Growing up at risk in Detroit, Jerome Bettis knew he could’t pay for college, but his athleticism landed him a football scholarship at the University of Notre Dame.
“Some kids won’t be as fast or as big as I was,” Mr. Bettis told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during a phone interview, “ … but we have to try to devise similar opportunities for them.”
To do that, the former Steelers running back and a host of business, political and social leaders have teamed up with My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, a national nonprofit launched last week seeking to close opportunity and achievement gaps for young men of color by targeting six educational milestones in their lives.
The alliance is based on the goals and framework established by President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative announced last year, a spokesman said.
“We’re going to come together and try to talk about the issues from an educational and economic standpoint and see how we can help these young men of color in those two areas and see what we can do to take some of those obstacles … out of the way,” Mr. Bettis said.
Mr. Bettis, who was elected this year into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joins leaders such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter on the alliance’s advisory council.
Each council member brings a unique expertise on how private citizens can address the “critical gaps that often prevent young men of color from reaching their full potential,” an alliance spokesman said.
Mr. Bettis was selected for the council because, “In his post-[National Football League] career, Mr. Bettis has shown he is determined to prove that anything is possible for children with a dream and a willingness to work hard,” the spokesman said.
Addressing economic and education roadblocks facing young men of color in Pittsburgh is tantamount to their success, Mr. Bettis said.
“Once you address those, I think everything else is minor in comparison,” he said.
The work Mr. Bettis will do with the alliance mirrors his efforts and those of his Bus Stops Here Foundation already underway to solicit corporate sponsorship for the Learn and Earn Summer Employment Program for 14-to-21-year-olds from low-income families in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
Of 2,300 applicants, that program aims to place 2,000 young people into jobs for six 25-hour weeks and pay them $1,200, said LaTrenda Leonard Sherrill, Pittsburgh’s deputy chief of operations and administration. Learn and Earn workers will likely start at the end of June.
“The hope is that each of these young people will go out and learn a lot this year, and their grades will go up next year, and they will continue to contribute to this city,” she said.
Mr. Bettis was in Washington, D.C, on Wednesday, the day after World Asthma Day, to talk to congressional leaders about allergies and the ready need for epinephrine, which can counter a severe reaction. He developed asthma as a teenager, was symptom-free for years and then had a recurrence during his NFL career.
Lexi Belculfine: lbelculfine@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878. Twitter: @LexiBelc.
First Published: May 11, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
