The petition
My name is Christopher D. Handy and I am submitting my story regarding a crime against our children. I was the Mentor Coordinator for the Monroe City Court Mentor Program located in Monroe, Louisiana for 6 years. This program was an at-risk one on one mentoring program for youths within the community. This program was a model program for many mentoring program throughout the State of Louisiana and other communities in other states.
I am writing to tell my story of âThe Terminators of Hope.â These Terminators of Hopes I am referring to are Judge Tammy D. Lee, Judge Fred Amman, and the Clerk of Court Koyne Smith of Monroe City Court. For over six years this program served over 100 youths both boys and girls from the ages of 7-17 years of age. Many of these youths that were in my program had never been outside of their community nor exposed to any cultural enrichment activities that my program provided. These youths traveled to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark., the Zoo in New Orleans, plays, social outings, and were involved in community service projects. 90% of the youths that was in my program lived below the poverty level or from an area of the city where there was no means of hope. If anyone was to dream it would take a miracle and a large amount of faith to accomplish that dream. The reason I know this is because I grew up in that area and why I have dedicated my life to helping the youths in this program and in this community.
My story began on November 16, 2007 with the suspension of the Monroe City Court Mentor Program and all activities. On January 24, 2008 my mentor program and I was terminated and I was escorted off the premises under guard. The reason the administrative Judges and the Clerk of Court gave was because we did not have the proper insurance to have the youths at the court house for their workshops on the weekends or no coverage to travel on field trips. This is where I conducted my monthly workshops for the youths and seminars for the parents. Since I took over the program in 2002 there has never been any incidents, only progress and more progress. After careful review I discovered that the court did have the proper insurance to cover the youths and had the funds to purchase additional insurance if needed. During my tenure at the court as Mentor Coordinator I have received numerous awards and citations for having the best mentoring program in the State. I even received an honorary doctorate degree of humanities for my work with the mentor program.
They The Terminators of Hope chose to terminate the program and turn away over 100 youths and their families who needed this program. There were never any improprieties with grant funds on my part because every expense had to be approved by the grantor before any expenditure was done.
I say this because I have dedicated my life to helping the at-risk and disadvantaged youths of this community through the Monroe City Court Mentor Program. I have given my time, sweat, tears, and even my own personal funds (when the program did not have the funds to operate I used my own personal funds) to ensure that this program was successful. I have helped hundreds and hundreds of youths and their families in this community with no reward. I did this because this is where my heart lies and I believe that if we start with the youths we can change this world of ours. I have helped the youths in my program reach above and beyond their circumstances and believe in themselves and not become a victim of their environment.
I am writing sharing my story and my pain because I need the help of people like you to help spread the world and to save these youths and to get my program started again. By spreading the word of this inhumane act and letting others know why our children are being left behind. We can stop this and help our children move forward in life. Our Children do not want to be left behind but because of The Terminators of Hope they will be unless you help. This is my story and I would like to share it with the world. Please help me to speak for our children. I look forward to hearing from you. I thank you in advance for your time and consideration. God Bless.
Sincerely yours,
Christopher D. Handy
Contact Information:
Rev. Christopher D. Handy
P.O. Box 7514
Monroe, Louisiana/USA 71211
(318) 343-6297
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