An introduction to citizen advocacy relationships in Savannah.

1. Chatham-Savannah
Citizen Advocacy

2. Tania & Heather
Tania Sammons became a citizen advocate in
October 1999. She was asked to be a spokesperson
on behalf of a young woman who was being
expelled from public school because of being
pregnant. What Tania learned is that if you have a
disability and become pregnant you leave school,
and if you don’t have a disability, you stay in
school to work toward your diploma. As Tania
and her protégé Heather got to know each other,
Tania found how to be helpful in many other
ways.
Heather chose Tania as her
birth coach and once the
baby was born, Tania became
a bit like an older sister
helping a younger sister
learn a lot of new things.

3. Tania and her husband Rich helped Heather graduate
from Groves High school and get set up in a small
inexpensive apartment in Port Wentworth. Tania
invited three experienced mothers: Linda Wittish who
is a magazine editor, Neel Foster who is an artist, and
Molly McGoldrick who is a social activist, to become
“the wise women.” Three young women with big
professional lives but not yet with children—Holly
McCullough, curator of the Telfair museum, Anne
Fuller, a real-estate agent, and Annie Sarabia, a public
relations consultant, became the “wild women.” This
little group of people have helped Heather with her
motherhood over the past 13 years.
“She is my best friend” is how Heather described Tania at a recent citizen advocacy annual
meeting. Tania invited Bill Dawers, writer for the Savannah Morning News, to become a mentor
for Heather’s younger brother. This is a story of many people connecting with many people in
many different ways.

4. Mrs. Mozelle
& June
Mrs. Mozelle Collier was one of Savannah’s most powerful women. She wanted to start a Scout
Troop for African American girls back before that sort of thing was heard of. She wound up being
the den mother for 8 troops at one time. She also wound up on the national Girl Scout board of
directors later in her life. She became a citizen advocate for a youngster named June who was in
foster care via Department of Children Services. The assumption was that a child with Down
Syndrome was “un-adoptable.” Mrs. Collier went to the DFCS office every month and asked the
social workers “What did you do last month to help June find a forever family?” This persistent
spokesmanship paid off and June was adopted.

5. Janie & Rachel
Janie Johnson, a marketing representative for Southern Bell, agreed to become a crisis advocate. She got up out
of her bed at 10:00 p.m. one night to go to Memorial Medical Center to talk her way into the pediatric intensive
care unit to be with a child, Rachel, who was badly beaten. Her mother of the beaten child had followed her
boyfriend to Savannah. The boyfriend was the abuser. There was no other local family. Janie went the next day
and the next and the next and became “the unofficial aunt.” She was the first person to realize that Rachel had
some sight left and made sure that everyone knew that she was going to be back the next day and the next.
When it came time for Rachel to leave the hospital, there was talk of sending her to Pennsylvania, where her
mother was from, and having her committed to the state’s institutional system. Janie resisted and took dozens
of pieces of paper out of her purse, each with the name of a person who had said “If there is anything I can do
to help this child, you should let me know.” Janie said that all of these people would need to be called before
the institutional idea could be considered. One of the people called shared the story with a neighbor who went
to their Association for Retarded Citizens board meeting and shared the story. One of the people who heard
the story there shared it with one of their neighbors who said, “My husband Frank and I have been talking
about adopting a child.” This is the family that Rachel has lived with for the past 20 years.

6. Al & Quinton
Al and Lucille Collins
have both been educators
for the great part of their
adult lives. Now retired
they live near Savannah
State University. Al
accepted an invitation to
become a citizen advocate
for a teenager who was
slipping into the Juvenile
Justice system. Quinton
had been expelled from
school and was living
with his mother who was
unfortunately having very
serious mental health
problems.
Al and Quinton first met on a Saturday morning over the Breakfast Bar at Shoney’s on Victory Drive.
From there they went back to Al’s house to shoot some pool in his den. Al began to visit Quinton at
home and helped him get back in school. He’d visit the school to make sure things were going OK.
On some Saturdays Al would have Quinton come over and help around his house, make some
money, have lunch and play pool. Quinton's mom continued to struggle and they both moved in
with his grandmother on East 35th Street. Tragically, her house burned, and she was killed. Quinton
came to Al’s the next morning and he raised some emergency money through his church for Quinton
and his mother. The family rallied and Quinton and his mom went to live with relatives in
Jacksonville.

7. Al & Donald
In 1986 Al Chassereau was introduced to a youngster named Donald who was living at Georgia
Regional Hospital. After picking Donald up and spending time together for about 6 months, Al
decided that he no longer wanted to take Don back to the institution. They decided to become a
family and Al adopted Donald. Don had grown from boy to man and Al has grown from man to
father.

