Fort Lauderdale Community Center

I want to share with you the incredible journey I've been on, and it all began with an ad I found on Jiji. This ad offered an opportunity for on-the-job training in MS-Office and QuickBooks for an NGO called BringBackHope, located in Community 18. My name is Kwartemaa Akosah, and at that time, I was a 20-year-old junior student at the University of Ghana, majoring in French with a minor in Sociology.

When I first met Ms. Hope in March 2022, I was excited about the possibility of this job, but my friends were skeptical and urged me to be cautious. You see, my life has had its share of challenges. I lost my mother when I was just 8 years old, and it was my older brother, who was only 16 at the time, that raised me. My father had to travel to the UK to work and support us, spending 12 long years there. This job with Ms. Hope wasn't just an opportunity; it was a lifeline that could help pay for my tuition, food, and basic necessities. The fact that BringBackHope covered my transportation costs to work was an immense relief.

Meeting Ms. Hope was a turning point in my life. She didn't just offer me a job; she took the time to assess my abilities and personality. Her assessments revealed that I had a knack for business and a caring nature. Little did I know that she needed an assistant who could speak and understand Twi and English to assist with her community projects, which was a delightful surprise.

She decided to hire me, and we spent hours talking about my primary and high school experiences. She shared her project with Kotobabi Schools and explained why my help was so crucial. Ms. Hope even let me pursue my passion for baking at the Community Center, where she had all the necessary equipment and even bought the ingredients. I can proudly say I learned to made the best Banana Chocolate Coconut Muffins ever!

During my time with Ms. Hope, I learned valuable lessons in business management, entrepreneurship, and how to be an exceptional assistant. I received certifications for MS-Office and QuickBooks, and she taught me how to write professional letters. She even had me conduct surveys among my friends to assist in her research on practical knowledge versus hypothetical knowledge in Ghana's public schools and colleges.

One of my dreams was to become a Mobile Agent, and Ms. Hope supported me wholeheartedly. She helped eight of us become certified Mobile Money Agents, and we opened HopeMart, our provision shop. But Ms. Hope's kindness extended beyond professional growth; she noticed I was having trouble seeing and took me to an optician, even buying me a pair of glasses worth 3,000 cedis, which she didn't deduct from my pay.

Ms. Hope became not just a mentor but also a source of unwavering support. When my cellphone and laptop were stolen, she replaced them without hesitation. She told me I could be anything I aspired to be, and her belief in me became my driving force.

However, there came a time when my father and brother urged me to quit my job with Ms. Hope. They spoke to her directly, but she insisted on talking to me personally. I explained that this was the "Ghana Way," but I assured her that I would never forget the invaluable lessons she had taught me, and I would carry them with me wherever I go.

Now, as I finish my last year of college in October 2023, I've been offered a permanent job as Ms. Hope's assistant. But my father has arranged an internship at the French Embassy for me, aligning with my degree. He hopes I'll help take care of him and his new wife as he retires from the UK.

I share this story with you because Ms. Hope's impact on my life has been immeasurable, and I want you to know how profoundly grateful I am for her guidance and support. Her belief in me has fueled my dreams, and I carry her teachings with me as I embark on the next chapter of my life. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my journey.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I am delighted to celebrate 20 years of service at the Fort Lauderdale Community Center. In these two decades, we've transformed lives through programs like "Helping Hands," connecting thousands of clients to crucial resources, students 5 years to 17 with after-school and summer enrichment, "Inspire2Hire," providing youths 18 and adults with job training and income, and "The A.I.R. Project," aiding disaster relief for seniors in Broward County, FL.

Our "Hope House" offers transitional housing for homeless veterans, women, and girls. We've raised over $2 million in donations, benefiting thousands in poverty.

Now, we're going global with NGO "BringBackHope," impacting Ghana through initiatives like "Uplifting Our Youth" and "Empowering Women And Girls."

I can’t thank you enough for your unwavering support. Here's to 20 years of impact, and to many more years of a future filled with HOPE!

Sincerely,

Hope Gary,
Co-Founder and Chairwoman
Fort Lauderdale Community Center

I came to Fort Lauderdale Community Center in 2016, I wanted help in finding a job and getting an apartment in a safe environment. They help me get my certification, then a job at the Goodwill and I was blessed enough to get one of the affordable apartments on Sistrunk at Wisdom Village.

