Listen to the recording of the Town Hall Meeting Today! See What Alpha is Doing!
TOWN HALL DESCRIPTION
As a crisis hits a predominantly poor, black community of Flint, Mich., you will hear from brothers on the ground, how Alpha Phi Alpha has been involved since this crisis unfolded, and what will be the next steps. The brothers of Epsilon Upsilon Lambda, Theta Tau, and our brothers in the state of Michigan extend a sincere thank you for the effort to support and provide assistance to the citizens of Flint.

WHAT IS ALPHA PHI ALPHA DOING?The leadership of Alpha Phi Alpha has been in frequent contact with the members of Epsilon Upsilon Lambda and Theta Tau chapters located in Flint, MI. The following actions are being taken by the chapters and brothers close to this crisis:

• To address immediate volunteer needs (water and filter distribution, etc.), Brother Adrian Walker, manager of corporate social responsibility for the Diplomat Pharmacy, is working with the local Red Cross as part of his daily responsibility and will leverage that role to advise us of additional support initiatives.
• Brother Brian Larkin, director of planning and development for the City of Flint, serves as our local committee chairman of the My Brother’s Keeper program. The local committee has been contacting our senior brothers and Alpha widows to ensure they are receiving appropriate care and services.
• Brother Isaiah Oliver is vice president of community impact at The Community Foundation of Greater Flint, which administers the Flint Child Health and Development Fund. Recognizing this crisis as a long-term issue, we have to continue to raise funds to benefit the Flint Child Health and Development Fund. This fund supports charitable organizations that provide aid to children and families with interventions that impact positive health outcomes including, but not limited to, immediate response, optimal child health and development, early childhood education, continuous access to a pediatric medical home, access to infant and child behavioral health services, nutrition education and healthy food access, safe and healthy home environments, and integrated social services and research.

WHAT IS NEEDED IN THE SHORT-TERM

1. We ask and encourage you to visit www.flintkids.org and click the “Donate Now” button in the upper right corner of the page to make a contribution. Upon making your donation, please indicate “Alpha Phi Alpha” in the area directly below your email address. This will help us to report on the status of donations directly provided by Alpha Phi Alpha.
2. Water donations are being accepted at several official facilities:
   • For donations of 100 cases or fewer please contact:
     • Catholic Charities Center for Hope, 517 E. Fifth Ave., Flint, MI 48503
       Monday–Friday, 9 am–4 pm, 810-232-9950
     • The American Red Cross,1401 S. Grand Traverse Flint, MI 48503
       Saturday and Sunday, 9 am–4 pm, 810-232-1401
   • For donations of 100 cases or more, pallets of water or donations in one semi-truck:
     • Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, 2300 Lapeer Rd, Flint, MI 48503
       Call ahead to 810-239-4441
   • For extra-large donations, such as multiple semi-trucks, delivery arrangements can be made by emailing Janet Hunter at hunterj8@michigan.gov
3. Preparations are in progress on how volunteers can properly engage various areas to support the citizens of Flint, MI. Members of Alpha Phi Alpha within the Michigan area will be engaged in this activity.
4. Click here to review a document that provides some facts and Frequently Asked Questions regarding the lead in the water.

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has chapters in over four hundred cities around the world. Chapters and brothers that are closest to the action, issues, and people, are continuously affecting change.

Sign up today! Call starts Wednesday, Feb 3, 2016 at 9:00 pm until 10:30 pm.

WEBINAR DESCRIPTION
During this webinar, we will provide the current status, initiatives, and future goals for the A. Charles Haston Brother’s Keeper National Program. We will also share a vision for leveraging, updating and ensuring adherence to the Brother’s Keeper Program and Procedures. Brothers will focus on providing additional initiatives that will enhance and facilitate the day-to-day operations of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity as a whole and the A. Charles Haston Brother’s Keeper Program during natural disasters and reclamation. We will also learn about increasing communication between all A. Charles Haston Brother’s Keeper regional, area, district and chapter representatives by hosting conference calls and sending email updates so that brothers are able to send, receive and disseminate required information.

Brother <<Last Name>>, the A. Charles Haston Brother’s Keeper is a service program developed with the mission of advocating and improving the quality of life for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity brothers, their spouses and widows who are retired, are elders, have disabilities and are ailing. Upon identification of need, the Brother’s Keeper Program also provides assistance to mature and ailing members of its communities. Limitations caused by advanced age place demands on family members, caregivers, and the larger community to ensure that elders remain independently functional. The goal of the Brother’s Keeper Program is to promote dignity and independence among Alpha family and community members who need help in keeping their lives and homes functional. There are seven objectives to the program:

• Objective 1: Assist in maintaining living environments that are compatible with participants’ levels of functioning
• Objective 2: Assist in maintaining the upkeep of participants’ properties
• Objective 3: Assist with health care decision-making
• Objective 4: Provide companionship
• Objective 5: Provide legal services
• Objective 6: Provide transportation
• Objective 7: Ensure adequate supplies of food, water, and clothing, with special emphasis on disaster management and recovery.

