Mcleod Reeves gets the youth love for caring
Kendra Allen/NovelteenInk, Calvin Cooledge High (2008)
Issue date: 7/27/08 Section: Neighborhood
Blackburn's art gallery which exhibits the works of prominent and not-so-prominent artists, including homeless and D.C.-area middle school students.
Brett Williams fondly remembers the day he first met the woman he said "is always willing to lend a helping hand." Williams, a senior at Howard majoring in film production, was just walking near the campus after work. Ms. Reeves was driving and must have sensed Williams was tired and probably needed a ride home. She stopped and asked: "Do you need a ride?"
A surprised Williams readily took the offer. "She didn't know me; she just saw me as another Howard student," Williams recounted.
Williams took more than just a ride from Reeves, he said. "When I got into the car, she asked me would I like something to eat and she took me to the Florida Avenue Grill and bought me lunch," he said, adding that Reeves consistently sees great possibilities in people she encounters.
One story Reeves tells that shows her uncanny eye for possibilities in everybody is of six boys she had a run in with at Blackburn. Instead of just chasing them away from the center, she turned them into a tutoring group with her as the tutor.
"I had them show me their report cards every marking period and I would tutor them," she said. "If they needed money for the prom, class fees, the movies or an amusement park, I would give it to them."
Reeves watched the boys grow into young adults and go in different directions - some to the military and some to college. "All of them made it but one," she said. The one who did not make it was shot and killed on the sidewalk on his block.
Girls, too, have benefited from Reeves' giving heart. She founded Essence of Africa, a rites of passage program in Prince George's County, Md., for girls from 8-18 years old.
"Essence of Africa teaches the girls how to respect themselves as a lady and how to make others respect them, table manners, how to budget personal money, how to dress for work and take care of personal hygiene," she described with pride on her face.
Chris Buckner, one of the student leaders at Howard University, said of Reeves: "She is one of the people walking around here that actually cares about the students and I appreciate having someone around like that."
Brett Williams fondly remembers the day he first met the woman he said "is always willing to lend a helping hand." Williams, a senior at Howard majoring in film production, was just walking near the campus after work. Ms. Reeves was driving and must have sensed Williams was tired and probably needed a ride home. She stopped and asked: "Do you need a ride?"
A surprised Williams readily took the offer. "She didn't know me; she just saw me as another Howard student," Williams recounted.
Williams took more than just a ride from Reeves, he said. "When I got into the car, she asked me would I like something to eat and she took me to the Florida Avenue Grill and bought me lunch," he said, adding that Reeves consistently sees great possibilities in people she encounters.
One story Reeves tells that shows her uncanny eye for possibilities in everybody is of six boys she had a run in with at Blackburn. Instead of just chasing them away from the center, she turned them into a tutoring group with her as the tutor.
"I had them show me their report cards every marking period and I would tutor them," she said. "If they needed money for the prom, class fees, the movies or an amusement park, I would give it to them."
Reeves watched the boys grow into young adults and go in different directions - some to the military and some to college. "All of them made it but one," she said. The one who did not make it was shot and killed on the sidewalk on his block.
Girls, too, have benefited from Reeves' giving heart. She founded Essence of Africa, a rites of passage program in Prince George's County, Md., for girls from 8-18 years old.
"Essence of Africa teaches the girls how to respect themselves as a lady and how to make others respect them, table manners, how to budget personal money, how to dress for work and take care of personal hygiene," she described with pride on her face.
Chris Buckner, one of the student leaders at Howard University, said of Reeves: "She is one of the people walking around here that actually cares about the students and I appreciate having someone around like that."
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