Program reaches children on their turf

It’s Monday afternoon and there’s a light breeze blowing across the playground of the Live Oak Community park. The sun is out, thermometer says 70. Feels like a short-sleeves day, like spring … and yet this place, well, this place looks forlorn. Swings sway empty in the breeze, the carousel sits motionless.

The eye wanders, but in a couple of blinks, children begin to appear. Individually and in pairs, they enter the park from multiple compass points, drawn by the sight of a guy in a white SUV slowly cruising the neighborhood like the Good Humor man.

Behind the wheel is LaGrange senior Grant Miller. Riding shotgun is junior Ashley Fitzpatrick. They arrive at the playground with a small bag of snacks, a couple of balls and compassionate hearts.

These LaGrange students and others come to the park each Monday to participate in a program called the “Bus Project,” which is somewhat of a misnomer since there hasn’t been a bus involved for a while now.

“It’s been a hassle trying to find a driver for the bus,” Grant says. “Our hope is to one day get the bus back out here.”

Bus or not, the project’s objectives have remained constant since the program was established in 2001.

“The idea is to take a mentoring program out to where the kids live,” Grant says. “Instead of going to see them at their schools or somewhere, we give them a place to hang out and get positive influences and some help with after-school work and that kind of thing.”

Grant says he became involved with the project in 2003, his first year on the Hill. He’s headed it since 2004. For Ashley, who takes over when Grant graduates in May, this is her first year working with the Bus Project, but she’s already witnessed the significance it carries for the children.

“I really saw what type of impact this has my first time out here when the kids were saying ‘Don’t leave, don’t leave. Please stay longer – just 10 more minutes,’” she says.

Grant agrees. “I hate to leave here because they get upset when we go. They want us to stay all afternoon.”

During his four years working in the program, Grant says he’s seen some positive changes in many of the children. One little girl, Deidre, particularly stands out.

“Deidre (pseudonym) was in the first grade when she started coming here,” he remembers. “The day I met her I said, ‘How was your day at school?’”

Her response contained a four-letter invective that was startling, especially coming from a 6-year-old.

Undaunted, he continued trying to reach out to the child, and eventually, he made a connection and gradually developed a close enough relationship with Deidre to help her work through some behavioral issues at school.

Grant says, “When I see her now, she runs up and gives me a big hug. It ended up working out pretty well. She’s growing up and is well behaved.” He smiles, then adds, “for the most part.”

With graduation approaching, Grant knows he has only a few more weeks to mentor the children of Live Oak, but he will always have his memories, and the experience has left a deep imprint. He says he’s considering attending graduate school in a year or two to earn a master’s in children’s counseling.

And though it’s been rewarding, the Bus Project hasn’t always been easy.

“It’s a huge commitment to come here every Monday,” he says. “There are a lot of days that I don’t feel well or I’ve got a test to study for or I’ve got SGA stuff to do –days when I say, ‘I just don’t want to go today.’

“But it’s those times specifically, the days that I don’t want to go, that I come out here and end up having the best time.”

To learn more about the Bus Project or to volunteer, contact Grant Miller .