to be."

Robinson said even though he is retired, he still has goals for the community developers that he will keep in mind when searching for someone to take his position.

"One (goal) is that we continue to be in ministry to the community. We love Sunday morning service, we love the other pieces, but we also love being in outreach ministry to the community," he said. "I want the person to follow here to continue to uplift this community and to restore it."

United Methodist News Service
Allison Scahill is a mass communications major at United Methodist-related Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan. She worked as an intern this summer at United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn.