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Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeships Offer an Answer to Childcare Shortages

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Some policy experts see apprenticeships as a potential game-changer for the early educator workforce. The layers of support they provide can keep frazzled newcomers from giving up, and required coursework may cost them nothing.

Published

10 months ago

January 12, 2026

BlackPress of America

Early educator apprentice Mayra Aguilar, right, and her mentor teacher Jetoria Washington supervise children during outdoor play at the Wu Yee Children’s Services’ Bayview Early Learning Center in San Francisco. Credit: Emmanuel Guillén Lozano for The Hechinger Report

By Nirvi Shah, The Hechinger Report

This story, https://hechingerreport.org/early-childhood-educator-apprenticeships-offer-an-answer-to-child-care-shortages/, was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet focused on education.

SAN FRANCISCO — In a playground outside a YMCA, Mayra Aguilar rolled purple modeling dough into balls that fit easily into the palms of the toddlers sitting across from her. She helped a little girl named Wynter unclasp a bicycle helmet that she’d put on to zoom around the space on a tricycle.

Aguilar smiled, the sun glinting off her saucer-sized gold hoop earrings. “Say, ‘Thank you, teacher,’” Aguilar prompted Wynter, who was just shy of 3. Other toddlers crowded around Wynter and Aguilar and a big plastic bin of Crayola Dough, and Aguilar took the moment to teach another brief lesson. “Wynter, we share,” Aguilar pressed, scooting the tub between kids. “Say, ‘Can you pass it to me?’”

Aguilar and Wynter are both new at this. Wynter has been in the structured setting of a child care center only since mid-August. Aguilar started teaching preschoolers and toddlers, part-time, in February.

It has been life-changing, in different ways, for them both. Wynter, an only child, is learning to share, count, and recognize her letters. Aguilar is being paid to work and earning her first college credits — building the foundation for a new career, all while learning new ways to interact with her own three kids.

Early educators are generally in short supply, and many who attempt this work quickly quit. The pay is on par with wages at fast food restaurants and big box stores, or even less. Yet unlike some other jobs with better pay, working with small children and infants usually requires some kind of education beyond a high school diploma. Moving up the ladder and pay scale often requires a degree.

What’s different for Aguilar compared to so many other people trying out this profession is that she is an apprentice — a training arrangement more commonly associated with welders, machinists, and pipefitters. Apprentice programs for early childhood education have been in place in different parts of the country for at least a decade, but San Francisco’s program stands out. It is unusually well, and sustainably, funded by a real estate tax that voters approved in 2018. The money raised is meant to cover the cost of programs that train early childhood educators and to boost pay enough so teachers can see themselves doing it for the long term.

Some policy experts see apprenticeships as a potential game-changer for the early educator workforce. The layers of support they provide can keep frazzled newcomers from giving up, and required coursework may cost them nothing. “We want it to be a position people want to go into as opposed to one that puts you in poverty,” said Cheryl Horney, who oversees the Early Learning Program that employs apprentices at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco, including the site where Aguilar works.

Aguilar, 32, is paid to work 20 hours a week at the Wu Yee Children’s Services’ Bayview Early Learning Center, tucked inside a Y in a residential neighborhood a little under a mile from San Francisco Bay. She works alongside a mentor teacher who supports and coaches her. The apprenticeship covers the online classes, designed just for her and other apprentices and taught live from City College of San Francisco, which Aguilar takes a few nights a week. She was given all the tools needed for her courses, including a laptop, which she also uses for homework and discussions with other apprentices outside of class.

After high school, Aguilar had tried college, a medical assistant program that she quit after a few months. That was more than 10 years ago. She hadn’t touched a computer in all that time. When she was enrolling her youngest daughter at another Wu Yee location, Aguilar saw a flyer about the apprenticeship program and applied. She is finding this work to be a far better fit: “This — I think I can do it. This, I like it.”

