Shlanda Byrd Bradford grew up in a loving home, but she knows a lot of children aren’t so lucky.
That’s why she started Reviving the Youth Ministries, which works with disadvantaged children. Over the years, she has become a surrogate parent to many of them, but she says they respond when they are given boundaries.
“You notice the changes in their behavior when they are in an atmosphere where you have positive people there training them in self-control, self-discipline,” she said.
Bradford, 35, is a lifelong resident of Greenwood. Because her mother had many other children to care for, Bradford lived with godparents Mahalia and Edgar Spencer for a time during her childhood. She grew up in Travelers Rest Missionary Baptist Church, and she said her godparents taught her the importance of faith.
“I knew how my life would have been if my godparents weren’t there. ... They took me in, and they provided me with a better life than I would have had,” she said.
She moved back in with her mother as a teenager and had a daughter of her own at 16 before graduating from Greenwood High School in 1998.
As she matured spiritually, she became more interested in helping others, and she began working with young people in her early 20s. Reviving the Youth began its work in 2005 and was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2006. The group was donated space at the St. Francis Center on Avenue I for after-school programs.
Some children who went there had problems in their homes, such as neglect or drug use; others just needed a place to go because their parents worked a lot. “Just because you’re at home, it doesn’t mean that you’re safe,” Bradford said. “So we opened the door, providing a safe haven for children.”
They also could get something to eat, get clothes if needed and learn skills such as sewing and cooking. They even visited nursing homes on Saturdays and performed other community service.
“We saw that that would help them with their discipline,” she said, “and then they saw other people that were less fortunate than they were, and it would help them with their behavior when they went back to school and in their own environments.”
Reviving the Youth holds an annual back-to-school drive to collect supplies and uniforms for children, and Bradford said people from all over the community have helped. The organization also has been active in street evangelism in a number of towns in the region, including Sidon, Cruger, Tchula, Lexington and Grenada.
“We target rough areas of the community,” Bradford said. “We have a team that actually sets up, and we minister on street corners.”
Bradford said they noticed a need in Sidon, which lacks resources comparable to Greenwood’s Boys and Girls Club or its mentoring center. So Reviving the Youth is working to add a community center there.
The group already offers after-school programs in Sidon for children from kindergarten through sixth grade on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. These activities are now held at the Town Hall, but Bradford wants to give the program its own place so organizers don’t have to pack everything up after a session and bring it back later.
Reviving the Youth is pursuing a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to furnish the new facility. Bradford said she hopes someone will donate a module or trailer and a lot to put it on.
Reviving the Youth already is making a difference in Sidon, she said. The children can have snacks, get help with homework and interact with each other. She said they also respond to one-on-one attention from adults.
“You see kids that are wild, and you see them calm down when they see they’ve got somebody there that really cares and is concerned and trying to train them in the right direction,” she said.
Bradford lives on Plantation Drive with her mother. Her daughter, Dabrial, is now 19 and lives in Louisiana. In addition to working as a seamstress, Bradford is overseer at Rock of Salvation Family Worship Center, which is under Break Through Ministry Inc.
The Meadowbrook Road church holds services Saturday nights and evangelical meetings on Wednesdays.
The reason for the Saturday services is simple: It’s a substitute for people who are transitioning from secular lives and accustomed to going out on that night.
“Every church door is open on Sunday morning,” Bradford said. “But we want to be able to give people the opportunity — ‘Guess what? You don’t have to go to the club on Saturday night. The church doors are open; you can come in and worship, and you can have a good time in the Lord.’”
Bradford also has other ambitions. About four years ago, with the ministry established and active, she decided there were more things she wanted to learn. So she entered Mississippi Valley State University to work on a bachelor’s degree. She graduated Saturday with a degree in public administration. She also has written a book, “Building Marriages That Will Last,” which she is trying to get published, and she plans to pursue a degree in creative writing.
Bradford said she likes to share lessons from her own life and help people see God’s purpose for them. “I want to see people prosper,” she said.
To learn more about Reviving the Youth or to help, call Bradford at (662) 644-4034.
•Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