“If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss.”

“If”
The question isn’t “if” you will make a difference in our community, the question is “when” and “how.” As you look forward to a new year and new beginnings, we would like to thank you for being a critical part of this brotherhood. We hope that you continue to search for “when” and “how” you will invest in the people who need us the most in our communities. Enjoy a New Year in Alpha, Brother .

Alpha Phi Alpha will hold a national Omega Service in honor of 26th General President (1981-1984) Ozell Sutton [Pi Lambda, ‘50] on Monday, December 28, 2015, at 6:00 pm in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. The Omega Service will occur immediately following tributes by other organizations. Brothers who will be in attendance should plan to arrive no later than 4:30 pm. A reception is planned immediately following the Omega Service.

Brother Sutton’s funeral services will be held at the Cascade United Methodist Church, 3144 Cascade Road, SW, Atlanta, GA, 30311 [(404) 691-5770] on Tuesday, December 29, 2015, at 11:00 am. During the funeral services, a section has been reserved for Alpha brothers and seating is extremely limited. Please arrive at the church by 10:00 am. Brother Sutton will be laid to rest at Westview Cemetery, 1680 Westview Drive, SW, Atlanta, GA 30310. We are encouraging brothers in the Metro-Atlanta, and surrounding areas to make a strong showing of support for these events. Brothers are expected to wear “Alpha Attire” (dark suit, white shirt and Alpha tie) to both events.

If you are unable to attend these services, please take the time to sign the official Omega Service Guest Booklet, which will be presented to the family of Brother Sutton on behalf of the fraternity. The link will be available until January 10, 2016.

26th General President (1981-1984) Ozell Sutton [Pi Lambda ‘50] transitioned into Omega Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha’s chapter of sweet rest, on December 19, 2015.

Brother Sutton, a community servant-leader and civil rights activist, was born on December 13, 1925, on a plantation in Gould, Arkansas. In 1944, Sutton became one of the first African-Americans to serve in the United States Marine Corps. After his service, Brother Sutton graduated from Philander Smith College in 1950 and went on to become the first black reporter for the white-owned publication Arkansas Democrat. In 1957, he served as one of the escorts for the Little Rock Nine and, in 1961, Sutton became director of the Arkansas Council on Human Relations. To learn more about Past General President Sutton, please click here.

Please pray for the family of 26th General President Ozell Sutton. It is because of brothers like him advocating for our communities that we are in fact the College of Friendship, the University of Brotherly Love and the School for the Better Making of Men.

Fraternally,

26th General President (1981-1984) Ozell Sutton [Pi Lambda, ‘50] has transitioned into Omega Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha’s chapter of sweet rest.

Brother Sutton, a community servant-leader and civil rights activist, was born on December 13, 1925, on a plantation in Gould, Arkansas. In 1944, Sutton became one of the first African-Americans to serve in the United States Marine Corps. After his service, Brother Sutton graduated from Philander Smith College in 1950 and went on to become the first black reporter for the white-owned publication Arkansas Democrat. In 1957, he served as one of the escorts for the Little Rock Nine and, in 1961, Sutton became director of the Arkansas Council on Human Relations. To learn more about Past General President Sutton, please click here.

Arrangements are pending. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

Please pray for the family of 26th General President Ozell Sutton. It is because of brothers like him advocating for our communities that we are in fact the College of Friendship, the University of Brotherly Love and the School for the Better Making of Men.

Fraternally,

HIRING THE BEST TO SERVE OUR YOUTH.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR POSITION DESCRIPTION

Deadline for Submissions: December 27, 2015
Go-to-High-School, Go-to-College

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has been awarded grant funding by the US Department of Justice to provide mentoring to students ages 6-17 years old, in twenty-five (25) targeted cities across the country. As a result, we are seeking a program director to manage the fraternity’s Go to High School, Go to College national initiative. Reporting to the executive director for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, this position will play a critical role in the development and oversight of this national mentoring initiative. The program director will contribute to building organizational capacity, offering technical knowledge, and leadership and support of the program’s consistent achievement of its mission, vision, and financial objectives.

Additional information about the fraternity and the Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College program may be found at our website by visiting www.apa1906.net.

Please send your cover letter, resume and job application to hr@apa1906.net. Thank you.

This past year has seen many actions against our young black men. Racism seems as rampant as ever before, and our communities are still looking for leadership in support of a better life for their families.

We walk in the footsteps of those who have blazed a trail while giving us the insight to create a new path for our future. Use your voice like our brothers of Zeta Alpha at the University of Missouri and our brothers in the Windy City of Chicago who boldly protested against prejudice and violence.

Tomorrow, let’s show the impact of Alpha men at home and in our communities. Read below to see how you can honor our contributions to those who counted on us.