The need for more early educators is long-standing, and in recent years there’s been a push for early educators to get postsecondary training, both to support young children’s development and so the roles command higher salaries. For example, a 2007 change in federal law required at least half of teachers working in Head Start to have bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education by 2013, a goal the program met.

Despite efforts to professionalize the workforce, salaries for those who work with young children remain low: 87 percent of U.S. jobs pay morethan a preschool teacher earns on average; 98 percent pay more than what early child care workers earn. In 2022, Head Start lead teachers earned $37,685 a year on average.

Apprenticeships are seen as one way to disrupt that stubborn reality: Would-be teachers are paid while being trained for everything from entry-level roles that require a small number of college credits or training to jobs, like running a child care center, that require degrees and come with more responsibility and even higher pay. According to a June 2023 report from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank, 35 stateshave some kind of early childhood educator apprenticeship program at the city, regional, or state level, and more states are developing their own programs. U.S. Department of Labor data shows that more than 1,000 early educator apprentices have completed their programs since the 2021 fiscal year. Early Care & Educator Pathways to Success, which has received Labor Department grants to help set up apprenticeship programs, estimates the numbers are far larger given its work has cultivated hundreds of apprentices in 21 states, including Alaska, California, Connecticut, and Nebraska.

These programs can be complicated to launch, however. They sometimes require painstaking work to find colleges that will provide coursework specific to local regulations and at hours that

work for apprentices who may be in classrooms much of the workday as well as tending to their own children. They require money to pay the apprentices — on top of whatever it already costs to run child care centers and pay existing staff. The apprentices also typically need other layers of support: coaching, computers, sometimes child care, and even meals for apprentices’ own kids as they study and take exams.

In San Francisco, Horney advocated for her employer to set up an apprenticeship program for staffers at its 12 Head Start centers even before the tax money became available. She recalled losing teachers to chain retailers like Costco and Walgreens where they found less stressful jobs with more generous benefits. When she arrived in San Francisco to work in the classroom, with five years of experience and a bachelor’s degree, she was paid $15 an hour. “Now the lowest salary we pay is $28.67 for any sort of educator,” she said, and the wages and apprenticeships are even drawing people from other counties and stabilizing the San Francisco early educator workforce. “It has helped immensely.”

Other parts of the country have seen success with similar initiatives.

The YWCA Metro St. Louis in Missouri, which hasn’t had a single teacher vacancy for the last two years at the child care centers it oversees, credits its apprenticeship program. In Guilford County, North Carolina, vacancies and staff turnover were a plague until recently, but an apprenticeship program for entry-level early educators has kept new teachers on the job.

Elsewhere, there is hope for those kinds of results. In the Oklahoma City area, an apprenticeship program started in 2023 just yielded its first graduate, who worked in a child care center for two years and completed a 288-hour training program. Curtiss Mays, who created the program for teachers at the group of Head Start centers he oversees, was in the midst of trying to hire 11 educators just as the first apprentice earned a credential that allows her to back up other teachers.

“It’s a pretty major project,” Mays said. “We hope it’s the start of something really good.” Mays worked with the Oklahoma Department of Labor to set up the apprenticeship program, which he said has already pulled one person out of homelessness and is helping to lure more aspiring teachers. It will pay for education all the way through a bachelor’s degree if apprentices stick with it.

Apprenticeship programs can be costly to run, but bipartisan federal legislation to support them has never gained traction. (Advocates note that apprenticeships can cost far less than a traditional four-year college degree.) Labor Department money for organizations that help set up and grow early childhood educator apprenticeships helped increase the number of apprentices in so-called registered apprenticeship programs — ones that are proven and validated by the federal agency. But some of those grants were axed by the Trump administration in May.

