Goodrich's organization, Performance Initiatives, teaches troubled youngsters how to set goals and build self-esteem.

"When we close at night, we have kids waiting outside who don't want to go home," Goodrich said Thursday afternoon from her home base at the Aldersgate United Methodist Family Life Center. "They want to stay here and talk. They just want to feel safe."

Savannah-Chatham police Maj. Mark Gerbino said the popularity of Goodrich's program is proof the community needed a vehicle to usher more kids there. In response, Gerbino said, he was directed by Chief Willie Lovett to expand his department's chaplain's corps to reach out to the community.

This year, the chaplain's corps grew from two active members to 14 and counting.

"It's really been a dream for me, and Chief Lovett has sponsored it and driven it," Gerbino said of the program. "My personal beliefs are that we need to change behaviors."

Reaching out to youth

Gerbino, who is the head of metro's Criminal Investigations Division, said he met with Elder Willie Ferrell in November with an idea of expanding the chaplain program beyond its original purpose of providing support to officers and the community during times of crisis. When metro police respond to a major scene, chaplains normally are dispatched in any way they can, Gerbino said.

"Law enforcement, at times, is a very demanding job, and our officers have needs - emotional and spiritual," he said. "And there's the community piece."

Now, along with having a chaplain assigned to each of metro's five precincts, there are even more scattered throughout the county. Together, the chaplains use their churches as local hubs to reach out to the community and its youth and increase the quality of life overall, he said.

"It's about having a decentralized outreach approach to getting into the community and working with the youth and the parents in a very unstructured way," he said.

Progress made

Together, the chaplains already have embarked on attempts to make a positive impact in the community. On July 31, a handful of the chaplains, led by Kingdom Life Fellowship Pastor Charles Roberson and about 40 members of his congregation, threw a party for the residents of Yamacraw Village public housing development.

On Thursday, Roberson, who became a chaplain about three months ago, toured the Performance Initiatives facility and remarked that resources like this would become even more popular.

"We want to help these kids so they don't have a problem with the criminal element," Roberson said. "What we do as proactive and keeping them from having that negative interaction is through programs like this.

"Programs like this, I believe, will keep children moving in a positive direction."

Building healthy lives

Fresh off a trip to Washington, D.C., with her high-achieving pupils, Goodrich said cooperation with resources like the chaplain's corps presented even more opportunities for her organization to help.

"Without that cooperation and services, we wouldn't be able to do what we do," Goodrich said. "We offer the programs to kids and families in need.

"And anyone who walks through these doors, we'll teach them to use fitness and athletics to build character development."

Goodrich also said her organization teaches the Bullyproof program, which shepherds participants through ways to disengage conflict without verbal or physical violence.

"And if they do have to defend themselves, they'll know how to resolve a situation peacefully," she said.

The healthy lifestyle Goodrich's program preaches allows young people to develop self-esteem by setting athletic goals and achieving them.

Many attending Performance Initiatives come from single- parent homes where a mother or father is working full-time. In many cases, this has led young people to resort to negative practices from the streets, she said.

"They're in situations that they don't know how to handle," she said. "We provide those tools and services so they have those skills to deal with them."

More to come

Gerbino said there is no cap on the number of spiritual leaders who can join the corps. Aldersgate Pastor Steve Meguiar took interest in joining the cause.

Meguiar said the competition amongst the youngsters is fierce but healthy.

"You ask them and they feel really good about themselves," he said. "Maybe it's time for me to join."

Goodrich said Meguiar already has made himself a resource to the children who train with her.

"They know it's a safe place and they know they can talk to him," she said of the pastor. "And they know what they say stays with him."