Acts as Representative of Local Beating Victim
By BOB KECSKEMETY
Jowharah Sanders
(Courtesy: Jowharah Sanders)
On March 17, 2010, Josie Lou Ratley, a 15- year-old student at Deerfield Beach Middle School was allegedly beaten by Wayne Treacy, also 15 outside her school. When finished with the beating, it’s reported that Treacy kicked and repeatedly stomped on her head with steel-toes boots. Since her attack, Ratley has undergone three head surgeries and was placed under a medicallyinduced coma. Ratley survived her attack, is currently undergoing rehabilitation and is scheduled for release on May 25 where she will continue treatment and rehab.
On Wednesday, May 18, 2010 Jowharah Sanders, founder and board member of NVEEE (pronounced: “envy”) announced that the new organization will become the spokesperson for Ratley and her family. Sanders said that Ratley will require a long recovery. Ratley needs to learn again how to walk, talk, use the bathroom, she even needs to relearn the alphabet and colors. “She needs to start her life over again,” said Ratley, “she’s like a child.” NVEEE will also form a series of fundraisers to help out the Ratley family.
Founded in October 2010 by Sanders and some friends, the goal of NVEEE (which stands for National Voices for Equality, Education and Enlightenment) is to help teens and young adults who are victims of bullying, hate crimes and other heinous acts of violence.
Sanders said that she herself was a victim of bullying and school violence at the age of 15. Back in 1995 there was little if any support for victims like herself and vowed that if given the chance, she would dedicate her life to make sure other young people like herself would not have to suffer alone.
She went on to become a student at University of Miami where she studied education, knowing she always wanted to work with kids. However, upon graduation she worked as a marketing manager but got laidoff from her job 1½ years ago. She said that she always complained about people that talk about helping others but don’t do anything to actually help. It was last year, when there were numerous incidents of school-based child harassment and hate crimes, that she realized that she became one of those people that she disliked.
After watching the reports of bullying and beatings in the news, she decided it was time for her to take action.
While in college she was telling her friends that she was interested in forming a childbased hate crimes advocacy group and decided to contact those friends for help forming a new organization and work with the children. “Instead of one night a week going out to drink,” Sanders said she told her friends, “and instead of one night a week going out to party, they could give up one night a week to save a child.” NVEEE received their 501(c)(3) approval in a mere 4 months and have been meeting together for the last 7. Sanders operates NVEEE out of her home office in Wilton Manors and currently has 15 board members, all of whom are volunteers working non-stop. NVEEE holds fundraisers throughout the community in order to run its operation, the most recent of which was held at Courtyard Café.
Several weeks after the reports of Ratley’s alleged beating hit the news, NVEEE reached out to Ratley’s family offering their support. “Though the victims and the family of the victims appreciate the letters of support,” explained Sanders, “the last thing they need is a lot of people, especially the media, in their faces.” A short time later, Josie Lou’s mother, Hilda Ratley, asked NVEEE for help and to become an advocate for her daughter.
NVEEE is not a LGBT organization but is there to help all students regardless of race, color, creed, national origin or sexual orientation. The Ratley family is not the first to reach out to NVEEE for help, but is the first to allow public acknowledgement. “Many want to remain anonymous,” said Sanders, “they want help but don’t want any more attention. It’s not in their best interest to be in the public eyes.” In addition to solace for the families, they also provide a youth group for the young victims.
However, Sanders understands that it’s not only the victims and their families that need help but the bullies and their families require assistance also. “It’s not the best thing to lock them up and throw away the keys; they too need help. There is a reason why they are bullying people. We need to look into their homes and situation and find out why they feel the need to bully other people.”
Due to the large number of families NVEEE already helps, Sanders said that her home office is no longer condusive to the number of families it serves and are looking for a new location in the Wilton Manors/Oakland Park area.
For more information about NVEEE, visit www.NVEEE.org.