In San Francisco, while setting up apprenticeships was as labor-intensive as in many other places, the 2018 real estate tax provides a new and deep well of money to propel the early educator apprentice effort. The money pays for all of the things that are letting Aguilar and dozens of others in the county earn at least 12 college credits this year. In two semesters, Aguilar will have the credentials to be an associate teacher in any early education program in

California. Other apprentices across San Francisco, in Head Start centers, family-owned child care programs, and even some religious providers, can work toward associate or bachelor’s degrees using the new tax revenue to pay for it.

Children color and glue paper clothes on paper people during a classroom activity at the YMCA of the East Bay’s Richmond Parkway Early Learning Center in Richmond, Calif., a Head Start center that provides free child care. They had just read “Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?” Credit: Emmanuel Guillén Lozano for The Hechinger Report

Long before the ballot measure across the bay in San Francisco, Pamm Shaw dreamed up the forerunner of an early educator apprenticeship program in a moment of desperation.

It was over a decade ago, and Shaw, who was then working at the YMCA East Bay overseeing a collection of Head Start centers, said her agency was awarded a grant to add spaces for about 100 additional infants. Except that her existing staff didn’t want to work with children younger than 3. So Shaw sent notices to the roughly 1,000 families with children enrolled in YMCA East Bay Head Start programs at the time and convinced about 20 people, largely parents of children enrolled in Head Start, to consider the role. She pulled together the training that would qualify the parents to become early educators — 12 college credits in six months.

The education piece, Shaw realized, was a huge draw. Some of the parents had spent 10 years working toward associate degrees on their own without completing them. Giving them the chance to earn those degrees in manageable chunks — while getting paid and receiving raises relatively quickly as their education advanced — proved a powerful recruitment tool. “It changed their lives,” Shaw said. And these new teachers had their eyes opened to how what they would be doing wasn’t just babysitting. They took away lessons they used with their own children — who in turn took notice of their parents studying. “It’s actually child care,” said Shaw. “So much happens in the first year of life that you never get to see again. Never, ever, ever.”

It changed Shaw’s life, too, and inspired many other apprenticeship programs all over. Her role morphed into fundraising to build out the apprenticeship pipeline. The program, now baked into the YMCA of the East Bay system, reflected the overall early educator workforce: It was made up entirely of women, mostly women of color, some of them immigrants, and many first-generation college students. By the time Shaw retired a few years ago, more than 500 people in the Berkeley area had completed the early educator apprenticeship program.

Erica Davis, a single mom, is one of its success stories. When she met Shaw, Davis said, she was relying on public assistance and jobs caring for other people’s children, while taking care of a daughter with significant medical needs, as well as her toddler-age son. Davis was at a Head Start dropping off paperwork for the family of a child in her care when an employee told Davis her young son might be eligible for Head Start too. He was, and as Davis enrolled him, she learned about Shaw’s apprenticeship program. Davis missed the first window to apply, but as she put it, “I was blowing their phone up. I needed to get in.”

That was 2020. By this spring, Davis will have earned her bachelor’s degree from Cal State East Bay. She works full-time at a Richmond, California, Head Start center while taking classes and supporting her kids, now in high school and elementary school. She can afford to rent a

two-bedroom apartment, owns a car, and no longer relies on state or federal assistance to pay bills. She’s on the dean’s list, and, she said proudly, she can squat 205.

“I didn’t take my education seriously,” Davis, 41, said of her younger self. “I feel like I’m playing catch-up now.” She is in her element at the YMCA of the East Bay’s Richmond Parkway Early Learning Center, reading to children, working on potty training, and leading the kids through coloring-and-pasting exercises. She has even become an informal coach for newer apprentices. The network and family feel of these apprenticeships is one of the things that helps many succeed, she said. “I have a sad story, but it turned into something beautiful.”

While Davis said she prefers the flexibility of taking classes at her own pace, other apprentices thrive in the kind of classes Aguilar attends, with a live instructor who starts off leading students in a mindfulness exercise. That is the same approach to teaching apprentices at EDvance College in San Francisco, which works exclusively with early childhood apprentices, according to its president and CEO, Lygia Stebbing.

