PanZOu Project, Inc. - Latest Blog Entries

PanZOu on Mission Possible Radio Show

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:58:00 -0500

Miami peeps, listen to my radio interview on Sunday July 11, 2010 on WIOD 610AM Mission Possible Radio Show! It will also air Tuesday July 13, 2010 on WHIM 1080 AM Life Changers Radio Show From 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm. Viva PanZOu! We're out here trying to change lives!

PanZOu at the 25th National Preventing Crime in the Black Community

Sat, 22 May 2010 16:58:00 -0500

I hope you all are attending this great conference: the 25th National Preventing Crime in the Black Community, May 26 - 29, 2010! This year PanZou is pleased to be presenting:

Implementing a Comprehensive Gang Model

The federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Model utilizes best practices in prevention, intervention, enforcement and re-entry to reduce gang and youth violence. This session provides innovative strategies for partnering with law enforcement, street outreach, case management, job training, family strengthening, and social enterprises.
Session Z - Salon 13/14

Date:

Friday, May 28, 2010

Time:

10:30am - 12:30pm

Location:

Rosen Centre Hotel Orlando, Florida

See you there!!

PanZOu Receives Grant for Job Skills Training for Gang Youth!

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:35:00 -0600

PanZOu awarded $10K to provide job skills training to gang members in Dade County!

Thank you Dade Community Foundation!

PanZou 1 of 3 Finalists for Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Award for Innovative Excellence!

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:57:00 -0600

March 9, 2010

The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Nonprofit Business Committee Award Task Force, is pleased to inform you that PanZOu Project, Inc. has been selected as one of three finalists for the 2010 NOVO Awards in the under $2 million category. The NOVO Awards are presented for innovative excellence in the delivery of services in our community.

The winner of the award will be announced at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Trustees Luncheon on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at Jungle Island, 1111 Parrot Trail. As a finalist, we invite you and one additional person from your organization to attend as our guests. Additional tickets can be purchased at $55.00 per person. The winners will be announced at the luncheon.

Again congratulations to PanZOu Project, Inc. on being a finalist for our 9^th Annual NOVO Awards. Please contact Jennifer Sanchez, 305-577-5451 or jsanchez@miamichamber.com with the names of the two individuals who will be representing your organization.

Trudy Novicki

NOVO Awards Task Force Chair

PanZOu will donate to QIFD in Haiti

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:14:00 -0600

Dear friends,

As you know, PanZOu created Hearts for Haiti shirts to help raise money. Our board has chosen QIFD,Quisqueya International Organization for Freedom & Development, a nonprofit organization that works on the grassroots level to advance political, economic and social rights and support development initiatives. We met the Executive Director while we were in Haiti in 2007 for a Symposium of Gang Violence. They do amazing work all over Haiti. Below is an email I received following the earthquake on Jan 15th:

Laura,

It is with a heavy heart that I type this email. I am so completely and utterly devastated. Our office in Port au Prince is gone and many of our staff are still missing. Eric,my partner of 10 years is missing, I can't find him. Our office is gone and have only accouted for 1 staff.My god daughter and her family did not make it as their house crushed them. Words can not do justice on how I feel, but I have to fight on for the people of Haiti. There is no time for mourning....yet.

If you can pass the word along to your friends, colleagues, family to go to our website www.qifd.org and click on the yellow donate button. No amount is too small. 100% of funds raised witll go towards the relief effort. Let them consider investing in the long term recovery of Haiti by giving to an organization such as QIFD that have been serving Haiti long before the earthquake and will be here long after other aid organizations have gone home.

I know so many Haitians and friends of Haiti are going through the same nightmare and anguish as me. Please pray for everyone’s loved ones that are missing, injured or have not survived and pray for my missing staff and friends. Will keep you updated as I can.

Kenbe fem, pa lage,

Laurie

QIFD website: www.qifd.org

Show your support today by donating $20 and wearing your Heart for Haiti shirt proudly. Please send us a photo!

PanZOu Reviewed as Top-Rated Job Training & Placement NonProfit!

