GoodHeart | Akeem Brown helping to build Greenwich Town, one youth at a time

While growing up, Akeem Brown, who is from Greenwich Town in St Andrew, wanted to make a difference and improve the lives of the members of his community, especially the youths.

Having faced stigmatisation at almost every juncture of his life, he wanted to ensure that others, even if they met with the same fate as himself, were equipped to handle the challenges. Brown believes that giving back to the community will help to make a difference in the lives of others.

“I choose to give back to my community because it’s the very same community that has helped me to bloom into who I am today. Despite the odds and the on-going sayings about the community, this is where I am from and it has helped me to be different. My main focus is on the youths because you find that less people care about youths now more than ever,” he said.

Brown’s organisation, the Greenwich Town Youths In Action Club, is a voice for young people and through different initiatives encourages them to realise their full potential despite their circumstances.

“Some of our core values include safety, in which everyone is safe to accomplish great things; diversity and inclusion; transparency; accountability; strength-based principles and learning and improving, where we reflect on our experiences to learn and grow,” he said.

At 23 years old, the Norman Manley High School graduate has discovered many things about his life, more than the average person. He lost his father at a very early age, and was raised by his grandmother, until he went to live with his mother.

“My background propelled me into trying to assist this great need in the community. I saw the need for a youth club in the community so that young people can have a place to voice their concerns and [find] a true calling within themselves,” Brown said.

Many young people and by extension community members have benefitted from the intervention of the youth club. “This hub fosters positive activities, offering educational opportunities, reinforcing peace and team-building initiatives, and empowering and supporting the youths for a better future,” he said.

“We have achieved in many areas of transformation and growing the young people of this community [into] worthwhile contributions to society. Persons have benefitted from this club through-back-to-school care package giveaways throughout the pandemic,” he added.

Brown said the organisation is in need of support as they are funded by dues from members and the community, but this is not effective enough to implement the projects that they would like to have done throughout the year.

“[The youth in the community have many needs.] Even though we are trying to help everyone, the resources are just not enough to do so. There is so much potential here, they really just need some assistance to ensure stability and growth,” he said.

As an inner-city youth advocate, Brown is encouraging others to give back to their communities and help to change the lives of the youths for a better future for Jamaica.

“There are many ways to give back to your community. Just find the one thing that you struggled[with] as a youth or even as an adult and create a strategy to ensure that others coming behind you do not suffer from this same thing,” Brown said.

Over 60 young people from the community are registered members of the Greenwich Town Youths In Action Club.

“Our organisation’s plan is to become the number-one long-standing youth organisation that was built in an inner-city community and to shine some light in a place where people consider dark, also to be the place where each and every young person can feel like somebody no matter their situation,” Brown said.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com