The college provides general education classes in reading, math, and science for apprentices pursuing degrees, taught through an early childhood lens so it feels approachable and relevant. And every lesson can be applied nearly in real time, unlike other paths to degrees, in which in-person teaching experience comes only after many classes, Stebbing said. Before beginning classes, apprentices get a crash course in using technology, from distinguishing between a tablet and a laptop to using Google Docs and Zoom, “so they can jump right into things,” she said. A writing coach and other student support staff are available in the evenings, when apprentices are taking courses or doing homework. Because many of the apprentices are older than typical college students and may even have used up their federal Pell Grants and other financial aid taking courses without earning a degree, the college works with foundations and local government agencies to offset the cost of courses so graduates don’t end up in debt.

“We’ve really put the student at the center,” Stebbing said.

For Mayra Aguilar, her mentor teacher Jetoria Washington is a lifeline who can help her unstick an issue with any aspect of the apprenticeship — in the classes she takes or the classroom where she works. Taking courses online means she can be home with her own kids in the evenings. Earning money for the hours she spends in the classroom means she is not going into debt to earn the credential she needs to find a full-time job. The constellation of support has helped her shift from feeling in over her head to feeling ready to keep working toward a college degree.

And she is having fun. On the playground, one of the kids had the idea to trace another with sidewalk chalk, working on their pencil grip as much as they were playing. Except it wasn’t just the other kids: They traced Aguilar, too. When it was time to go back inside, powdery green and pink lines crisscrossed the back of her brown pants and black blouse. She wasn’t bothered.

“I love the kids,” she said. “They always make me laugh.”

Aguilar has even picked up skills that she uses with her own children, something many apprentices describe.

Now, she sometimes says to her youngest daughter, “Catch a bubble.” That’s preschool speak for “Be quiet.” When a teacher needs the toddlers’ attention, the kids hear this phrase, then fill their cheeks with air.

Most of the time, at home and at work, a brief silence follows. Then the kids look up, ready to hear what comes next.

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20 Years of California Climate Law: Gov. Newsom and Former Gov. Schwarzenegger Lead Milestone Celebration

Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently gathered at the California Economic Summit to mark the 20th anniversary of the Global Warming Solutions Act. The bipartisan celebration highlighted how the landmark law established a framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the state’s cap-and-invest program. While the governors credited these policies with fostering clean-energy innovation and driving economic growth, critics continue to raise concerns regarding the impact of environmental regulations on energy affordability for residents. Read more to learn about the state’s climate milestones.

Published

2 days ago

October 28, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

Gov. Gavin Newsom, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Photo courtesy of Gov. Newsom’s office.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger celebrated two decades of the state’s landmark climate law on Wednesday, Oct. 14, highlighting California’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while growing its economy and expanding clean-energy investment.

The Democratic governor and Republican former governor appeared together at the 15th annual California Economic Summit in Long Beach to mark the 20th anniversary of Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, which Schwarzenegger signed in September 2006. The law established a framework for reducing California’s greenhouse gas emissions and helped lay the groundwork for the state’s cap-and-invest program.

“We’ve shown the world what a state can accomplish,” Schwarzenegger said, highlighting California’s climate leadership.

Newsom credited Schwarzenegger’s decision to sign AB 32 with helping create the state’s cap-and-invest program, which requires companies to reduce their emissions, purchase allowances, or fund projects that offset pollution. Revenue from the program supports climate initiatives, affordable housing and transportation projects, as well as electricity bill credits for residents.

Newsom said California has reinvested $16 billion to offset residents’ electricity costs since the program began and expects to receive another $8 billion over the next four years.

He also argued that predictable climate policies encourage businesses to invest in California’s clean-energy economy, pointing to Tesla as an example of the opportunities the state’s regulatory framework created.

“There’s no Elon Musk without what Gov. Schwarzenegger did because there would be no Tesla,” Newsom said.