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:11:00 -0600

Web Site Releases First Ever List of Top-Rated Nonprofits That Help People Get Jobs

Menlo Park, Calif. — February 4, 2010 — GreatNonprofits announced today a list of Top-Rated nonprofits that provide job training or placement based on user-reviews (http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/issues/jobs/_). This first-ever list show the breadth of nonprofits stepping up to address the growing need for jobs in this economy. Government and individual funders looking to support organizations that are effectively helping people get jobs can browse the list by ratings and location, and read reviews of nonprofits that are truly having an impact – or those that are not.

The ratings were posted during the 2010 Job Training and Placement Awards, hosted by GreatNonprofits, Goodwill Industries International, the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services, and Guidestar. Ratings were submitted by members of the public who have volunteered, donated, or been served by the nonprofits. There are over 40 top nonprofits on the final list, available at http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/issues/jobs/_.

“…I may have been a late blossomer, but because Goodwill® believed in ME when I couldn't believe in myself and took out the time to teach me how to be a responsible person and that life could actually be GOOD, we now thrive as a family,” wrote one reviewer about Goodwill Industries of Colorado Springs, “we even own our own home, and how can you thank someone enough for saving your life and the life of your children, to not repeat the lifestyle that you yourself went thru, thinking there were no other options?...”

Sandee Kastrul, the President and co-Founder of Inner-City Computer Stars in Chicago, IL, one of the top-rated charities, says, “Since we have participated in the campaign, we have been delighted by the responses of our alums, our participants, our employers and volunteers. What a wonderful way to give and receive feedback in order to strengthen our program and increase our impact.”

"Our rankings have been top-rated, “said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, “This verification is one that gives people first-hand knowledge of their local, reputable and trustworthy organizations that are worthy of their time, service, financial donations, or donated goods."

The entire list of top-rated nonprofits is at http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/issues/jobs/_. Use this list to find great nonprofits to support with your giving and volunteering.

About the 2010 Job Training and Placement Awards The awards were hosted by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user-generated ratings and reviews of nonprofits, Goodwill Industries International, the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services, and Guidestar. Over the course of the Job Training and Placement Awards, more than 116,000 people visited the GreatNonprofits Web site, and close to 1000 reviews were posted about more than 100 nonprofits providing job training or placement in their communities.

Reviews appear on GreatNonprofits.org as well as GuideStar.org, the premiere source for donor research on nonprofits. Nonprofits with 10 or more positive reviews are included on the GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Job Training and Placement Nonprofits list. Reviews submissions took place from January 1st to January 31st, 2010.

Media Contact: Shari Ilsen Shari [dot] Ilsen [at] greatnonprofits.org 650.234.4766 (office) 978.621.3396 (cell)

Rise Haiti Rise!

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:17:00 -0600

Rise Haiti Rise!

by Frank de Jesus Acosta Ashe

Rise Haiti rise! Loving hearts can hear you calling

A child’s cries rise from the rubble to shake us from our slumber
It is not a strangers’ flesh and bones crushed amid the ruins, it is mine; ours; us
Your pain, like the life blood in your veins, flows from the tribes of the 4 corners
Diaspora seeds give you roots in the womb of Africa; as we share the heartbeat of the drum

Sister Haiti rise! You have fallen before, but the spirit within will not let you perish
The boot of tyranny and strangle hold of greed brought the plagues of poverty
Even as a wounded mother earth convulses, your song of faith will not be muted, nor spirit broken
Ubuntu, inherent inter-connectedness of humanity, makes your destiny our own
Creator, hear our prayers for healing, move us to act in love for the Haitian within us all.

Brother Haiti rise! Resurrect once again, grasping the genuine hand of humanity
Gather your clans and re-build around the Sacred Tree of life
The Sacred Tree preserves the roots of your ancestors, connecting the branches of your generations
The fruits of the tree are love and culture, bestowing dignity, identity and a higher purpose
Its fruits beget the tenets of family, community, empathy, ingenuity, industry, and faith

So rise Haiti rise!
Ascend from the loss and devastation and unite your wounded hearts
As your spirit song finds its rhythm with communal tears, wails, and supplications
Drink the milk of compassion, you called, we came, a love manifest as the hand of God
Rise Haiti rise! Be restored to resume your place among the sacred circle of tribes

Frank de Jesus Acosta Ashe!

