For more than a decade, Memphis Beat The Odds (MBTO) founder, Dr. Theresa Okwumabua has been recognizing young people who triumph over disabilities and obstacles and the champions who help them to find their way.   

Dr. Theresa Okwumabua is the founder of Memphis Beat the odds which focuses on “uplifting the quality of life in our community by telling the community, particularly the youth, that they can beat the odds, too.”  (Photo by Greg Russell)

On Thursday, May 14, MBTO Foundation will host its 15th Annual Memphis Beat the Odds Banquet recognizing six special young people with the MBTO Student and Youth Award and two adults with its Cathryn Rivers Johnson Award.  
 
The program begins with a reception at 6 p.m. and the banquet and awards ceremony follows at Lindenwood Christian Church, 2400 Union Ave.

Okwumabua, coordinator of outreach for the Department of Psychology at the University of Memphis, says the event recognizes young people, ages 13 to 21, “who are achieving and excelling in spite of a variety of obstacles in their lives and brings positive attention to children.”   

This year’s student winners are James Montgomery Dempsey, Hector G. Gomez, Morgan Harris-Grant, Alexandra King, Ricario Phillips, and Brantley Turner. Community volunteers Yvonne Pulliam and Eloise Silmon will receive the Cathryn Rivers Johnson Award, which is given a youth champion who exhibits the same admirable qualities and characteristics of Johnson, a former teacher at Booker T. Washington High School.  

Silmon devoted over 30 years working with youth at Memphis City Schools and Job Corps before a stroke last year limited her movement.  She is being honored for her work with ‘at risk’ and physically-challenged youth and for a broad-range community service.

A high school dropout, Pulliam shares her resources to help teenagers by bringing them into her home and caring for them while their parents are incarcerated or otherwise unavailable.  She attends school meetings and other functions and never charges for housing.

Lemons to Lemonade

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, the maxim goes.   
Each of the six student winners has a disability or life-threatening disease that could be used as a crutch.  Yet, each courageously chose to live their life with gratitude and to give back to the community.

• Though James Dempsey, an 18-year-old Bolton High senior, suffers from a rare, life-threatening disease, he is actively involved in Farmers of America (FFA), science club, Knowledge Bowl, 4-H Honor Club, and Boy Scouts.  He says that he has never asked “why me?”  He plans to attend UT Martin and eventually become a doctor.
 
• Hector Gomez is a senior at White Station High School.  Now, 21, he came to the U.S. as a non-English speaker with a hearing impairment.  His parents were advised to place him in a special school.  On May 24, he will graduate with a regular diploma and a 3.03 GPA.  He will attend college with plans to become a computer video game designer.

• Morgan Harris-Grant, 13, is a stroke survivor.  The White Station Middle School student made a miraculous recovery after doctors predicted limited existence and limited thinking ability.  Today, she is a member of the Honor Society and a volunteer for the American Heart Association and LifeBlood.

• A junior at Briarcrest High, Allie King is a former Jr. Olympic Champion Horse Jumper who at age 15 had a riding accident that left her in a coma. When she came out of the coma, it was predicted that she would never walk, talk or go back to school.  Now, 17, with a GPA of 3.8, she uses horses to help autistic and other disabled children.

• Ricario Phillips will graduate from Ridgeway High School with a 4.54 GPA and a 31 on the ACT.  He suffers from Asperger’s Disorder, a mild form of autism that impairs social interaction without affecting verbal skills. A member of the National Society of High School Scholars, the Honor Society, and Bridge Builders as well as a producer, director and actor in theatrical productions, Ricario says he must follow a set schedule each day or he becomes very upset and frustrated because of the disorder.  

• Given up for adoption at birth, Brantley Turner, 21, was teased and taunted most of his life because of a hearing disorder.  At Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Center, he has found a place to excel.  He is a dormitory leader, Student Government Association treasurer and has won awards for Most Committed, Top Leader and Vocational Student of the Week. Youth Praise Team director at Longview Heights Church, he loves writing songs, especially gospel.

“The stories of these young models serve as a valuable message, an inspiring message that reaches far and wide for the sheer value of their having overcome such challenging circumstances,” says Okwumabua, who is the banquet chair. “MBTO focuses on uplifting the quality of life in our community by telling the community, particularly the youth, that they can beat the odds, too.”

Back in the day

While involved with the Memphis City Schools adolescent parenting program, Project RAP, Okwumabua started the Memphis Beats The Odds in 1994. Initially, she set out to  recognize and encourage outstanding pregnant teenagers in the program and show the community that many of them were doing positive things with their lives.

Based on a similar project by Marian Wright Edelman and the Children’s Defense Fund, MTBO motivates citizens, businesses, leaders and the media to advocate for children.  Community volunteers and supporters like FedEx make the project possible.

At the May 14th banquet, winners will be given a monetary gift and a gift box. The public is invited to donate financially or to provide in-kind donations for the gift box; and, the amount of money given to the students will depend on the donations received.
   
MBTO Foundation (www.memphisbeattheodds.org) is a chartered, nonprofit corporation with 501(c)3 status.  Donations are tax deductible and can be sent to MBTO Foundation, P.O. Box 111242, Memphis, TN 38111, 901. 678. 3677.

For banquet tickets, call Melinda Cook at 901.678-1016.