Making a difference

Mentoring coordinator lauded for community contributions

 

 

Fort Myers--Her role model is Harriet Tubman, a slave who freed hundreds of others through the Underground Railroad, and her greatest success is becoming the first African-American TV reporter in this community where she was born and raised. Veronica Dickens Barber, mentoring coordinator for the African Caribbean American Catholic Center (AFCAAM), was recently recognized as a finalist for the Apex Awards from the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce.

 

The award is a tribute to outstanding women for their professional achievement, community service and volunteerism, and personal development and leadership skills. Barber was “genuinely surprised and honored” that she was chosen as one of five finalists from a group of 30 candidates. “I do what I do out of a love for God’s people,” she said.

 

AFCAAM, a Catholic Charities program that provides after-school reading assistance and mentoring services for at-risk youth in the Dunbar and Harlem Heights neighborhoods, is one of many community organizations where Barber undertakes a leadership role.  “When you ask me about AFCAAM and my work, you’re asking me about my passion,” said Barber.

 

Barber came to AFCAAM in 2003 as a health educator with a program called Healthy Body Healthy Soul.  “As I took in the AFCAAM experience, I knew immediately that I wanted to be an official staff member.  AFCAAM was all about one of my deepest passions of making a difference in the lives of others in ways that mattered, especially young people,” said Barber.

 

“I have seen many agencies and organizations say that’s what they’re about and later faltered when the road became rough.  But at AFCAAM, I found the staff to be genuinely concerned about the people they served, dedicated to the mission, vision and goal of the ministry,” said Barber.

 

Barber has worked with teens most of her professional life and she prays that “God will help me keep this desire to continue doing it.”  She believes that young people need a “hand of hope and a hand up, instead of a hand out.” She insists that the youth in her program commit to doing community service projects.  “I want them to know it’s just as important to give as it is to receive,” she said.

 

If you would like more information about AFCAAM, please contact the program at 239-461-0233.

 

Photo: Veronica Dickens Barber.