Seven teens graduate from Project Inspire's ninth class

By Carol McPhail
[email protected]

Mentors and family members celebrated seven teens who marked their graduation from Project Inspire, a hospital-based injury prevention program designed to curb violence among youth through intentional programming and mentorship.

The event on Dec. 16 at Bishop State Community College featured slideshow remembrances from the semester interlaced with laughter and a few grateful tears.

“After this program, you guys will make the decision whether or not you’re going to take the right path or make a left turn,” said Project Inspire co-founder and mentor Antwan J. Hogue, M.D., an internal medicine physician at USA Health and medical director of the Johnson Haynes Jr., M.D., Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center. “We’re here to help you as much as we possibly can.”

The students were selected to participate in the semester-long program at University Hospital through a partnership with the James T. Strickland Youth Center. Since Project Inspire was founded in 2017, it has helped dozens of young people see themselves through a new lens.

The robust curriculum includes trauma-informed training and confidence building, educational and professional development, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and mentorship.

University Hospital’s Fanny Meisler Trauma Center provides the space for the teens to explore the health system, but many activities take place in the community, highlighting all that Mobile has to offer. During the program, students engage with a diverse group of caring adults as they explore a variety of experiences ranging from college tours and resumé creation to Basic Life Support training.

In one activity this fall, participants drew on advice from a local entrepreneur as they learned to design T-shirts and refurbish old furniture to sell. Daphney Portis, MPA, program coordinator for Project Inspire, praised their efforts and creativity. “You can take something people no longer think is valuable and turn it into something beautiful,” Portis said. “That’s a lesson for all of us.”

The teens also created care baskets for patients at Vets Recover, a local care facility for military veterans and first responders. The Rev. Lloyd Michael Austin, a Vets Recover peer support specialist and Project Inspire mentor, addressed the graduates to offer more encouragement. “Your mistakes don’t have to be your life. They can be your stepping stone to a better future,” Austin said. “We’re here to help you reintroduce yourself to yourself, to let you know how valuable you are. God didn’t make no mistakes with any of you.”

During the ceremony, each student received a framed certificate, a backpack and the personal finance book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki. Each graduate was encouraged to comment on their experience in the program. “I never had a father figure in my life,” one graduate said as he fought back tears to thank Hogue for his mentorship.

Project Inspire co-founder Ashley Williams Hogue, M.D., a trauma surgeon at University Hospital and director of the USA Health Center for Healthy Communities, reminisced about the fun activities she shared with the students each Monday, including a splatter paint party and pickleball. “I’ve seen so much maturity over the course of the program,” she said. “Take ahold of all the things you have experienced – all of these relationships – and continue to build on them. Thank you for showing up, for participating, for being engaging and for teaching me so much.”