8. Linda & Carmen
Linda Davis was introduced to a 24 year old young
woman named Carmen who lived at Chatham
Nursing Home. Linda lived in Savannah and worked
in Hinesville. This was important in that Carmen’s
parents lived in Hinesville. Linda visited Carmen
often at the nursing home and also began to get to
know her mother and father. She was able to help
Carmen's mom and dad realize that they had gotten
really bad advice about Chatham Nursing Home
being where Carmen should live. She helped them see
that Carmen belonged at home. She helped them find
some supportive services to make that possible as
well. Linda learned a hard lesson as a citizen advocate.
She told us that one time she had lost her temper
about something in the nursing home and that she had
yelled at people in the nurse’s station. After Carmen
went to back to live with her family she said in her soft
voice, “Do you remember the time you yelled at them?
They pulled my finger back that night.” We need to
remember to be strategic as advocates, rather than
simply vocal, to consider the safety of the person we
are advocating for as well as the issue or concern we
are bringing forward.

9. Cassie & Ashley
Cassie Carpenter lives on Wilmington Island with her mom and dad and two
sisters. She is speaking at one of our covered dish annual meetings. Cassie is
talking about being a citizen advocate for a youngster who is about her age and
who lives on Wilmington Island as well. Cassie told us about the ways she and
Ashley had found to spend time together and have fun together. Many human
service professionals in Chatham county would consider Ashley to have very
complex disabilities. Cassie, like most youngsters worries less about all of that and
more about how to have fun together.

10. Trey and Kenneth
One of the nice
things these men
do together is
celebrate Kenneth’s
birthday every year
in real style. New
suits, ties, and
Trey Matthews became Kenneth’s citizen advocate shoes are bought.
in August of 1998. Kenneth was often living in the Trey organizes a
streets, sometimes living with people who would big dinner, either in
literally pick him up and confine him in their home a good restaurant
and take his Supplemental Security Check. Trey or at his house.
had repeatedly complained about one of these Friends are invited,
situations to the Department of Family and and new friends are
Children Services Adult Protection Service Unit. made. For Kenneth
They had visited twice and taken no action. Trey and for the people
went to pick Kenneth up one Saturday and found who have gotten to
him in horrible shape. He called the Pooler police. know him through
An officer arrived and called for back up after he Trey and his
saw the conditions in the home. Kenneth was friends, it is an
taken by ambulance to Memorial Medical Center evening of joy.
for medical treatment. Trey lobbied for better
response from the local human service system and
eventually Kenneth was assisted to find a reputable
adult foster home.

11. Susan Earl
Susan Earl agreed to go to a meeting about a child who was being expelled from school and sent to
Georgia Regional Hospital. She remembers sitting at a table with over a dozen various educators and a
very shy 12 year old. After a lot of people said what they thought the right thing to do was, Susan
gently asked this young man himself what he thought. He hated being in a 3rd grade classroom with
children much younger than he was. He wanted to go to what he called “real school.” One thing lead to
another and Susan came to realize that school was just the tip of the iceberg in this youngster’s life. She
began going to Juvenile Court with him, expecting the probation officers and court workers to be more
creative and more passionate. She also began to see how many people in his family were falling into
trouble and began to realize how hard it would be for him to have a different life. As years have turned
into decades, nearly two decades now, Susan has stayed in touch. 96 letters, 96 letters from prison she
keeps in a shoe box. 96 letters to her, 96 she has sent to him. Susan highlights the idea of “standing
with” as well as the idea of “creating change.” She highlights the idea of bearing witness to another
persons suffering. We value the idea of not walking away when you realize that you can’t fix or change
things. We value solidarity.

12. Tina and the Kellys
Adoption is a role that some people who become citizen advocates choose. Letha Kelly had been a citizen
advocate for a woman who lived in her neighborhood. She helped Donna read her mail, pay her bills and do
other things until Donna moved from Savannah. Letha learned that being blind was not what had hurt Donna
the most in her life. She learned that being rejected by her family was the deep wound in Donna’s life and she
decided that one day she wanted to prevent that wound from developing in a child. Letha and her husband
Kevin began thinking about adopting a child because of this experience. They thought about it for several years
and then one day Letha called Tom Kohler and said “We are ready.” Tom arranged for the Kellys to meet Tina
Marie who lived in a foster home here in Savannah. After they met, Letha and Kevin knew she was the child
they wanted. They brought their daughter to meet Tina soon after. It was a family decision. Tina would become
Tina Kelly if the paperwork and adoption process could fall into place. This turned out to be tougher than you
would think. Eventually a fine and kind attorney here in Savannah Jon Sprague took the situation in hand and
moved the process forward. Tina Marie went to live with her new family, the family that would become her
forever family. Tina was just a baby. She has since graduated from Gwinnett County High School where she was
in the Honors Art Appreciation class (her mom is an art teacher so she comes by it naturally). Now Tina, her
mom and dad are looking for ways for her to find a good and interesting job.

