For more information concerning Club Jesus, call Josephine Wortham at 635-0814.
Club Jesus has a new home.
By mid-January, the children's after-school program -- which sparked a dispute between the public housing resident who started it and the Chattanooga Housing Authority that said it had outgrown her apartment and become a liability -- expects to move to nearby St. Philip Lutheran Church.
"With the problems in most urban communities, with broken families, gangs, violence, we want the children to have an alternative that is positive," said the Rev. Meredith Jackson, pastor of St. Philip. "Children need to understand that there is hope and that they are not limited to where they are right now."
Josephine Wortham started Club Jesus in her home at the Emma Wheeler public housing site nearly two years ago. She gained recognition and funding from local agencies to support the program, which offers students snacks, activities, help with homework and safety.
But with more than 40 children attending daily, CHA officials told Wortham in November that the club had to move or shut down.
CHA offered Wortham access to the site's community building, but Wortham said being in the building meant someone else would have authority over her program, so she declined. Housing officials said Wortham could maintain authority over Club Jesus and that their offer to her still stands.
CHA officials said they had no further comments about the club.
Wortham said it will be several weeks before she can move into the church because some renovations are needed and she's doing them herself.
"I do Sheetrock and whatever painting is needed; I'm an excellent painter, and I can put down carpet," said the 55-year-old mother and grandmother.
She said she'll try to get help making minor repairs on the roof. And the church is allowing her to use its van to transport the children from Emma Wheeler to St. Philip on West 25th Street, about 3.5 miles away.
"If it's God's will, we'll be in the church by mid-January," she said. "We're going to work and see how fast the work is done."
Wortham said her goal with Club Jesus is to save a generation of youth who seem at risk for low academic achievement and a life of crime.
"No other community can solve problems inside our community," said Wortham. "We have to show ownership."
Some children are descended from generations of not succeeding, she said. They feel inferior because of where they live, and the public reinforces that feeling because of the way it views public housing sites.
"These are not projects. These are homes," said Wortham, who grew up in the defunct Maurice Poss Homes site near Alton Park.
Samantha Oliver, Wortham's daughter who helps operate the program, said the children of Emma Wheeler are just like other kids.
"They need the same thing as we did," she said. "If a child is left unattended, any child will get in trouble. Some of these kids were just left unattended."
Yolanda Putman has been a reporter at the Times Free Press for 11 years. She covers housing and previously covered education and crime. Yolanda is a Chattanooga native who has a master’s degree in communication from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Alabama State University. She previously worked at the Lima (Ohio) News. She enjoys running, reading and writing and is the mother of one son, Tyreese. She has also ...
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Very nice story. I only have one exception:
quote: "They need the same thing as we did," she said. "If a child is left unattended, any child will get in trouble. Some of these kids were just left unattended."
Stop suggesting or tearing down the parents just to make the program work. Even children who aren't left unattended often get into mischief. And that's what all this is. Children doing things and getting into things children have done and gotten into for decades, centuries even. The poor just get labeled and have a heavier cross to bear when they're children act up and act out.
We don't have to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down.
Ms. J our prayers has been answered we were very concerned what would happen with Club Jesus, and God has answered our prayers. God is so Awesome.
With response to the previous comment about lowering the kids in order to make the program work. I suggest to that person they need to visit Club Jesus and they will see with their own eyes.
Keep up God's work..Ms. J and Angels working for Jesus. Like my user name: prayer is necessary. We prayed because it was necessary to keep all of our children safe thru Club Jesus. "CAN I GET A WITNESS"
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