PanZOu Joins the Relief Efforts in Haiti

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:42:00 -0600

DONATE TO HELP HAITI!

The PanZOu Project is accepting donations to assist the relief efforts in Haiti. Your donation is tax deductible and will be given to local organizations working directly in Haiti to alleviation suffering and provide basic human needs for food, clothing and shelter.

For more information on our local partners please contact Laura Kallus at 305-956-2524 or lkallus@panzouproject.org.

PanZOu Joins the Relief Efforts in Haiti

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:41:00 -0600

DONATE TO HELP HAITI!

The PanZOu Project is accepting donations to assist the relief efforts in Haiti. Your donation is tax deductible and will be given to local organizations working directly in Haiti to alleviation suffering and provide basic human needs for food, clothing and shelter.

For more information on our local partners please contact Laura Kallus at 305-956-2524 or lkallus@panzouproject.org.

PanZou Supports Hope For Haiti

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:23:00 -0600

PanZou Supports Hope For Haiti!

HOPE FOR HAITI RESPONDS TO DEVASTATING PORT-AU-PRINCE EARTHQUAKE

Naples, Fl -- Jan. 12, 2010 -- As the aftershocks of the massive 7.magnitude earthquake continued to rock Port-au-Prince into Tuesday night, Hope for Haiti, a non-profit organization based in Naples, Fl has launched its emergency response to help in the aftermath of this catastrophic event. Hope for Haiti is mobilizing both in Les Cayes, Haiti and in Naples to get aid to the dust-covered capital's countless victims. The organization's large network of supplies and technical expertise in Haiti is based in the south. The challenge today is getting the most crucial materials four hours north to Port-au-Prince as quickly and safely as possible.
Emergency Relief Buckets containing fortified dried food supplies, matches, candles, antibacterial soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, detergent, and Aquatab water purification tablets are the thrust of Hope for Haiti's response.

One 5-gallon bucket is intended to sustain a family of five for about a week, and 1,000 buckets are packed and on their way. In addition, Hope for Haiti is sending to Port au Prince, medications, medical supplies, Haitian Dr. Steve Victor, and 7,308 bags of Kids Against Hunger fortified dried meals. Led by Country Director Mike Stewart and in coordination with the Naples staff, this effort was coordinated throughout the night.

"We're asking the public to support our efforts through prayers and financial assistance," said Hope for Haiti Founder and President, JoAnne Kuehner. "We need donations to help send medical supplies and medical personnel to Haiti."

Financial donations can be made directly through the organization's Web site www.hopeforhaiti.com. As of 10 a.m. today, a large public bus filled with these supplies is on its way to Port-au-Prince. Hope for Haiti staff, equipped with shovels, pick-axes, tools, and a gritty will, determined to bring aid to any along their way are also headed to the capital.

Hope for Haiti has been working in Haiti since 1990. While its primary focus has been education, nutrition, and healthcare for the poorest country in the western hemisphere, the organization also provides emergency disaster relief. During the 2008 hurricanes it deployed a massive Emergency Disaster Relief program and has true on-hand expertise in disaster assistance. Hope for Haiti supports eight schools, a nutrition clinic, a hospital, and several orphanages in the Port-au-Prince area. The staff and volunteers are working
tirelessly to establish contact with in-country friends and partners, many who have not yet been reached. "We're holding out hope for their wellbeing," said Kuehner.

"We need your help," said Hope for Haiti's Executive Director,Elizabeth Davison. "In a disaster like this, awareness is critical. Advocacy is a power tool. So spread the word. Send a donation. Say a prayer. And pass this along."

For continuous updates, follow Hope for Haiti on Twitter at @HopeforHaitiFL, or via the organization's Web site www.hopeforhaiti.com.
# # #

Media Contacts:
Elizabeth Davison
239-434-7183
Elizabeth@hopeforhaiti.com
Christina Kolbjornsen
República
305-442-0977
Christinak@republica.net

PanZOu's Gang Intervention Program

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:35:00 -0600

PanZOu Project, Inc. has been implementing the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP’s) Gang Reduction Program (GRP) since 2004. A key strategy of this comprehensive model is intervention. Active gang members, gang members returning to the community from confinement, and youth closely associated with active gang members often have committed one or more serious offenses and are at high risk of further delinquency. These youth typically range in age from the early teens to the early twenties and are often on probation or parole. Some are not involved with the justice system, and most are resistant to traditional services. The GRP incorporates aggressive outreach and recruitment efforts to ensure that these high-risk individuals and their families receive needed services.