13. Solomon and Jo Amusan work
downtown. Solomon is an attorney,
and Jo runs his office. They also run
a couple of small businesses. They
are very busy people, but not too
busy for Solomon to accept the role
of legal guardian and ally for a man
named Nakia. Solomon accepted
this role in January 1998 after a
citizen advocate, Louisa Abbot
spoke with him about a young man
who had been dropped off at
Georgia Regional Hospital on his
18th birthday by the woman who
was his foster mother. Nakia was
now with out a place to live and
with out anyone to really worry too
much about it. Solomon began
Nikia and the attending meetings and sticking up
for Nakia. He used his charm and
Amusans persistence and status as Nakia’s
legal guardian to press the state
officials to provide a home place
Nakia’s photograph is on
rather than an institutional space
the table with all of the for Nakia. On some Saturdays,
Amusan family photos Solomon picks Nakia up in his
in their law office. vintage Mercedes Benz and they go
out to breakfast and then hit some
garage sales together.

14. Pat & Burke
Mr. Pat Lyons and Mr. Burke Whitney were introduced to one another in January of
2001. Mr. Whitney’s mother had passed away leaving no family here in Savannah to
monitor what sort of life Burke would be living at the group home where he lived.
Pat owns River Services, a boating supply business in Thunderbolt. He grew up here,
is part of a big family, and is an active member at Blessed Sacrament Church near his
home in Ardsley Park. Pat, his wife Patti, and Burke enjoyed going to Savannah Sand
Gnat baseball games and Burke loved coming over to Pat and Patti’s house. Burke was
in the hospital several times and Pat learned how to be more than an visitor. He would
call himself a protector. He came to see that it would be too easy for people to make a
mistake or to choose not to offer Burke the best of care. Pat learned that part of being a
citizen advocate is to be a protector and that you have to be present to protect. When
Burke died several years ago, Pat and Patti traveled to Washington D.C. to attend
Burke’s burial in Arlington Cemetery where Burke’s parents are buried.

15. Louisa & Theresa
Louisa Abbot and Theresa Ennis have known one
another since June of 1994. During that time
Louisa has followed Theresa as she was moved
from nursing home to nursing home in and out of
Chatham County. She didn’t give up when she
realized that Theresa's life was hard and would
probably stay hard for a long time. She found
great strength in Theresa; the women share a
personal relationship filled with moments of true
grace. Judge Abbot has tried to inspire the State
of Georgia to offer home life, not bed space, to
Theresa. This is a good example of someone truly
growing to love another person.

16. Gary Foss was in a tough situation in 1980. He had moved to Savannah
from California where his family had made life miserable for him. Once
here, he wound up trading his Supplemental Security check for a place
to stay and got caught up in the 28% interest loan companies that used
to dot our downtown before it became so upscale. Tom Kohler met Gary
through a man who worked at Goodwill Industries and after meeting
and getting to know Gary a little bit he invited local businessman
Sheldon Tenenbaum to become Gary’s citizen advocate.
Gary and
Sheldon
Over a period of years Sheldon has helped Gary find an apartment he could afford and helped
him keep his financial affairs in better order. Both men share and admire a common trait.
Both men are stubborn and admire toughness and tenacity in other people. Over the years
Sheldon has enlisted the help of many other people as he has tried to make sure Gary has the
things he needs to live a comfortable life. Here you see him with City Council person Leon
Chaplin. The diaper bag over his shoulder is for daughter Jessica, now several years graduated
from Brown University.

17. Lots of funny stories are part of what these
two people have between them. One of my
favorites is the time that Sheldon was in
Israel with a group showing our local
congressional delegation around. Gary got
through several layers of secretaries and
through long distance calls to have a phone
handed to Sheldon while he was standing on
the Golan Heights to “ask Sheldon a
question.” This was before cell phones. This
was when you had staff to deflect calls while
you did important business. No staff could
stop Gary.
Gary recently celebrated his 60th
birthday with Sheldon doing the
honors of cutting the cake. There were
times, many times when people
thought Gary would never live a full
life. It turns out that he will live a full
life thanks to having one person take
him really seriously as a human being.

