Supporters of the Gifford Youth Achievement Center celebrated 25 years of ‘Changing Lives, Changing Futures’ at a Night to Remember fundraiser at the Oak Harbor Club that featured a look back at the history of the remarkable nonprofit.
GYAC was founded by the visionary Chairman Emeritus Dr. A. Ronald Hudson, the late Dan K. Richardson and the late Rev. Dr. William Nigh, and is guided by executive director Angelia Perry, her staff and board, led by chairwoman Dr. Deborah Taylor-Long.
Freddie Woolfork, director of public relations and facilities operations, said GYAC is as needed today as it was 25 years ago to continue that ‘old Gifford spirit’ of working in unity for excellence and self-motivation in the children they serve.
Taylor-Long introduced Carolyn Dean, wife of the late John Dean, the architect who designed the GYAC building and then served 10 years as its first board chairman.
“He loved beauty and buildings like GYAC. He liked to call buildings frozen music,” said Carolyn Dean, adding that designing and building GYAC had been one of John Dean’s greatest joys.
“Thank you to our donors, collaborative partners and this community for making this celebration possible,” said Perry.
A video presentation related that the “Miracle on 43rd Avenue” was the result of concerns over the drastic decline in graduation rates by Black students following desegregation. A quarter-century later, GYAC is thriving, with 230 students in the educational afterschool program and more than 300 in the academic-based summer camp.
“The high school graduation rate of African-American students in Indian River County for the 2020-21 school year was 93 percent,” said Perry in the video. “This is proof that when children know they have someone in their corner, someone who believes in them through the highs and lows of life, they can achieve things they never imagined.”
Click here to view the GYAC 25-year anniversary video that was shown at the event.
Bradyn Harp, a Gifford Middle School eighth-grader, and Justin Woulard, a Vero Beach High School 10th-grader, spoke eloquently about their GYAC experiences.
“GYAC is a place that allows me to excel academically, offers me a chance at special activities like field trips, and even lets me talk to astronauts in space,” said Harp, who spoke about an activity-packed trip to Atlanta, having an “amazing” opportunity to speak with astronauts Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines at the International Space Station, and being exposed to job opportunities and training through the Youth Employability Program.
“From the tutors to the trips and the chance to talk to someone in space, the center has helped me reach for the stars, literally,” said Harp.
Woulard started at GYAC in kindergarten and is now ranked No. 1 out of 760 students in his sophomore class.
“I attribute my academic success to GYAC and my family,” said Woulard, who interned with an engineering firm over the summer through YEP.
“The list of opportunities that GYAC provides me and hundreds more kids goes on and on. It is programs like GYAC that encourage me to excel at high levels so that one day I can give back to the kids in my community. Please continue to change lives and change futures as you have done for me and my family.”
“They are just two of our shining stars at GYAC, and the reason why we will continue, as Dr. Long has stated, changing lives, changing futures for the next 25 years,” said Perry.
Following dinner, guests danced to their own devices, donning headphones for a ‘silent disco’ to boogie the night away.
For more information, visit mygyac.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