Schwarzenegger agreed that long-term policy certainty helps attract investment, arguing that California’s climate initiatives demonstrate that environmental protections and economic development can advance together.

The state extended its cap-and-invest program through 2045 last year, giving businesses a longer-term framework for planning investments and meeting emissions requirements.

However, California’s approach continues to face criticism over energy affordability and regulatory costs. Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, argued that assessments of the state’s climate policies should better account for the high energy costs Californians face. Critics have also questioned how much of the state’s economic growth can be directly attributed to its environmental regulations.

The governors’ joint appearance underscored their shared support for climate action despite their political differences. Schwarzenegger has criticized Newsom’s support for Proposition 50, the 2025 redistricting measure that temporarily allowed California lawmakers to redraw congressional districts.

The anniversary comes as California continues to pursue emissions reductions and clean-energy investment while facing questions about the cost of its climate policies for households and businesses.

Black Press

Becerra Hosts Meet-and-Greet With Black Leaders in L.A.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra recently met with Black elected officials and community leaders in South Los Angeles to outline his platform for California’s future. Introduced by L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, Becerra detailed his priorities for expanding affordable housing, protecting healthcare access, and defending diversity and inclusion initiatives. The discussion addressed immediate challenges such as homelessness accountability, the impact of federal funding cuts, and the rising role of artificial intelligence in public life. Read more to learn how Becerra plans to address these issues.

Published

2 days ago

October 28, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra speaks with Black media journalists during a roundtable discussion in Los Angeles on Oct. 15, 2026. CBM photo by Maxim Elramsisy.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr., California Black Media

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra outlined his priorities for housing, health care, education and civil rights during an Oct. 15 meeting with Black elected officials and community leaders in South Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell introduced Becerra, citing his experience in the Legislature, Congress and federal government.

“We need people who have walked where we have walked and understand the communities that we all live in, come from, and represent,” Mitchell said.

Becerra pledged to defend diversity, equity and inclusion programs against federal opposition and criticized voter identification requirements as barriers to voting.

“If there’s a fight for that diversity, that strength, that inclusion, that equity, count me in, and let me use the governor’s office to make it clear,” he said.

Identifying housing and health care as immediate priorities, Becerra said more than 40,000 housing units are awaiting financing. He cited Proposition 1, a housing bond measure on November’s ballot, as a potential funding source.

“Prop 1 would give us the money to help start getting those moving,” he said. “And the more you build, the more you relieve the pressure, the demand for housing, which means you can probably see the price stabilize as well.”

On homelessness, he demanded measurable results from cities and counties receiving state funding.

“We will demand accountability when it comes to homelessness,” he said. “I’m not willing to let $1 from the state, from taxpayers, go to a city or a county unless they can show me how they’re going to use the dollar and what the results will be.”

He advocated temporary shelter, mental health and substance use treatment, and intervention before families lose their homes.

Becerra warned that federal Medicaid cuts could leave millions without coverage and threaten hospitals and clinics.

“If these families lose their insurance and still go in for care, now the doctors and the hospitals won’t get paid,” he said. “I want to make sure neither the patients nor the providers feel like Trump’s cuts are going to undermine our health care system.”

He said he is consulting providers and insurers but offered no financing plan.

Addressing surveillance and artificial intelligence, Becerra urged safeguards against discriminatory tracking and dangerous technology, including possible government authority to shut down unsafe AI systems.

“Once you give up your privacy, you can’t get it back,” he said.

He also criticized federal immigration enforcement and advocated comprehensive immigration reform, citing uncertainty for families and employers dependent on immigrant labor.

On education, Becerra supported expanded early childhood learning, tutoring, stronger academic standards and experienced teachers in underperforming schools. He opposed directing public education funding toward for-profit private schools.

“Keep your taxpayer dollars in our public community schools,” he said. “Don’t let those tax dollars go to for-profit private schools first, because it’s already tough enough as it is.”

