Project H.E.L.M. at MSYC

Museum Shores Educational Community Project Foundation (MSECP, NP) is focused on

the youth in the Southern Shore community for a couple of years now. We are in our

second year of Project H.E.L.M (Harbor Education Life-Safety Mindset) where we teach kids (ages 10 through 16) about boating, safety and life management skills. This 5-week program has grown to also include an ala carte, 1-day program designed to integrate with existing summer programs offered by the Chicago Urban League and Governor State University.

We were honored this year by the Chicago Tribune with a special article written by Darcel Rockett highlighting the experiences of Project H.E.L.M. participants and

their parents. Here is an excerpt below from the article. It can be found in its entirety in the August 6th electronic version of the Tribune.

“We discuss things like: ‘It’s not the stimulus, it’s the response to a situation,” Gilbert Carson said. “Sometimes a bully in school will say something, and you need to know ahead of time how you’re going to respond, so you don’t get caught off guard and respond the wrong way. Just like in the water, you need to know how to respond in case something happens.”

Kayin Bradford, 12, of Woodlawn was already involved in a sailing program at Jackson Harbor through the Park District, but he wanted to learn more about power

boats, so his mother signed him up for Project H.E.L.M. “I’m always looking for things in the neighborhood that are going to be things that are constructive for my

son,” Rose Bradford said. “It’s an opportunity for him to meet other kids his age and meet some people from our community that are master boaters and just get out

and do something besides playing video games all day.  And when they make it free for you, it’s just a resource that I think is incredible, so I just try to take advantage.

These are Black men that have boats, and they’re role models for our little kids.”