As part of the GRP plan, gang-involved youth and youth at high risk for gang involvement are identified and referred to a multidisciplinary Intervention Team composed of a small group of professionals, representing probation, law enforcement, social services, schools, and other service providers. As part of that team, PanZOu Project, Inc.’s street outreach workers play a key role in contacting and recruiting youth and retaining them in this program.

Purpose

As mentioned above, the Intervention Team includes a small group of front-line workers from a variety of agencies. As needs are identified, the team may also include employment agency staff, community development/mobilization staff, specialized social service providers, parole officers, and others. The core staff, however, includes those who are expected to have almost daily contact with targeted youth. PanZOu Project, Inc. currently operates two Intervention Teams with meet every other week. One is in North Miami Beach and the other is in North Miami/Little Haiti. Members of these teams include the police departments’ gang detectives and school resource officers, juvenile probation officers, school trust counselors, PanZOu Project, Inc.’s four street outreach workers and Job Developer. Other service providers attend as their schedules allow.

All Intervention Team members have significant experience and training in working with high-risk and gang-involved populations. This is particularly important for outreach workers and case managers because they work directly with gang-involved youth and their families. As a team, the core staff identifies and provides services and/or links to services, opportunities, and supervision for high-risk and gang-involved youth and their families. Referrals are made to the PanZOu Project, Inc. from any member of the community. Primary referrals come from probation and community control, schools, the North Miami Beach Police Department and North Miami Police Department, churches, and parents. A large majority of referrals come from youth themselves who encourage their peers to join.

Once a referral is made, PanZOu’s street outreach workers identify and connect to these youth to determine their risk and openness to services. If the referred youth is a juvenile, consent is obtained from the parents. An intake is done with the family or young adult (if over 18 years) to gather preliminary data on the family. This information is brought to the Intervention Team. Various team members will bring information they have on the youth. For example, the police will share criminal information about the youth or his/her siblings if any; the juvenile probation officers will share the youth’s delinquent history and conditions of probation; the school will inform the team of the youth’s grades, attendance, and behavior, etc. The Team then develops an intervention plan that includes family members and blends services and opportunities with close monitoring and accountability. Intervention activities include individualized services and case management, including outreach to family members over extended periods of time. The team ensures conditions of probation, such as community service or substance abuse treatment, are met and educational and occupational opportunities are provided. The Intervention Team determines the risk level of each client which then determines the intensity of case management. For example, if a client is high risk he or she shall receive a minimum of three contacts a week by the outreach staff. The contacts include home visits and school visits. If a client is not attending school, a component of the intervention plan shall include education or vocation goals.

A GRP client is kept active in the program until he or she achieves their intervention goals effectively moving them from level three (high risk) to level one (low risk) and then closing their case once services are no longer necessary. For some youth this is only a few months. For others, it may take over a year to move them from active gang members into productive, law abiding citizens. If at any time it is determined that a GRP client has resumed gang or criminal history, the Intervention Team may raise their level of risk (or reopen their case) and intensify their case management and services.

One of the PanZOu Project, Inc.’s primary focus is on developing the employability of our GRP clients. A full time job developer teaches a 40 hours Job Skills Development (JSD) class that clients must complete. If clients are successful in the JSD program they receive a certificate, a small stipend, and then are placed on job interviews with local businesses. Our job developer works to develop relationships with employers who have agreed to hire the graduates. Many of the clients have a criminal history which makes it very difficult to obtain employment on their own. In the summer of 2009, PanZOu opened a screen printing and embroidery shop which provides On The Job Training and employment for up to 7 transitioning gang members at a time.

