When the keys of the former First United Methodist Church were passed to Orin Perry in December, he discussed sweeping programs that would come out of the building — now known as The House of Mandate.

On Thursday he unveiled the first program — the Downtown Coalition Initiative which has the backing of the city police department, the county sheriff’s office, judicial officials and other community stakeholders.

The aim of the initiative is the promotion of law literacy, community safety, mental and physical health, justice, collaboration, and unification by facilitating a House of Mandate Youth Leadership Community Service Chapter Model.

RRPD participation

Roanoke Rapids police Chief Shane Guyant said he and Perry had a candid discussion that included issues related to law enforcement and the community.

In taking the job, Guyant said one of his biggest concerns was whether he would be prepared if the police department encountered a matter such as a police shooting. “Who would I reach out to? Who would I talk to? Who would I ask for help and guidance in that situation?”

(The program overview PDF)

Another thing the chief said he and Perry discussed was the national initiative of Faith and Blue where law enforcement and members of the religious community get together with a big event in October and discuss how faith-based and law enforcement organizations can come together.

“And in those discussions Dr. Perry … unveiled his idea of the downtown initiative. To make a long story short, it definitely hit what we were saying. We’re both saying the same thing.”

Guyant said he has discussed the matter with community representatives and City Manager Kelly Traynham including logistics. 

He told Perry, “I see the passion that you have and you recognize the passion that I have and all the participant’s passions that they have is for the betterment and the good of the citizens of our city.”

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In the downtown area of the city, the chief said, “We have a lot of poverty, we have a lot of educational issues. We have a lot of educational issues as far as knowing how to do daily tasks that most of us take for granted like parenting. There’s so many in our segment of population that they struggle with that because they’ve never been taught the right way to do that.”

The Downtown Coalition Initiative, Guyant said, “Is a way to educate on the simplest tasks of finding bedding for your kids, making sure your kids have curfews, making sure if your kids are lacking in their homework and they need some help, they need some tutoring, that there’s an opportunity for that.”

Guyant said there is so much in the House of Mandate plan that touches on “how we should be doing as a community. As a police department I am 100 percent behind this and I really and truly want to see this shine and I want to be able to touch communities that look at us as the aggressors. I want them to look at us as we’re just looking out for our betterment.”

He said his mission is to one day walk away from the police department knowing he has done everything to reach across and find partnerships “and to offer our services in any way, shape or form that we can to make the city better.”

The police chief knows there is decay in the city from dilapidated houses to trash. “I’d like to see us turn this city around. I get so many comments that it's a trashy place. If you honestly call your city trash all the time, it’s what you’re going to start to believe.”

The same applies to children. “If you call your kids trash all the time or that your kids can’t do any better, what do you think they’re going to grow up to be like? We have to do a better job of taking control of our city, taking control of our community and showing people the right way to do things. It is our responsibility to do that.”

He believes the faith-based relationship with law enforcement “is a perfect fit in the scenario … If we all give our efforts to this it could be a turning point.”

HCSO participation

Sheriff Tyree Davis said it is important for the community to feel safe as the initiative gets underway. “I don’t care what you put together, if the community doesn’t feel safe … if they don’t feel safe enough to have a voice, you’re wasting your time. We’re going to do what we can do to make it as safe as we can possibly make it but we need the community’s help too. You have to be a good steward in your community to say list my name so we can get justice.”

Not limited to downtown

Perry said the initiative is not limited to downtown. “We have school districts here. All our schools are here. What brings us in this room today are the unfortunate events that are happening in our community and that are happening around us — pain, grief, addiction, death. These all are words that define what we would all consider turmoil, turbulence.”

Said Perry: “I don’t care who you are, where you are, pain, addiction, death, grief, the truth is death doesn’t have ethnicity, it doesn’t have a political party. I don’t care what the status of your name is, I don’t care where you live.”

He said there have been four to five overdoses in the last two weeks in the downtown area. “This is not about color, it’s not about who’s who, it’s not about what races they run. We have to make our community safer. It has to start with us and each one of you who showed up today to say you are a part of change, you are looking for change then we are going to pursue that.”

These problems are in schools. “It’s everywhere. The grandmother that sits there now who’s forced to raise her grandchildren because of a drug overdose or because of crime or for the lack of resources, this is a reality. It’s a heart-wrenching thing when what should help me is now killing me.”

There are children in child protective services who are sleeping on cots, Perry said. “We want to do what we can do here and I made a vow, a promise when we procured this property … that I was going to drive it for community initiatives and I wanted to start with our children because daily they walk right through this parking lot back and forth, back and forth. It’s not uncommon to see what we’re seeing. As we move this we’re not just limited to downtown. We want to make it a major movement. We’ll start here. This is just a phase. I want each one of you in this room to be a part of it the best way you can.”

Law literacy

Bob Robinson of TNT Development spoke on the law literacy portion of the initiative. “Oftentimes, when teens decide to experiment with their peers, they do things that are absolutely stupid.”

He said he believes if the children are guided to come to an environment where they understand the consequences of laws they will be able to mature “just a little bit better than they were yesterday.”

Robinson said applying those laws is going to be critical to making sure they practice being a decent human being. “A lot of young folks don’t always have the home structure to be nudged in the right direction.”

The program focusing on youth will be similar to student government organizations, Robinson explained. “The grown folks aren’t going to make all the rules. It’s going to be about the teens understanding how to present themselves to their peers in asking for their vote. They’re going to learn from each of those chairs how to interact with the community … they’re going to apply themselves, step up their game. If they’re going to be less than appropriate they’re going to have a couple of chances … but once the behavior is not indicative of what we need, they’re not going to be allowed to poison the whole group. They will be replaced and they will be referred to another program.”

He said being able to put a law literacy certificate on their resumes is the goal. “They’re going to know why law enforcement does what they do. This is a civil exercise but it directly ties to character development … they will learn to speak without having marbles in their mouths.”

Prince Williams, the Halifax County Reentry Council vice chair, said in 2008 the reentry roundtable was created. “We didn’t have to wait for the money to come down from the state or federal (government) to tell us that we needed to do something with our community. Don’t wait on the money because the money’s not going to be there a lot of times.”

From the council the stakeholders arrived at the point of the Thursday meeting. “One of the things I do like about this is we’re helping out the veterans. Our veterans do not get what they deserve for the work that they did for us. Now we have the opportunity to make a change. Now we are the voice to make that change.”

Williams said young people say they don’t have a voice. “Now is the time for them to be heard by taking the law literacy classes. Now we are building a foundation. We can do nothing in this world without a foundation. Through TNT, working with our veterans, working with reentry we’re going to have a solid foundation.”

Additionally, Perry said, there is a psychological-social part that will be brought into the initiative.

Perry said the old location of The House of Mandate on Buffaloe Street is going to become a resource campus. “We’re going to be working diligently on trying to give back to the community. I’ve talked to Chief Guyant and the city manager about some things we’re trying to do — summer camps, after school.”

He said after the presentation, “I am so proud to see Halifax County come together to this magnitude for our future and to see the hearts of people that are grassrooted here. It’s mind blowing.”