He said schools must address learning gaps early rather than advancing students without grade-level skills.

“Too many of our kids are starting even kindergarten, and they’re not ready to learn,” he said. “And is it surprising that by the third grade they’re not reading or doing math at grade level?”

He also urged districts to assign skilled teachers to schools with the greatest needs, working with unions to address compensation.

Black Press

Early Childhood Nonprofit Celebrates a Century of Success

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — “Our work has never been more urgent,” said NAEYC CEO Michelle Kang. “We need systems that truly value children and the people who care for and educate them. Early childhood educators are the workforce behind the workforce—skilled, dedicated professionals whose impact reaches children, families, businesses, and communities nationwide. By recognizing these educators’ expertise, investing in their compensation, and elevating their contributions, we invest in our collectiv

Published

2 days ago

October 28, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) commemorates its 100th anniversary this year, marking a century of advocacy, innovation, and leadership in early childhood education (ECE).

Founded in 1926 as the National Association for Nursery Education, NAEYC began with a simple but powerful belief: young children deserve better, and the people who care for them deserve a voice. Today, NAEYC stands as the nation’s largest early childhood education association, with tens of thousands of members, 50 affiliates in nearly every state, more than 5,800 accredited early learning programs serving over half a million children and nearly half a million families, and nearly 180 accredited higher education programs teaching the next generation of early childhood educators.

“Our work has never been more urgent,” said NAEYC CEO Michelle Kang. “We need systems that truly value children and the people who care for and educate them. Early childhood educators are the workforce behind the workforce—skilled, dedicated professionals whose impact reaches children, families, businesses, and communities nationwide. By recognizing these educators’ expertise, investing in their compensation, and elevating their contributions, we invest in our collective future.”

A Century of Progress

Over the past 100 years, NAEYC has created the foundational infrastructure of the early childhood education field. Key milestones include:

Publishing the first professional standards in 1929
Collaborating to develop the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential in the 1970s
Launching the first voluntary national accreditation system in 1985
Establishing Developmentally Appropriate Practice guidelines in 1987 to promote each child’s optimal development and learning
Creating the field’s first Code of Ethics in 1989

More recently, NAEYC convened Power to the Profession (2017–2020), a national collaboration of 15 organizations and 11,000+ educators that developed the “Unifying Framework,” which defines shared career pathways, qualifications, and compensation recommendations for the early childhood workforce.

A Crisis of Today

While the science is clear that high-quality early childhood education changes trajectories for children, families, and communities, today’s early childhood educators remain undervalued and under-supported. Early childhood educators currently earn a median wage of $15.41 per hour, even as families pay an average of $13,128 per year for child care.

“Families can’t afford to pay more, educators can’t afford to earn less,” said Kang. “Our entire nation suffers as parents can’t find or afford the high-quality care they need, pulling themselves out of the workforce in the process.”

A Year of Reflections and Events

As the centerpiece of its centennial commemoration, NAEYC has launched A Year of Reflections, a storytelling initiative inviting educators, families, and advocates to share the moments, mentors, and milestones that have shaped their journeys in early childhood education. Monthly themes throughout 2026—from beginnings to workforce advocacy to a vision for the future—aim to not only surface important stories and storytellers in the field but will help inform NAEYC’s next chapter.

Black History

Together Building Back Better

AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEWS AND ISSUES – DALLAS — For more than 57 years, the SHAPE Community Center has served as a cornerstone of Houston’s Third Ward, providing essential programs based on principles of unity and collective responsibility. Known as “The United Nations of The ‘Hood,” the center recently faced its most difficult challenge following a devastating electrical fire at the Nia Becnel Family Center.

Published

2 days ago

October 27, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

Image Credit: Kalimah Muhammad — Credit: Kalimah Muhammad

I’m going through the most challenging experience of my life with SHAPE,” said Deloyd Parker. He has served as the executive director of the historic SHAPE Community Center for over 57 years and is still energetic and driven by the love of serving the people. Known as “The United Nations of The ‘Hood,” SHAPE is a precious cornerstone of Houston’s Third Ward, serving generations of families through programs and activities, with emphasis on Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work & Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith.