In addition to the services provided, the Intervention Team also holds youth accountable for their actions. Youth who are probationers will be accountable to existing conditions of probation or specialized conditions of probation, designed to address factors correlated with their gang activity. Client youth committing new crimes will be held accountable and subjected to a system of graduated sanctions proportional to the offense. The PanZOu Project, Inc.’s staff will often provide status updates to the judge or probation officer concerning youth’s progress in the program.

A key goal of the Intervention Team is to share information that presents opportunities for intervention to other members of the team. Instead of social services handing the case “over” to police or vice versa, the team and its members work together towards the same goal. While team members may have different “levers” to pull, the intent is exactly the same—to remove the youth from gang crime and promote prosocial behavior. This may mean new types of services, different approaches, and services to family members who are influencing the youth in one way or another. It could also mean arrest and incarceration of individuals who may be encouraging the youth to commit crimes, probation checks to ensure the youth possesses no weapons during a time of crisis, encouraging the parent(s) to play a greater role in controlling the youth’s behavior, or possibly identifying a way to remove the individual from the streets temporarily to protect him or her (or anyone else) from harm.

Key Points

· Intervention activities are directed to the target youth individually and not primarily to the gang as a unit, although understanding and sensitivity to gang structure and “system” are essential to influencing individual gang youth and providing effective intervention.

· Services and activities are provided to youth gang members returning to the community after confinement.

· All key organizations located in the target area are encouraged to make needed services and facilities available to gang youth, with proper consideration given to working with this population.

· Intervention Team members are allowed to contact youth gang members in prison or detention centers to plan for services to be provided to these youth upon release into the community.

· Targeted youth (and their families) are provided with a variety of services that assist them to adopt nondeviant values and to access programs and organizations that will meet their social, educational, vocational, and sometimes health, housing, and income needs.

· Street outreach is established to focus on core gang youth, with special capacity to reach youth, both nonadjudicated and adjudicated, in the local community setting.

· The primary focus of street outreach services is ensuring safety while remaining aware of and linking youth and families to educational preparation, prevocational or vocational training, job development, job referral, parent training, mentoring, family counseling, drug treatment, tattoo removal, and other services in ways that are age-appropriate.

· Outreach activities such as recreation and arts are carefully arranged so as not to become a primary focus, but rather a means to establish prosocial interpersonal relationships and provide access to essential resources or services.

Lifetime Likelihood of Going to State or Federal Prison

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:05:00 -0600

Lifetime Likelihood of Going to State or Federal Prison

This Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report presents lifetime chances of going to State or Federal prison by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Using standard demographic lifetable techniques, and assuming that recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 of every 20 persons (5%) can be expected to serve time in prison during their lifetime. The lifetime chances of a person going to prison are higher for men (9%) than for women (1%) and higher for blacks (16%) and Hispanics (9%) than for whites (2%). At current levels of incarceration newborn black males in this country have a greater than a 1 in 4 chance of going to prison during their lifetimes, while Hispanic males have a 1 in 6 chance, and white males have a 1 in 23 chance of serving time.

PanZOu finds these stats unacceptable! Join together with PanZOu Project to help chage the statistics in our communities!

Vote for PanZOu Project at Chase Community Giving on Facebook!

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:14:00 -0600

Are you on Facebook? Do you want to help give $5,000,000 of someone else's money away?
Chase Community Giving has launched a site where Facebook users can vote for the favorite charities and help them earn money!

With a simple click- you can easily help award PanZOu $25,000 to $1,000,000 simply by voting today!! The top 100 charities (i.e., those with the most votes) will win $25,000. The highest voted charity will receive $1,000,000.

HOW TO VOTE:
1. CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK:
http://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving
2. SIGN ON TO YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE
3. SEARCH FOR: PanZOu Project, Inc.
4. VOTE !!!
5. ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO VOTE!

Facebook users have 20 opportunities to vote, so share the love with some of your other favorite non-profits!

Today is World AIDS Day - PanZOu supports AIDS/HIV education

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:08:00 -0600

Did you know?

HIV is the third leading cause of death among Blacks (HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet,2006). New HIV cases among Blacks have continued to increase from 25 percent in 1985 to 49 percent in 2004. In real numbers, Blacks account for 18,121 (49 percent) of the estimated 37,331 of new HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed in the United States.