Let’s show Alpha Cares…..’06!

 

This Founders Day, let’s show the world who we are.

Brothers, we need your help. Our late Alpha brother Stuart Scott’s daughters, Taelor and Sydni Scott (@taeandsyd), pictured above, have a special request for the men of Alpha on our Founders Day. Tomorrow, Friday, December 4th, in honor of #FatherhoodFriday use the hashtag#RaisedByAnAlphaMan. The goal is to show the impact that Alpha men have at home raising families as fathers or mentoring others in their communities.

How will this work?

Tweet/Post/Instagram a photo with your children or those you have influenced as a father figure or mentor, and post it on your Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram page on Friday, December 4th.

Instruct your children or mentee(s) to tag you in their posts with the hashtag #RaisedByAnAlphaMan in honor of you being a positive influence in their lives.

Who should participate?

Everyone. Young or adult children of Alpha men, people who have been raised and/or mentored by an Alpha man, Alpha chapters with photos including group photos, community services activities, etc. Anyone and everyone who feels their lives have been enriched by an Alpha man should join us on Facebook, Twitter,and Instagram.

Sample Social Media Posting: 

@apa1906NETwork We’re proud of our Alpha Phi Alpha dad/mentor! (@ALPHA MAN NAME HERE) #RaisedByAnAlphaMan #FatherhoodFriday #APA109

Happy Founders Day @apa1906NETwork #APA109 #RaisedByAnAlphaMan

Alpha Phi Alpha has made an impact on my life! #APA109 #RaisedByAnAlphaMan #FatherhoodFriday

DEVELOPING LEADERS BY SERVING OUR YOUTH.

Alpha Phi Alpha, the world’s oldest intercollegiate fraternity founded by African-American men, announced today that it was providing sub-award grants to forty of its chapters (representing twenty-eight geographic regions), as a part of the expansion of its 93-year-old mentoring program, Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College. Strengthened by a $1 million grant from the United States Department of Justice that it received in October of this year, the fraternity will directly serve more than 1,000 young black and Latino youths, while indirectly serving an additional 45,000 young people, ages 6–17 years old, in urban areas across the country. As a key component of this national program, currently implemented in each of the organization’s 700 chapters throughout the country and around the globe, members of the fraternity will connect these at-risk and high-risk students with a caring adult mentor, while providing them with resources and one-to-one and group mentoring opportunities aimed at reducing truancy and increasing graduation rates among the program participants.

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity develops leaders and promotes brotherhood and academic excellence, while providing service and advocacy for underserved communities. Since 1922, the fraternity has committed itself to mentoring young boys and men of color in ways that lead to meaningful change in their lives and the communities from which they hail through the implementation of its historic mentoring initiative. The precursor to all of the successful mentoring programs designed specifically with young Black males in mind, Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College has helped countless young people enter the social and economic mainstream.

“Although, collectively, high school students overall are graduating at a rate higher than ever before, and some say that there are signs that the achievement gap is incrementally closing, minority students still lag behind the national average in getting a high school diploma. Alpha men will continue to raise the collective consciousness of our nation, whether it is in the streets protesting detrimental policies that adversely affect the disenfranchised or mentoring young men one-on-one, the need to strengthen and, indeed, expand Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College has never been more prescient,” said General President Mark S. Tillman, the fraternity’s international president.

In recent statements echoing those remarks, United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch declared, “Real change is spearheaded by those who are grappling with real problems every day. Our goal is to also tap into the innovative programs and exciting ideas that are emerging from communities across the country.”

Additional information about the fraternity and the Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College program may be found at our website by visiting www.apa1906.net.

For more information, please email GHSGC-Grant@apa1906.net. Thank you.

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US.

Brothers, this year, as we celebrate the 109th anniversary of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, I would like for us to collectively take the time to focus on how we have impacted the world around us. Use December 4th as a commitment to service and mentoring in honor of the architects of this fraternity and the rich legacy we have built. Our children are 100% of our future and the work that we do as Alpha men must be carried on long after we are gone.

Brothers, on this Founders Day share the hashtags #RaisedByAnAlpha #APhiA109 and #FatherhoodFriday. Let people know that Alpha men are pillars of our communities and family men who care about the issues concerning our neighborhoods. Reinvest in our fraternity by getting active, staying active and becoming big brothers and mentors to young men who need us.

Enjoy yourselves, brothers, and continue to do the real work of Alpha.

In September, Teach For America and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the world’s oldest intercollegiate Greek-lettered fraternity founded by African American men, announced a formal partnership created to recruit more African American male leaders to the classroom. The partnership will highlight Teach For America as one opportunity for more Alpha Phi Alpha members to work in the nation’s highest-need communities and form a lasting commitment to pursuing educational equity. The partnership was recently featured in the November issue of Essence Magazine at a top 10 trending topic!