January 2027 will mark two years since a devastating electrical fire took place at SHAPE’s Nia Becnel Family Center, located at 3815 Live Oak. The building and priceless historical items were significantly damaged and lost. That included the “Wall of Fame” photo collection that adorned the interior walls. Nedzra Ward, President of the Board of Directors, shared how the fi rst few days aft er the fire were very trying for everyone who loved SHAPE and those who visited the sacred grounds were in shock and silence. “We knew we had to start working to get things back up,” said Ms. Ward who has been apart of SHAPE’s staff and board for decades. In the aftermath, Ms. Ward called the insurance company and then reached out to Charles Cave to be the lead project manager. They also reached out to engineers Brian Smith, Barbara Smith and Frank Brown, and other experts to formulate the group known as Together Building Back Better (TBBB).

The team met weekly at the Harambee Admin Building located at 3903 Almeda Rd. And to continue serving the people, Mr. Parker and team worked to get that building certified and operational, especially for the children. “Deloyd never stopped. He was the driving force for everything. He made sure that someone was taking care of licenses and that this place was being refigured. His whole goal was to have these kids back and in a safe environment,” said Ms. Ward. “We have served the people for 57 years and as a result of serving the people, the people are coming through,” said Mr. Parker. “It’s going to take more than a fi re to put us out.

Volunteers from the community stepped up to help at Harambee Admin Building. Many programs, events and activities have resumed including the weekly Elders Institute of Wisdom and enrollment is now open for the 2026-2027 After School Enrichment Program. Soft opening scheduled for November The desire was to reopen the gutted Live Oak location within a year but Ms. Ward and Mr. Cave described the many challenges SHAPE has faced in this rebuilding effort. The insurance did not cover everything that’s needed and tariffs

The post TOGETHER BUILDING BACK BETTER appeared first on African American News and Issues.

Based on reporting by African-American News and Issues – Dallas.

Black Press

Homecoming Ends in Gunfire Outside FAMU: 12 Hurt, Six of Them Children

SAN FRANCISCO SUN REPORTER — Twelve people were injured, including six children, after gunfire erupted near Florida A&M University’s Bragg Memorial Stadium following a homecoming celebration on Saturday night. Authorities report that the shooting stemmed from a dispute between individuals who knew each other, leaving eleven victims with gunshot wounds and one with an ankle injury.

Published

2 days ago

October 27, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

Tallahassee, FL - September 2, 2024: Florida A&M University football, Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium — Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA.

Twelve people were hurt, six of them children, when gunfire broke out near Florida A&M’s stadium as homecoming crowds headed home Saturday night. A 15-year-old has been charged.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Homecoming is supposed to be the one weekend everybody comes back. Grandmothers in orange and green. Alumni who haven’t seen each other in twenty years. Kids on shoulders watching the band.

Saturday night, it ended in gunfire.

Twelve people were hurt in a shooting near Perry and Manatee streets, behind Florida A&M University’s Bragg Memorial Stadium, around 8 p.m. as crowds left the homecoming celebration, according to News4JAX. Eleven were shot. A twelfth hurt an ankle running from the gunfire. Six of the injured are children, including an 11-year-old.

By Sunday, five had been released from the hospital and six were still being treated, one in critical condition, CBS News reported. No one was killed.

What police say

A fight broke out first, police said, among people who knew each other. Then somebody started shooting. None of the people hit appear to have been the intended targets.

A 15-year-old was arrested and charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a delinquent, according to CBS News. Police said more arrests are possible. The Sun-Reporter does not name minors charged with crimes.

“What should have been a weekend of celebration in our community instead became a night of fear and violence,” Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said.

FAMU President Marva Johnson said she shares in the “outrage and profound sadness at the senseless and despicable shooting.” The university said the shooting happened near campus and that the campus remained safe.

