From assisting the homeless to holding mentoring and youth development programs, Delta sorors are attempting to tackle needs in the south suburbs.
More than a century after 22 black college women at Howard University formed the historical Delta Sigma Theta Sorority with a commitment to academic excellence and to public service in the black community, more than 200,000 women have joined and formed 1,000 chapters across the country and internationally.
Among them is the Joliet Area/South Suburban Alumnae Chapter of the Delta sorority with more than 400 members, including Crete resident and Glenwood native Kimberly Rowe-Barney, who serves as chapter president.
She became a sorority member because of Delta role models in her life.
“All the strong women in my family are Deltas,” she said. “My mother is a Delta. All of my godmothers are Deltas. I was surrounded by the ideas and principals of Deltas throughout my life.
“Their hard work ethic, the fact that we give back to the community, I am very passionate about that,” she said.
For example, Delta volunteers provide meals for the homeless from October through April during one evening and morning each month in a partnership with South Suburban PADS at New Faith Baptist Church in Matteson and St. Irenaeus Church in Park Forest.
“It’s very important the help the Deltas provide,” said Fran Willis, a member of New Faith Baptist Church who assists with the church’s PADS program. “Sometimes besides food, they have brought socks and clothes.”
At Park Elementary School in Riverdale, the sorority has partnered with the nonprofit Blessings in a Backpack to provide nonperishable foods to children. The program serves students at risk of hunger during the weekends when they don’t have access to free school lunch programs, said Kimberly Jackson, second vice president of the Delta group.
Eighty-five percent of the 245 students at the school are participants in the government funded free and reduced lunch program, said Dell McFarlane, principal of the school and a Delta chapter member. The food that the Deltas provide is distributed to all of the students two Fridays a month during the school year, McFarlane said, adding, “The need is great.”
The chapter kicked off its annual educational development and mentoring program at Rich South High School in Richton Park this month. That program, which meets monthly from January through June, has more than three dozen young student participants.
Next month, the sorority will hold its third annual youth empowerment conference, expected to attract 300 middle and high school students and their parents.
The free event, Feb. 24 at Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills, will have workshops tailored for middle and high school students covering diverse topics, including programs on racial and social justice, career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math — where people of color remain dismally underrepresented — and the importance of nurturing positive peer relationships and letting go of negative ones.
Against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, which has highlighted the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault, one of the sessions will teach girls the importance of self-empowerment and self-assertiveness. Author and motivational speaker Danielle Langford, founder of the website pinkempowers.com will lead that session. Among the important messages she plans to deliver is that girls “have the power to say no to things that don’t serve them, that demean them and that disempower them,” Langford said. “In this climate of sexual harassment, it’s really important for them to develop a strong no.”
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Anita White, who has a PhD in chemistry and teaches the subject at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora will lead the STEM workshop. She is director of the school’s PROMISE program, an outreach, tutoring and mentoring program that includes summer and weekend programs designed to attract more underrepresented populations to STEM. White, who is a former research scientist at G.D. Searle, which later became part of Pfizer, said at her workshop she will communicate to students that they are empowered to do whatever they set their minds to do “as long as they stay focused” and that sometimes it may take longer than expected to reach their goals, but it helps to “begin with the end in mind.” To increase the representation of minorities in STEM, a key factor is “being able to see yourself in that field,” she said.
“When I was in high school, my chemistry teacher was an African-American woman, and even though I didn’t realize it at the time, she had a profound effect on where I am now. Seeing her teaching chemistry told me that I can do it,” she said.
The Delta conference also will feature workshops for parents on managing college costs, helping children navigate their future, life insurance and estate planning.
Park Forest resident and Delta member Nicole Griffin-Wilson, co-chair of the chapter’s Political Awareness & Involvement Committee, which is spearheading the conference, notes such initiatives are meeting vital needs.
“Our youth are at risk, especially African-American youth,” she said. “Many are dying. We really need to grab them and let them know, that’s not the way of the world, that there are opportunities out there for you, and we are going to present them to you.”
The sorority will host a candidate forum at Thornridge High School in Dolton in February, and a pageant at Victory Apostolic Church in Matteson March 24. The latter event, along with a gala held New Year’s Eve and a golf outing planned later this year helps fund the sorority’s programs and enables it to provide $25,000 in college scholarships to south suburban students each year.
To register for the youth conference, which has a Feb. 10 deadline, and for more information on the chapter’s programs and fundraising events, visit jassacdeltas.org.