They always made me believe I could do anything!

In 2002 my brother and I went to Community Center's summer program, before the summer was over, my parents had fell on hard times and lost the apartment we were living in. When the founders, Mr. and Mrs. Gary heard about it, they took us in, me, my sister and brother. We went to the same school as their kids and they treated us like one of their own. Bought our school supplies and clothes for school. We stayed with them for 6 to 8 months. Our family got back on our feet, my Mother, brother and sister never forgot what they did for us, and we're family to this day!

Was a student of the Community Center in 2002, became a Mentor 2004, Staff in 2006 and now I sit on the Board. Needless to say, Best nonprofit ever!

I started with the organization in 2002, worked as a volunteer, became staff and then a Board Member and all three jobs have been some of the most rewarding 20 years of my life! It’s a great feeling to see all these young people who came through the programs, and or services offered, doing well in their lives, now adults with their own families!

Glad to have been a part of something so great!

When I meet Ms. Hope and her staff at Fort Lauderdale Community Center was in 2016, they were at the Sistrunk Festival with a clipboard taking names and cell numbers of people interested in an apartment that was being built down the street offering affordable housing. Even though I didn’t qualify for the apartment, I was selected for the program Hope House, which is a transitional housing program they offer those who are homeless.

I had a job, just not a place to live for the last 3 years, they give me not a room, but a HOME! People who lived there were a family to each other and treated me as such. All the goals I set for myself I was able to reach. I wanted to pay off my car and get it fixed, DONE, bought a laptop, DONE, I wanted a 40” Flat Screen TV, DONE, Credit Card, DONE, stable income, DONE, and a permanent place to stay, DONE!

Fort Lauderdale Community Center, is the family I always wanted!

As the one of the co-founders of the Community Center, I have had the pleasure to watch 1,000's of young people, families, and disable veterans grow and thrive from the last 20 years of services and programing we offered! My wife and I, started the nonprofit in 2002, I had just left my position as an Oracle DBA for Hewlett-Packard in Silicon Valley in California, I was disappointed to see out of a 1,000 people in our department only 2 were Black, I said if Black people don’t get involved in technology they will be completely left behind, so I started teaching disadvantage youth and adults computer technology by taking a working computer apart and putting it back together working, then letting them take that complete system home.

In 2002, we were a vocational center, in 2009 we understood people needed a Center in the Community, the ills from GA to FL where the same, many in every part of the country are dealing with systemic racism, in every fabric of life, and starting to call it out, but here in the South, where trees still stand and families still live in the same community as when the lynches took place some 60 years ago, many feel, still goes on today, with murders like Mike Brown, Jordan Taylor and Trayvon Martin.

Being an advocate and tackling racism with my wife, children, staff and volunteers, with our young people, and Black families in the community, wanting to know if their Black Lives Really Matter in this county.

In 2015 we put on one of the largest race conference, “Healing The Racial Divide” with our “Black Empowerment Summit” bring Blacks together to fix what’s wrong. Coming together with our white brothers and sister, our Latino brothers and sisters, and ourselves, with help from international and national speaker’s like Dr. Claud Anderson, Dr. Umar Johnson, Dr. Joy DeGruy, and Tim Wise. Local speakers from the Black Lives Matter Broward Alliance, Howard Finkelstein, Broward County Elect Public Defender, and hit show Help Me Howard, Attorney, Jarha McLawrence, John Davis, Curator for Old Dillard Museum, just to name a few. In February 2015 we had over a 2-week period, a 1,000 participates!

As I remember it in 2015, people were standing in a line going out the door for the event, young and old, it still stands to me as one of our greatest accomplishments as Fort Lauderdale Community Center we could contribute to our city of Fort Lauderdale, and the county of Broward, Florida.

For 2-weeks we talked about who we are as a people and discovered we’re ALL Black! We discover why it all happened, what’s causing systemic racism, and what we as a people need to do to fix it!

As a disable veteran, I had a drug problem for years, thanks to Fort Lauderdale Community Center and the staff, who got me the help I needed to get clean, by letting me live at Hope House, their transitional housing program for the homeless. I was able to spent 3 years there working on myself. I became a volunteer and severed as a board member, they help in finding me work in my profession as a dental lab technician. Now I have my own place and recently got married. Thanks for a second chance on life!