Women of Newton
All of Cindy Simpson’s life’s work is bound up in the
success stories, both large and small, of the
teenagers she counsels at
Project Adventure Kids, a nonprofit that takes in troubled and at risk
youth.
Like the success her youngest adopted son – she’s adopted
six Project Adventure kids in total – has
achieved as a freshman football
player at Alabama A&M University, which he attends on an athletic
scholarship.
“He was three years old and his mother left him,
nobody found him for two weeks and he was in a total
of 59 placements before
he got here,” said Simpson, the executive director of Project Adventure Kids.
Or the success of another one of her students, who upon graduating
from Project Adventure and making his way out in the real world, remembered to
send $5 back to Simpson to contribute to the organization’s yearly Christmas
present drive.
Eighty percent of Project Adventure kids come to the program homeless with little or no belongings. The clothes and presents the kids receive at Christmas, many donated by the Newton County community, are sometimes the first gifts they have ever received.
“Christmas is a very big deal. These kids have never had Christmas,” Simpson said. “Other people gave a lot of money but for him to be able to do that, it’s pretty amazing that he even thought of it. That was the best thing.”
Belying her tough, no-nonsense exterior, Simpson’s
devotion to the kids under her care is evident from the moment you walk into her
office. Collages of current students and former students decorate her office
walls and much of the main front entrance.
Traipsing across the
scenic Project Adventure grounds on a typical morning, she spots several
students and calls out to them, asking how their driver education classes are
going and enquires on the status of a part time job application for
one.
Born in Warsaw, Ind., Simpson attended DePauw
University as an undergrad, graduating in 1976. Simpson earned her masters in
education from the University of Georgia. After attaining her EDS in school
psychology she worked for the Newton County School System for two years as an
associate school psychologist and behavior disorders
teacher.
Simpson became involved with Project Adventure in 1981
after she and now retired Newton County Juvenile Court Judge Virgil Costley
co-wrote a grant to form a nonprofit that would use adventure and outdoors-type
activities to counsel kids on probation from the juvenile court. After receiving
approval of their grant application, what remained was finding a nonprofit
willing to work with the kids.
“Project Adventure was one of the
few nonprofit organizations that was interested in working with this population
at the time,” said Simpson of the organization, which is based in Massachusetts
and is known for the popular ropes courses it builds and trains people to
use.
While also incorporating the ropes courses of their parent organization as an aspect of their adventure counseling, Project Adventure Kid’s primary focus is on counseling the children sent to the organization by the Division of Family and Children Services and the Department of Juvenile Justice at their location at the old Covington Elks Club lodge.
Simpson became executive director of Project Adventure Kids in 1985. At that time there were only five staff members. Today there are 72 full-time staff members and 10 part-time staff to counsel and care for a present population of 91 adolescents
“Ninety percent of our kids are DFCS kids,” Simpson said. “They’re neglected, abused and homeless. Case managers all over the state of Georgia and DFCS and DJJ refer kids to us and then we interview the kids and then we decide if we think we can work with them or not.”
Project Adventure has specific programs for the counseling of children and teenagers with substance abuse problems and issues stemming from sexual abuse as well an independent living program for older juveniles and young adults.
“Most of our kids have mental health issues and you would from being abused,” Simpson said. “We work with the kids trying to get them back home if the families are willing.”
Following a program based largely on her own innovative methods, Project Adventure Kids are taught to be responsible for their own behavior. According to the organization’s Web site, the students are given responsibilities, thus allowing them to become responsible and are given respect and so expected to become respectful in return.
“I think what’s motivating is when you see kids graduate form high school, when you see kids get their first job,” said Simpson of the success stories which sustain her through the many trying moments that come with her job. “Or when you see a kid graduate from a program and go home.”