18. Sherry and Sally
Sherry Erskine and Sally Hearn were introduced in 1979. Sally was middle aged, Sherry in her
30’s and just starting out in what is now a successful pension planning business. When they
met, Ms. Hearn was living in a personal care home run by a woman Sherry came to call “the
devil woman.” She helped Ms. Hearn find her own apartment. Ms. Hearn has lived in her
own place, done her own shopping, and lived her own life since then. Red is Ms. Hearn's
favorite color. Christmas her favorite holiday. One of the great traditions at Sherry’s house at
Christmas is Ms. Hearn singing country music. She has a classic country voice filled with the
sound of hard life and hope that makes country music real and right. What do good
dependable decent daughters do for their mothers as their mothers age? These are the things
that Sherry does for Ms. Hearn today.

19. Stories of Citizen Advocacy are
told in many different ways…

20. Local newspaper columnist and English professor Bill Dawers has taken several citizen advocacy
stories and created a 15 minute spoken word performance piece titled Voices of Advocacy. This is
performed in coffee shops and other public and private venues around town.

21. Helping people be together allows
people to see one another in new ways.

22. We have been blessed to have
many fine mentors along the
way…

23. Ms. Reeves leading the way…
District Attorney David Locke, Real Estate
Developer John Neely, and Savannah
Morning News Editor Tom Barton with Ms.
Reeves
Board member and moral compass Ms. Addie Reeves.

24. Two powerful teachers…
Tom Lamar and Judge Louisa Abbot

25. Over the years, Mr. W. W.
Law spent several
afternoons with us. He
knew everyone and was
always willing to help us
meet people. He also was
full of wisdom. We asked
him one day “Mr. Law,
what scares you the most
these days?”. We assumed
Outgoing chairman, Tom he would talk about race
Hussey, with incoming relations or the erosion of
passion in the civil rights
chairman Mr. Jim Burke movement or economic
inequality. Without a
moment of hesitation he
said “people are so busy
going to meetings that
Tom Kohler and W.W. Law they don’t have time to
visit”. That’s what scared
him the most. Lots of
wisdom.

26. Reverend Douglas
Huneke
Mrs. Ellis
Reverend Douglas Huneke from Tilburn
Presbyterian Church in San Francisco
California has decades of experience in the
study of altruism. We packed into the JEA
auditorium for a public presentation and
spent two days listening to and learning
from Reverend Huneke.
This is the best financial supporter you can have.
Mrs. Ellis has given every year for over 20 years
and when she comes to the annual meeting she
looks, listens and decides if she will give in the
next year.

27. Through the years we have found
lots of different ways to bring lots
of different people together in
surprising ways…

29. CSCA Annual Meeting
Every spring we have a covered dish dinner and annual meeting. Between 100 and 140 people turn out for
food, fellowship, and stories. Jodee Sadowski from The world famous Breakfast Club at Tybee volunteers as
kitchen manager some times.

30. Food of all kinds pours out of people’s kitchens and into
the social hall of First Presbyterian Church on
Washington Avenue.

31. We invite citizen advocates to
share what they are learning with
other citizen advocates and with
the community at large….

32. Here you see Assistant City Manager Henry Moore talking about his protégé’s life at
Coastal Correctional Institute and about how William was literally dropped off at the
door of the mental health center when discharged from prison: a difficult situation for
a man who does not read, use the phone or live here.
Barbara Heuer, Martha Nesbitt, Stephanie Churchill, Malcolm
Mackenzie listen and consider Henry Moore’s citizen advocacy
story

33. Linda Wittish listens as the conversation is captured on
chart paper. Many of the small group meetings are
recorded in this way and are later prepared and mailed
to other citizen advocates. Learning from people who are
actually involved, learning and framing their experience
and insights is a big part of how citizen advocacy works.
Practical sweat of the brow keeps us focused.
Ms. Pam Hensley talks with a roomful of citizen advocates about the difference of living in a
nursing home and living in her own home thanks to the effort of citizen advocate Margaret Minis
and other friends and allies. Bill Dawers, who writes City Beat for the Savannah Morning News
listens.

34. When people who would
not ordinarily meet begin to
spend time together and
learn from one another, a
different kind of community
begins to form. Here you see
Rexanna Lester, Executive
Editor of the Savannah
Morning News, learning
from Mr. Jim Burke,
someone who quickly
became an important and
unexpected teacher for
Rexanna.
Citizen
advocates and
board members
are invited to
gather and
deepen their
understanding
of the rationale
and value of
citizen advocacy.

35. “Sometimes in our lives we all have pain. We all have sorrow. But if we are
wise, we know that there's always tomorrow.”
“I'll be your friend, I‘ll help you carry on”
“For it won't be long till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on.”
“If there is a load you have to bear that you can't
“So just call on me brother, when you need a hand. carry, I'm right up the road; I'll share your load “
We all need somebody to lean on”
For two decades we have ended each meeting with the classic Bill Withers
tune Lean on Me.