Rattlers head football coach Quinn Gray put it plainest.

“No one should leave our celebration in an ambulance,” he wrote, “and no child should ever be caught in gunfire.”

Why it lands here

Homecoming at a historically Black college is a family reunion for the whole Black diaspora, and the Bay Area sends its share. Alumni, parents of students, kids who’ve already got their acceptance letters in mind. When something like this happens in Tallahassee, it happens to people we know.

Police are asking anyone with information or video to contact the Tallahassee Police Department.

Sources: CBS News and News4JAX. Photo: Bragg Memorial Stadium at Florida A&M University. Photo by Michael Rivera via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Based on reporting by San Francisco Sun Reporter.

Black History

COMMENTARY: Bring on the Positive Calvary

SEATTLE MEDIUM — Dr. E. Faye Williams addresses the exhaustion many Americans feel following two years of political hostility, corruption, and systemic bigotry.

Published

2 days ago

October 27, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

(Trice Edney Wire)—Like Amy Acton, candidate for Governor in Ohio and Dr. Abdul El-sayed for U.S. Senate in Michigan, the Positive Calvary really is coming soon! Aren’t we all tired of the negative past two years we’ve experienced in the U.S.? Aren’t we tired of the atrocious accusations being thrown around, the filthy language, lies, unending corruption, hatred, racism, sexism, Islamophobia, and bigotry of all kinds. This election season has been worse than ever! I’m sick and tired of women’s names being dragged through the mud—as mine, and others have been out of hate and jealousy. I’m tired of so many people being reluctant to support women. Let’s be the ones to stop this

I’m ready to hear in detail what candidates are ready to do to win the upcoming elections and give help to the people in need—and there are a lot of things from which to choose!

My prayer is that candidates will stop bickering and just tell us what they’re planning to do to help to bring us out of this abysmal situation we’re in now. Instead of spending so much time being shocked by what the highest elected man in the land is saying and doing, let’s concentrate on how to put up guard rails for him when we vote We already know more than enough about what he has said and done. Let’s pledge to elect leaders who’ve shown they care about the people they campaign to represent. There are a lot of good candidates out there who are being overshadowed by the bickering

Let’s not leave everything to elected leaders. As community activists, Get Out the Vote workers, religious leaders and all the good people around us. Show the way to a better nation to all around us. Let’s concentrate on what we are going to do to help people in need. Let’s work on plans to make their lives better. Let’s pledge to get along with our neighbors at home, and our neighbors in Canada, our friends in Ukraine and stop being led by someone who hangs out with those set on disrupting our system of democracy. Ignore the wrecking balls who are more interested in tearing down monuments and praising themselves, supporting evil with lies and unbelievable positions on good people, those who are destroying our military and using government and our taxes on evil things.

Let’s call out corruption, but don’t participate in it. Let us ignore lies about good candidates at all levels. Let’s support the left out. Jamie Davis, a Black man in Louisiana, is a leading candidate for the U.S. Senate. We don’t have to live in Louisiana or be a Democrat or a farmer to support him when you see how much trouble the person running against him is dealing with something people don’t want.

We can vote across party lines when that candidate has expressed the good things she/he will work for when elected. Never mind that in this case she has an R after her name. I know Monique Appeaning in Louisiana who worked in my campaign for Congress when she was a very young woman. I missed winning by a few votes to become the first Black woman to represent my home state in Congress. Forty years later, there has still been no Black woman in the Louisiana delegation. Monique has chosen to pick up the challenge and give my hope life so that other young Black women can have hope in refusing to allow any good thing to be beyond their reach

You know right from wrong, so don’t be afraid to vote for what’s right in a few days. Always promote good. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Amy Acton deserve your vote if you are in Ohio or Michigan. Yes, you know right from wrong, so do what’s right wherever you are.

Based on reporting by Seattle Medium.