Our community has much room for growth in many dynamics. We have great works that need to be done and it’s up to us, as a community, to dedicate ourselves to our great mission. Annette Veasey, Founder of S.M.I.L.E. INC. has an incredible mission to impact our communities and bring families back together.
S.M.I.L.E. is an acronym for Services to Maintain Independence and Life Efficacy. It’s a nonprofit organization with a vision to bring African American communities together by encompassing and restoring underserved men, women, and youth foundational morals, whole health, life skills, and education that are seeking a better quality of life.
After sitting down with Ms. Annette Veasey my heart is full of excitement. There are many choices to choose from when it comes to serving our communities and the work that she’s doing doesn’t go unnoticed. I was empowered when she informed me of the resources she has to offer with reentry program.
Annette, her team, and collaborative partners put together they’re services to create this powerhouse for those in need. Wisconsin is well known for African American incarceration amongst men. It has the highest rate in the country.
Because of this, many families are broken. Brokenness hurts the family in so many ways. Children become lost. Family members experience social and emotional issues. This leaves it up to the community to begin to serve those in need.
Through collaboration, Veasey’s organization provides housing, food sources, job trainings, job leads and so much more. S.M.I.L.E. INC. provides CBRF training, construction work, and even pharmaceutical trainings. Some training programs pay qualified candidates throughout the training process. They also help felons with expungements.
S.M.I.L.E. INC. doesn’t stop there. S.M.I.L.E. INC. hosts a series of informative events for the community with many of its collaborative partners. They are free and open to the public providing many resources.
Annette spoke heavily about her passion to put black men back into the family’s that need so much help. She explains how there are far too many black men locked up and shouldn’t be there. She talked about how high mental illness rates are amongst our men and how most of them in there are serving time for nonviolent crimes, such as child support. She exclaims, “They can’t pay their child support if they’re locked up for child support. Let them out!”
Annette’s mission moves me tremendously. I see so many young black kids hurting and you can tell they don’t have a father in the house at home. Our young men and women truly need their fathers. And because of that, I thank you Mrs. Veasey for your amazing work.
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