The primary reason attributed to this alarming rate of HIV/AIDS is unprotected sex with an infected partner then passing the virus to other unsuspecting partners. Sexual practices such as serial sex with multiple partners and bisexuality account for a majority of new HIV infections. Drug use with unclean needles, the sharing of needles, and other high risk behaviors are associated with the spread of the disease among Black men. Black males who are unaware of their serostatus are also a significant risk factor. In a
study, the CDC found that 67 percent of men who participated in the Behavioral Surveillance System were unaware that they were infected with the disease.

In addition, in 2005 Black men had the highest rates of
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Black men were 18 times more likely to have gonorrhea than white men and five times more likely to have syphilis. Other risks factors include the concealment of one's sexual preference resulting in behavior leading to spreading of the disease to unsuspecting partners. Some studies have found a correlation between poverty and higher HIV infection.

This information comes from the 2008 report from the FL Council on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys.

Support PanZOu — Without Spending a Penny

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:22:00 -0600

If you could have a percentage of every online purchase you make support PanZOu, would you? The We-Care Reminder makes that possible — at no cost to you. It's a secure browser extension for Internet Explorer and Firefox that allows us to automatically receive a donation when you shop at hundreds of participating merchants. It takes less than a minute to set up, and then it keeps on giving! To learn more and get started, just visit http://panzouproject.We-Care.com/Start.

It's this easy:

Go to http://panzouproject.We-Care.com/Start and download the We-Care Reminder. (Then forget about it.)
When you visit a participating merchant, you'll be asked if you want a portion of your purchase donated.
Click "Yes," and a donation will be made — without taking a penny from your wallet.

It only takes a few clicks, so please get started right away. Just visit http://panzouproject.We-Care.com/Start.

Grant helps North Miami Beach-based gang outreach program

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:11:00 -0500

NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE

Grant helps North Miami Beach-based gang outreach program

A donation from the North Miami Beach police department helps keep a gang prevention nonprofit's doors open.

Pan Zou Project supervisor Kevin Robiou, left, a former supervisor at Pan Zou Project, and member, Dines Blanc, align layers of stencils on a UV light box,. Robiou, a former gang member, was laid off due to budget cuts, but said he will continue to volunteer at the nonprofit organization.

DANIEL BOCK / FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

BY NADEGE CHARLES

ncharles@MiamiHerald.com

PanZOu Project, a North Miami Beach-based outreach program for gang members and at-risk youth in the Haitian community, will be able to continue its services on a modified scale thanks to a donation from the city's police department.

Funding from a $2.5 million grant from the office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention ended on Sept. 30, forcing executive director Laura Kallus to lay off 14 employees -- some of whom were former or transitioning gang members.

The program is currently operating with a full-time family support specialist, a part-time outreach worker and Kallus.

At a recent meeting, the North Miami Beach City Council unanimously approved a $75,000 donation to the organization through the police department's Law Enforcement Trust Fund, made up of seized money and property.

``We're taking the same money we took from criminals to invest in a worthy cause,'' said North Miami Beach Police Chief Rafael Hernandez Jr.

The city's donation will make it possible to rehire one outreach specialist and contract a grant writer.

``I need to use this money to bring in money otherwise, in a few months, we'll be back in the same situation,'' Kallus said.

Even with the additional staff, PanZOu will no longer be able to offer services to many of its clients. PanZOu will continue to handle 15 of its 93 current cases.

Those cases include youth who are gang members or have direct exposure to gang-related activities.

As of Wednesday, PanZOu will only accept 11 new cases that fall under these high-risk factors.

Former and transitioning gang members who are not considered to be high risk have been referred to other agencies around Miami-Dade, Kallus said.

Among those fired is Kevin Robiou, a former gang member and up until recently PanZOu's manager for T-shirt orders.

He still drops by regularly to answer phones and complete administrative duties.

``I know I'm not getting paid for it, but I just want to keep off the streets,'' he said. ``If you're around positive people, you do positive things.''

PanZOu now has a YouTube Channel!

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:59:00 -0500

Check out PanZOu on youtube!

