 Sylvia
R. Jordan has been committed to the children and families of the West
Grove of Coconut Grove, Florida for the past thirty years. She began
working in the Grove as a college student and has never left. Everyone
in the community knows and loves her; she is now serving the third
generation of West Grove children.
Sylvia is a woman
of vision. She gets life out of dreaming up new approaches to the
learning process of those who attend The Barnyard Community Center. In
fact, she gets bored if there are not new programs on the horizon. To
work with Sylvia is like being in the eye of a tornado. She is bright,
energetic, committed to the long haul, and cares deeply for the well
being of those she serves. She has a keen business head and can make
things work that seem almost impossible. Her connections with the
community are vast and she collaborates with about 50 different
agencies in the pursuit of a common mission to better the lives of
those for whom and with whom she works.
Sylvia was born in Guatemala City but moved to Miami with her family
when she was 12. She grew up in Miami, graduated from the University of
Miami and really wanted to go to the Peace Corps but because she is not
a citizen she was directed to the VISTA program instead. As a VISTA
volunteer she began working in the West Grove beginning a Food Coop for
ex-offenders and their families; later she became a vocational
counselor with a CETA program. When those funds dried up she was
determined not to leave the people in a lurch and used her ingenuity to
continue serving the community.
While organizing the Food Coop Sylvia became acquainted with Elizabeth
Virrick, the founder of Coconut Grove Cares, who became her mentor and
inspiration. Together they found the old city barn which became the
foundation stone of The Barnyard Community Center. Mrs. Virrick
encouraged Sylvia to take hold of this project and to make it her own.
Since that time The Barnyard has evolved from an Ex-offender Program to
an After School Program and a Summer Camp. With each passing year new
programs evolve to meet the ever changing needs of an "at risk"
population.
Right now the program includes parenting workshops, career awareness
classes, mentoring and role modeling programs with the youth of the
neighborhood, a neighborhood crime watch program called People Reaching
Out, and a weekly reunion of former Barnyard participants who are now
in the Middle School. She is dreaming about having a Middle School
After School Program to provide a structure that is age appropriate for
children so in need of meaningful educational experiences. She wants to
try to identify those children who have the talent to enroll in the
Magnet Schools and then to work with the parents to make it possible
for them to successfully apply in order to give these students the best
possible chance for a good education. Sylvia values deeply her
connection with the Society of the Sacred Heart and the Goals and
Criteria which undergird the educational philosophy of Sacred Heart
Schools. She values the volunteers which have come to The Barnyard from
Carrollton over the years. Sylvia has worked with Georgie Blaeser,
Ellen Collesano and Dee Copeland with these volunteers and with
Rosemary Bearss as a colleague on The Barnyard Staff. Sylvia truly
understands and lives the charism of the Society.
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