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08/05/2010 12:00 AMWhat would it be like for an inner-city student from the Bronx to leave his or her home, come to Madison, and attend Daniel Hand High School (DHHS) for his or her entire high school career, freshman to senior year? The hope of the Madison A Better Chance (ABC) Program is that these students will go on to succeed and become leaders in their own communities and, for the last 40 years, ever since the program started bringing inner-city students to Madison, that has proved the case.
From hosting one of the first students to her role today on the board of directors, Madison resident Lindalea Ludwick has been with the program every step of the way.
"I was intrigued and I thought it would be a good idea for Madison," Lindalea says. "I was interested in the program the year before it came to town. I've been involved since then."
A history teacher at DHHS from 1969 to 1972, Lindalea's enthusiasm for the program brought her from hosting a student to acting as an academic advisor and then serving on the board of directors as secretary, vice president, and finally as president (2000 to 2005). Her positive experience hosting one of the first ABC students, Jomerro McMillian, is perhaps one reason for her strong support.
"I think when he came here he'd never spoken to a white person before," she says of Jomerro, who came from an African-American area of a segregated North Carolina town. "It's kind of like being an exchange student. One of the things they have to experience is what it's like to be here."
The program brings five or six male inner-city students, usually from the New York metropolitan area, to Madison. The students come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, but always have one trait in common.
"These kids all have talents," says Lindalea. "They just are able to achieve a whole lot more" at DHHS.
The students spend one weekend each month with their host family. The rest of the time, they live in the Roby House, which has a resident director and tutor. Expectations are high for the students, who study five nights a week.
"It's not an easy thing to be an ABC kid," Lindalea says. "You're expected to work hard."
Jomerro, whom Lindalea recalls studiously making his way through The Scarlet Letter, looking up every word he didn't know, made National Honor Society at DHHS and played on the basketball team. Afterward, he went on to receive an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, become a successful entrepreneur, and even serves as an alumnus on the Madison ABC Advisory Board.
"He's still a strong supporter of the program-not just by his deeds...He contributes to the program, he believes in it," says Lindalea. "When he came here he really blossomed."
Raised as an orphan by his older sister, Jomerro was also able to purchase a home for her, something he'd always wanted to do. He now has a wife and daughter and lives in one of the neighborhoods in North Carolina where he couldn't go as a child.
"I think for him what was important was going back to his own community," Lindalea says. "He wanted to go back and be a mentor and a role model."
A member of the Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society (SUUS) for the past 20 years, Lindalea also supports Habitat for Humanity and Touch of Comfort, an organization that helps cancer patients. She's gone through many changes, including switching her career from teaching to law, but her support for the Madison ABC program, which relies on volunteers and donations, has been continuous. Her hope is that the students will eventually brings benefits to their own communities, as Jomerro did.
"One of the goals of this program is to have these young men become leaders, become strong, and go back to their communities," Lindalea says. "I see it as a ripple effect. I think it affects a whole lot of people."
The Madison ABC Program will have a gala the weekend of April 30, 2011 to celebrate its 40th anniversary. For more info on the program or to donate, visit www.madisonabc.org.