Check out our mini documentary, add comments, enjoy!

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:52:00 -0500

Miami: Youth gangs frustrate Haitian-American parents

Posted on Wed, Sep. 26, 2007

Youth gangs frustrate Haitian-American parents

It wasn't disappointment in Laneze Jean's voice when police brought her the news that her 14-year-old son had been arrested on burglary charges for the second time that month.

It was more resignation, a realization that the North Miami Beach mother was losing her oldest child to the streets and that she was powerless to stop it.

''I feel sorry for his life, and I worry about him a lot,'' said Jean, 40, a single mother of three who works as a receptionist for a Miami-Dade accounting firm.

Police say such worries are well-founded. Her son and many others like him fit the profile of Haitian-American youngsters at high risk of slipping into one of the many violent gangs that operate in South Florida, from Deerfield Beach to Little Haiti.

While youth gangs have been a problem for decades, the struggle of many recent Haitian immigrants to discipline their teenagers in America is complicated by other factors:

• They may depend on the kids to bring in additional money -- even through illegal activities.

• Struggling to learn English, they may rely on their children to translate bills and mail and speak for them with others, giving the kids authority over the parents.

• They may be vulnerable because of their immigration status -- afraid to seek help with a wayward teen, or fearful children will turn them in to authorities if they punish them.

As for Jean, the Haiti native moved to South Florida in 1991, months after a military coup toppled then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Still struggling with English, she watches her teenage son do as he wishes, playing basketball whenever he wants and running with a bad crowd.

''The kids don't listen to you, they reject you, and they want to be big shots in front of their friends,'' said Jean, interviewed in the tidy living room of her North Miami Beach duplex. ``Every sacrifice we make is for them.''

Her son is on his own after school until she gets home from work. And even when she's home, he ignores her efforts at discipline and defies his curfew.

More after-school and job programs for Haitian teens would help, said Louis Herns Marcelin, an anthropology and sociology professor at University of Miami.

''There isn't much of a safety net for people in this community,'' he said. ``And so we're seeing the power of the street over the power of the house.''

In many cases, parents cede power to teens, who generate income that goes toward the rent or to relatives in Haiti. Money sometimes is left on the kitchen table -- no questions asked, said one gang observer.

''And the parents are thinking why don't their kids respect them?'' said Laura Kallus, director of the PanZOu Gang Reduction Program in North Miami Beach.

Teens assume power in another way -- by helping their often non-English-speaking parents navigate everyday challenges.

''Mom and Dad don't know how to read. Mom and Dad don't know how to speak English,'' said Bapthol Joseph, who runs the Pompano Beach nonprofit center, Changing Directions 4 Youth & Families. ``The kid is the intellectual of the house.''

Adly Joseph, no relation, a regular at Changing Directions, fits that profile. At 16, Adly, of Pompano Beach, handles many of his 51-year-old mother's affairs.

On a recent Saturday morning, the 11th-grader sat at the kitchen table, flipping through that day's mail: literature on diabetes; an AARP membership invitation; an overdue rent notice.

He also interprets rent-related matters for the superintendent of the duplex, where some of the roofs are still covered with blue tarps from hurricanes two years ago.

''Everywhere we go, I translate,'' said Adly, who was born in South Florida.

Social workers say kids are able to take advantage of their non-English-speaking parents by, say, embellishing report card grades, but Adly said he doesn't do that.

''She'll have a way of finding out,'' he says with a grin. Parents fear asking for help. ''The parents don't want to talk to police, since they may have questionable immigration status,'' Kallus said.

Meanwhile, social centers for South Florida Haitians are hearing more and more from parents who have lost control over their kids.

''It's a growing problem,'' said Gepsie Metellus, director of the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center in Miami. ``Some of these parents are having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet and that doesn't leave much time for child-rearing. You've got kids left to themselves, left to the streets, and they want the fast route to success.''

That can mean peddling drugs on street corners.

Metellus recalled how parents stop by the Little Haiti center seeking help on filling out food stamp applications. Along the way, they quietly ask a more personal question.

' `Is there a program for kids who don't really listen?' '' Metellus recounted one mother saying.

