Washington Holiday Angels: Victoria Clark

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Victoria Clark has a lot of reasons to be sad. She was born to a teenage mother during the height of the District’s crack epidemic, Clark’s father got a life sentence for a drug charge shortly after she arrived in the world. She lived with various family members and other friends during her formative years and readily acknowledges that her parents weren’t the role models she needed them to be.

But instead of “succumbing to circumstances,” as she called it, 19-year-old Clark decided to use her life story to help a new generation of disenfranchised D.C. children.

“I hate people that create a hopeless environment for themselves,” she said.

After a year at a North Carolina University, which Clark said proved to be a difficult adjustment, she applied to be a volunteer with City Year, a national AmeriCorps-sponsored nonprofit that works with local students in cities across the U.S. As a City Year member, Clark is spending the year working on a literacy program in D.C. schools. Each week, Clark visits several schools and Head Start programs, where she tutors and mentors children, some as young as 2.

While teaching students to read is a big part of the program, Clark said it’s reaching out to the kids — who often have backgrounds similar to hers — that’s most important.

“Every [tutoring] session is like a Dr. Phil session,” Clark said of one particular sixth-grade girl she tutors. “I’ve got to counsel her before we can even get down to the reading.”

But that’s OK with Clark.

“She’s not just some kid to me, she’s a reflection of me,” she said. “And I try to get her to understand, as she gets older, there will be fewer and fewer people that want to help you.”

At the end of the school year, Clark plans to extend her volunteer stint in order to focus on recruiting new volunteers for City Year and then return to college.

City Year, Clark said, could help many students like her find their way, and she wants to reach out to as many potential volunteers as possible.

“This is the story of so many African-American kids, ... but for every Victoria there are 10 who succumb to their circumstances,” Clark said. “I don’t want a kid to go through high school and not know about City Year.”