Dafne arrived at the just-opened South Central S.A.Y. Yes!® after-school center, gripping a stapled, dog-eared booklet. Dafne's public school teacher assigned her the color-coded book, the first in a series of reading primers, with the goal of graduating the youngster through the multi-levels of colors.
Dafne, though, struggled with the assigned reading, failing the various tests required to advance through the featured stories and keywords. As a result, the booklet had been the second-grader's persistent companion throughout the first semester.
"At times she wouldn't bring homework but she'd always bring that book," said Blanca Nuñez, who, several years ago, launched the S.A.Y. Yes! Center for Youth Development® at La Voz del Dios Church in Los Angeles.
The after-school program is a partnership between her church and Cru® Inner City, which provides a biblically based curriculum, training and other vital resources.
In preparation for the mid-school year launch in January, Blanca used a fall outreach, Boxes of Love®, another essential Inner City initiative. Boxes of Love provides all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal for six people. The boxes also come with biblical literature, including gospel bead bracelets. The bracelets use colored beads to represent the gospel story.
As a result of that fall's food distribution, 10 children enrolled in S.A.Y. Yes!, one of 56 operating nationwide.
S.A.Y. Yes! students receive homework help, especially critical as children cope with residual learning loss during the extended COVID-19 crisis, a reality for each of Blanca's South Central kids.
To help Dafne with her reading deficiency, Blanca would read a booklet story to her and then send her off to practice on her own.
"Review the story and then, at the end of the homework time, you're going to come back and you're going to read it to me," Blanca instructed Dafne.
Eventually, Dafne progressed to reading the entire booklet by herself, taking note of words she didn't understand. The pair then huddled over them until Dafne mastered their meaning.
"Every day she would ask the teacher, 'Can you test me on this page?'" the administrator said. "She was able to move page by page through the book."
"Dafne was crying and crying and she was like, 'Mom, I want to stay in this program.'"
Just as Dafne was starting to make headway her mom decided to withdraw her from the three-day-a-week S.A.Y. Yes! center to enroll her in a similar program at her school. Doing so would ease transportation arrangements.
"Dafne was crying and crying and she was like, 'Mom, I want to stay in this program. I don't want to go to the school program,'" Blanca said.
Since the programs operated on different days, except an overlap on Wednesdays, Dafne begged her mom to let her do both.
"I don't think she'll be able to do it," her mom told S.A.Y. Yes! staff. "You don't understand. You don't know her."
Blanca challenged the mom to give Dafne a chance to prove she could handle it. Mom agreed. Dafne kept up with the demands of both programs and on her double day of enrollment, she insisted on going straight to S.A.Y. Yes! after leaving school.
"Mom, I already have my stuff ready, just go drop me off directly to church," Blanca said, quoting Daphne. "She ended up completing both after-school programs."
By the end of the 20-week semester, Dafne retired the original book — and three others.
"When she came into the center, she would say, 'I got a new book, I got a new book!'"
"When she came into the center, she would say, 'I got a new book, I got a new book!'" Blanca said. "We would celebrate it with her because it was a big deal. Having her go from sitting on this first book for a whole semester to moving on to three books in 20 weeks was a big confidence booster for her."
The main elements of the program were homework assistance, snacks and Bible stories, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed —an emphasis that ultimately led to each child at the center making a personal decision to follow Jesus. Another benefit is social interaction. It was particularly welcome for introverts like little Dafne.
"Dafne would cry if anyone she didn't know would approach her," Blanca said. "She was extremely, extremely shy and (kept) to herself."
"She began giggling and stepping out of her shell."
Over the semester, the dark-haired girl with soft eyes — whose brightest facial feature was the red glasses she rocked — eventually blossomed, her smile eclipsed the bold frames.
"She began giggling and stepping out of her shell," Blanca said. "It really was an improvement. That was the space for Dafne, that safe space for her."
Even in that safety, there were moments when Dafne's nature was to retreat, including the year-end awards ceremony. So, she watched from the audience as her friends talked about her smile, kindness and academic progress. Soon, Dafne left the comfort of her seat, heading to the front to accept her trophy.
"It was a breakthrough for us," Blanca said, recognizing that the determination of a shy little girl and a team of dedicated volunteers led to gifts even more valuable than reading proficiency — faith and confidence.
Lori Arnold serves as the senior writer for Cru's inner-city ministry.
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