Shreveport, Louisiana. (KSLA) – Helping Others Prioritize Education is Dr. Robert Harper’s HOPE Initiative at ArkLaTex and elsewhere in the United States.
“Statistics show that the higher the education level, the less likely it is to commit a crime,” he said. “So we use the College and Career Readiness Foundation to help these young people transition into adulthood and prepare for life after high school.”
They offer numerous services such as college, career and life preparation programs, and social justice workshops. Last year, students participated in a workshop with former NFL player and Shreveport native Lifford Hobley. Some law enforcement officers in Shreveport also went undercover as regular people, hoping to bridge gaps in the community.
“We did a social justice workshop, we had police officers, ex-players, a high school student-athlete, and what we did was some self-discovery assessments and ACT prep components,” Harper said.
Now he is calling on the community to join in. Francine Brown of Seniors First is one of them.
“This is a call to action and we want more business people and law enforcement to get involved in our initiative to help our children grow up in a special way,” she said.
Harper said they will soon be hosting a conference on gun violence in New Orleans to bring that information back to help Shreveport.
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