Parent Support Group

Dale White, SHT reporter, wrote an excellent article about the new Parent Support Group that has been formed at the Janie Poe Public Housing site.

"When psychiatrist Marion Goldberg, a part-time Sarasota resident and member of the Public Housing Task Force, started getting acquainted with the tenants more than a year ago, she encountered an almost defeatist attitude.

Goldberg, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has long worked with inner-city families in Philadelphia on self-sufficiency programs. Two months ago, she volunteered to launch the support group in Sarasota's projects.

Laykisha Miller, Tina Knarr, Crystal Flores, Ayisha Carter, Chrystal Brown and others started attending and spreading the word. The tight group has slowly grown to eight members.

The women share confidences, advice and fears.

Topics in a recent discussion included child bullies, a mother who feels threatened by lawbreakers who gather outside her apartment, neighborhood relations with police, the risks of eviction if a visitor to their apartment breaks the law without their knowledge, and what they have to do to someday become homeowners.

They are becoming more open about their limitations, more assertive about asking for expert help."

The recently formed Sarasota Public Housing Residents Council Association Inc and the Janie Poe/Sarasota Public Housing Task Force have been actively involved in finding ways to improve conditions at Sarasota's public housing complexes and the lives of the residents living here.

For more information call 941-366-6100.