Six years after her daughter, mother and brother were murdered in a triple homicide, Shameika Averett has created a nonprofit organization to help Columbus area girls become successful women who are constructive citizens in their community — and don't tolerate violence.
"I wanted to do something to bring hope and some restoration back to our community," she told the Ledger-Enquirer. "A lot of us are suffering with grief, and we had a lot of murders, unfortunately, in our community last year. So to start this year off with something positive and something that people can look to was very, very, very important to me. … I reminded myself that I'm not the only one in this community that's hurting, that's lost loved ones."
Averett conducted the first session of Gigi's PEARLS last month at Dorothy Height Elementary School, where 22 girls in grades 3-4 began the monthly one-hour gathering for discussions and activities designed to help them grow into:
Powerful,
Educated,
Accomplished,
Resilient,
Leaders in
Society.
Gigi is the nickname of her daughter, Gianna, who was 10 years old when she was killed along with Gloria Short, 56, and Caleb, 17, in their Upatoi home.
Their killers, Jervarceay Tapley, Rufus Leonard Burks IV and Raheam Daniel Gibson, were teenagers at the time of the crime.
Tapley was sentenced to life without parole. Burks received two concurrent life sentences plus 15 years. Gibson was sentenced to 30 years.
Authorities said they stole two of the family's vehicles, several pairs of Nike sneakers, an Adidas jacket, camouflage pants, polo shirts, video games and $600 in coins.
Gigi's PEARLS is part of Averett's grieving, she said. And it's a way to keep the memory of her daughter's life alive.
"I kept praying and asking for some type of sign as to what would make me feel good and then do something for this community as well, for these girls as well, and that was my way to give back," she said. "Sometimes in grief and sadness and depression, all the things I know I've suffered, sometimes those things can birth out something very beautiful."
Averett is the marketing liaison for Columbus Hospice. Last summer, while talking with a friend, social worker Shawna Love, Averett was inspired to create a nonprofit organization similar to the one Love runs for boys, Boyz 2 Men Development, at Baker Middle School and Brewer and Martin Luther King Jr. elementary schools.
Reaching these girls before they start attending middle school is key, Averett said.
"I want to connect with girls who are laying that foundation," she said.
They seemed off to a good start while the L-E visited their first session. Along with Love as her assistant, Averett asked the girls whether they are a leaders, and each of them raised their hand. Averett also was wowed when the girls hugged her in a huddle amid the classroom as they finished the session.
"To have that at the end and say, 'I don't want to leave,' that really, really, really touched me," she said. "… I was able to go back to that mothering thing because you never stop being a mother, even if you've lost your child."
The program addresses issues related to friendship, bullying, communication, in addition to the academic subjects the students are taught in their regular classes.
"A lot of things their teachers are already imparting on them, we'll kind of expound on that, but we'll also do more of the life skills," Averett said, such as "my changing body, being healthy, meditation, even some mental health things. … I want to teach them to explore and dream outside of what they see."
After the girls filled out worksheets that describe themselves, Averett integrated the school's Character Word of the Month — kindness — into the session by leading the girls through the "I Can Show Kindness" activity. She gave each girl a sticker each time they participated and told them they will get a prize when they earn five stickers.
Eighty-four percent of the school's students are considered economically disadvantaged, according to the latest data from the Governor's Office of Student Achievement. And "a lot" of them come from "neighborhoods where a lot of unpleasant things occur," Dorothy Height counselor Mary Jo Bridges told the L-E.
So she was pleased to see more than half of the girls eligible for the program were registered.
"It's important because of what's going on in the community," she said. "When you have a student that's happy, they want to learn and they're motivated.
"Ms. Averett's program is going to motivate the girls and inspire the girls, that there's no limit to what they can do. They just need that push for them to see someone, a young woman that has experienced the challenges and struggles she's gone through, and it makes them see, 'I can do it too.'"
Averett praised Bridges and Dorothy Height principal Lamont Sheffield for welcoming her and the program to the school.
"To trust me enough and Miss Shawna enough is definitely, definitely a great thing," she said.
Averett hopes this group can reduce violence by not only helping to shape the lives of these girls but also empowering them to influence their male relatives and friends.
"Our girls see things," she said. "They may not like what their brother is doing, or they may not like what their uncle is doing. They're able to be more emotional and connect and may even say, 'This is how I feel.' So having both ends of that spectrum covered is very, very important."
Averett also plans to conduct parenting workshops.
"We're trying to get the whole family involved," she said.
Averett noted that the people who killed her relatives were teenage boys — and one of their sisters is the person who told her mother about the bad thing she thought her brother did.
"Sometimes women hold the key" to ending violence, Averett said. "Sometimes we don't say it because we don't feel powerful. We don't feel like we have enough within us to make that decision. But I'm grateful today that girl spoke up and said, 'This was wrong.'"
Averett wants to expand the program to community organizations and other schools. She welcomes inquiries on Facebook at her personal page or the Gigi's PEARLS page.
