‘A blessing in my life:’ 5000 Role Models program celebrates 30 years of empowerment

You can’t miss the red ties.

They’re just one of the symbols of success for the young men involved each year in a treasured Miami organization, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence.

But there’s much more to this program than tie and crisp white shirt. There’s mentorship, camaraderie, tradition. And also gratitude.

Success stories

At 15, George Ray was at a crossroads in life. But he took control of his future when he was introduced to the 5000 Role Models of Excellence program.

Now, the initiative is celebrating its 30th anniversary. And on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, dozens of Miami-Dade high school seniors will be honored once again in a ceremony, where they’ll leave with a scholarship. The 5000 Role Models of Excellence breakfast event will be in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now 40, Ray is an accomplished professional living in a Miami Beach apartment he could only dream of when he was a kid. He graduated from South Dade Senior High School in 2001 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Talladega College in Alabama, an MBA from Florida International University and a professional certification from Georgetown University.

He is a business consultant with FIU and teaches at Miami-Dade College.

“Within the program, I was able to find that exposure that I needed, someone who cared, people who recognized my true potential,” Ray said. “It’s not that I was bad. I was misguided.”

Now a mentor with the program, Ray sees himself in this new generation. Their potential. Their hope. Their promise. And he can see their progress. Ray met one of the boys he mentors in middle school, four years ago. Now the teen is Ray’s student at FIU.

“I see the impact, how it changes boys’ lives,” Ray said. “If there’s evidence or proof of that, look no further than myself.”

Growing up, Jonathan Moses also participated in the mentorship program. He believes his mentors molded him into the goal-focused man he is today. Moses, 30, graduated from Miami Carol City Senior High in 2010, earned his bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M University in 2015 and works in political campaigns.

He remembers looking up to his mentors as examples of hardworking people who have established and preserved Miami’s Black history.

“Seeing the men that they were for their families, for this community,” he said. “That is who I aspire after.”

Today, Moses is filling his mentors’ shoes, returning to the program to guide new generations.

“It’s just been been a blessing in my life in developing me as a man,” he said. “My intention is always to let our young men know that they have the potential to do it all.”

Decades of role models and mentorship

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a former teacher and principal, founded the program in 1993 during her time as a Miami-Dade County School Board member. Miami was facing a drug crisis, and Wilson wanted to find a way to intervene in the lives of boys who may be at-risk — and surround them with positive lessons.

Since the 1990s, the initiative has expanded to other counties in Florida, including Broward, Pinellas and Duval. It has even made its way to Detroit. Wilson said the program has helped more than a million families.

“Just the revelation that it has lasted for 30 years is amazing,” Wilson told the Miami Herald ahead of MLK Day. “It’s been 30 years since we, as a community. decided that we were going to make sure that our boys would not become become a product of the school-to-prison pipeline.”

She said that when she first proposed the initiative, people around her were skeptical. Would it work? Why the focus on boys? Shouldn’t she be concerned about girls?

But the 5000 Role Models has stood the test of time, and notable figures in South Florida have graduated from the program, including Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kionne McGhee, and Jason Jenkins, the Miami Dolphins’ senior vice president for communications and community affairs, who died in September.

“All [they] needed ... was just an opportunity, just exposure to men in the community who could help them become good men in society and not a menace to society,” Wilson said.

Aside from mentorship, the program also exposes young men to different experiences, including visits to the Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami Seaquarium and Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, Wilson said. In supporting roles: police departments, organizations like the Miami Dolphins, and educational partners like Miami-Dade College and Florida International University.

“That’s how you change the trajectory of poverty,” she said. “That’s how What you build good, strong men for the next generation. For the girls to have good husbands, and for the children to have good fathers.”

What to know about the 5000 Role Models breakfast

On Monday morning, dozens of Miami-Dade high school seniors will be honored in a Martin Luther King Junior Day ceremony. The breakfast will be at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Scholarships

The Wilson Scholarships, named after Rep. Wilson, are awarded to high school seniors seeking to better themselves through higher education, vocational training or the military. Students had to fill out an application and write three essays reflecting on their time in the program and their future goals.

To be eligible, students must have been involved with 5000 Role Models initiative since ninth grade, taken the ACT or SAT, and earned a 3.5 GPA as well as 25 hours of community service.

READ MORE: 5000 Role Models of Excellence: How I saved a life

Honored speakers at the 5000 Role Models event

Several community leaders will speak and also be honored at the Monday breakfast, including:

▪ Omari Hardwick, an award-winning actor known for his role in the show, ‘Power’ and film, ‘Army of the Dead.’

▪ Doug Emhoff, the Second Gentleman of the U.S., husband of Vice President Kamala Harris

▪ Philip E. Davis, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas

▪ Ellery and Johnny Brown, parents of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

READ MORE: Parades, community service and Kamala Harris’ husband at breakfast among MLK events

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