Nine days before his death, in late December 2006, Volny Eugene, 16, the son of a cabdriver and a nurse, had started attending a Miami-Dade alternative education program called Roving Leaders.Gunmen shot and killed him in a Little River neighborhood a few blocks north of his father's Little Haiti apartment.

''I don't know why they could've gone after him,'' said Igard Eugene, 44, who's still grieving for his nephew.

So far, Miami-Dade police have made no arrests in the case. And Louis Emile doesn't like talking about the July 2006 shooting death of his 19-year-old son Carl.

The Deerfield Beach High dropout thought he was too cool for school. ''He had some friends at the time,'' Louis Emile recounted. ''But he wasn't a baby anymore. You can tell him not to do something,'' but he may not listen.

Skye Prays for PanZOu

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:12:00 -0500

What my 4 year old prays for...

Sorrow to Have to Suspend PanZOu's Services

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:02:00 -0500

Dear PanZOu friends, parents, and partners,

As you all know the economy has cause quite a bit of struggle in all of our lives. It has indeed touched everyone I know. But perhaps most distressing is the effect it has had on the most marginalized among us, and worsened further by the diminished capacity of those who serve them. PanZOu, unfortunately, has not been able secure enough funding at this time and must close almost entirely. We have not lost hope! We know this moment will be temporary for we know the value of the work we do, and surely others do too. We will re-open. Until then, myself, Nathalie and Micheline will be there to carry us through this time thanks to the Children's Trust and possibly the City of North Miami Beach. We cannot accept new referrals at this time and please bear with us if we delay in getting back to you - we are trying to do as much as possible with as little as possible.

To our partners, we are grateful to you for absorbing many of our clients that we cannot bear to leave without services. It has been a pleasure to work with you over these years to provide the kind of wrap around services that lead entire families out of crisis instead of just one individual. Also, we wish we could continue to provide training, conflict resolution, presentations, and such at your schools, conferences, churches and organizations but we just cannot at this time. We have always done this as a service to our community and look forward to doing it again someday.

We have served thousands of residents in need over the last five years and we have done so joyously. But it is the 400+ of highest risk youth we have served that always touch us the most. These youth and families we come to know intimately. We have fed you, clothed youth, held your hand at sonograms, wept at your funerals, advocated for you at school, taken you to the dentist, the prenatal clinic, the eye doctor and bought you glasses. We shouted the loudest at your graduation, wrote recommendations for jobs and for college, we put collect on our phones when you went to jail, and showed up with groceries when you came home from prison. We have celebrated each of your birthdays with a cake and candles, answered your calls in the middle of the night, took you to church, travelled 4 hours to see you play college football, bought cleats for your lil brothers, and held your newborn babies - twice we even helped bring your children into this world! We constantly tell you to pull up your pants, be kinder, brush your teeth, and believe in yourself. Because we love you. Because we see the beauty in you. We don't care what your hair looks like but pull those darn pants up. Wear your seat belts and take responsibility for your actions. Live your word. Be better fathers.

Every single one of us at PanZOu believes in our mission and knows the value of "saving just one" because each of our kids has the potential for greatness. PanZOu will not stay closed for long...we have too many kids counting on us. Yesterday we laid off 14 people that are like family. Today I came to an empty office. By the end of the day the kids filled the office with laughter again, making me feel less alone.

A word about our new social enterprise, PanZOu Screen Printing & Embroidery - We are still open!! Many of you belong to organizations that buy t-shirts, polos, bags, and other decorated apparel items. You can help us by giving our screen printing shop the opportunity to do business with you. We have a trained team standing by for your order. All revenue generated by the shop goes back into non profit, allowing us to provide much need jobs to the hardest to employ. They work per job so remember, the more jobs we get, the safer our community becomes.

Thank you for all your support. I will try to keep you informed as we struggle through this difficult time. Also, donations are always welcome. Thank you for each of your contributions thus far!
Warm regards,
Ms. Laura

--
Laura Kallus
Executive Director
PanZOu Project, Inc.
1541 NE 167th Street
North Miami Beach, FL 33162
T: 305-956-2523
F: 305-956-2529
lkallus@panzouproject.org
www.panzouproject.org