Neediest Cases

KEEPING A GIRL OFF THE STREETS, AND ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

"She's not going to be in the street, that's for sure," Geneva Burton
said decisively as she nodded toward her granddaughter, Brittany
Rivera, 14. There are drugs on the streets of their Bronx
neighborhood, said Ms. Burton, 70. She lost her daughter to them and
vowed not to lose her granddaughter, too.

"My daughter got involved with drugs at an early age," Ms. Burton
said. Her daughter, Dana Burton Rivera, was 16 when her mother noticed
a change. She started on cocaine and wound up on crack, an addiction
it pained Ms. Burton to witness. "It was like she was kidnapped
against her will," Ms. Burton remembered.

Brittany was born addicted to cocaine and spent seven weeks in the
hospital before she was released to her grandmother. Brittany spent
her early years with her grandmother, although her mother lived in the
same building and was close by. "I was 4 or 5 when I lived with my
mother," Brittany said, "and that week when I was 6."

Brittany's mother, Ms. Rivera, got clean at 21. "Squeaky clean," Ms.
Burton said. "When she left it, she left it for good." Brittany moved
in with her a year or so later, and in January 1998 Ms. Rivera gave
birth to twins. But while she had survived addiction, the years of
drug abuse had taken their toll.

Ms. Rivera died suddenly, less than two weeks after Brittany's sixth
birthday. She went into the hospital with back pain, and died from
complications stemming from her years as an addict. "August the 15th,
my child was gone," Ms. Burton said. The twins just were 7 months old,
and Ms. Burton was heartbroken. "I loved her beyond human
understanding," she said. "They didn't come sweeter than her."

Brittany now lives with her grandmother, and she carries her mother's
high school graduation picture in her wallet. The likeness is
striking. Brittany, pleasant and well spoken, is a freshman at St.
Michael Academy, an all-girl Roman Catholic high school in Manhattan.
Her first report card shows an 85 percent average and positive
comments from teachers. On Wednesdays after school, she stays for
Global Community, in which students discuss world events.

Catholic school is important to Ms. Burton. She hopes it will help
keep her granddaughter safe. "The environment is better," she said.
"Environment to me is very important. I don't see how you can separate
a child from environment."

She feels that the school will provide the discipline that Brittany
needs to succeed. Brittany interjected, "It's important to me -- I
like the school."

But paying for it is a challenge. High school costs $550 a month, and
Ms. Burton has not managed to keep up. "I can pay January," she said,
but she has fallen about $1,000 behind since school began in
September. Making ends meet on her retiree income is a continual
challenge. Ms. Burton receives $1,200 a month from the New York
Telephone Company, where she worked as an operator until 1991. She
also receives $600 from Social Security. Brittany receives $154 a
month in Social Security survivor benefits from her mother's death.
Their rent is $919 a month, and public assistance covers $300.

After Ms. Burton fell behind on her Consolidated Edison bill in
August, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, one of
seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund,
stepped in to help. It arranged a $200 energy grant from Con Edison,
and used $95 of Neediest Cases money to prevent a turn-off. Ms. Burton
has again fallen behind, and this month an additional $130 in Neediest
Cases money was used to keep the power from being turned off. "I'm
grateful; it's going to help me a lot," Ms. Burton said.

This month, Ms. Burton goes to family court to seek custody of the
twins, William Brandon Sykes and Breanna Geneva Sykes, who turned 9 on
Saturday. Ms. Burton saw them regularly until last year, when their
father went into drug rehabilitation. They have been living with their
father's partner. "I want them back in my life pretty regularly," Ms.
Burton said.

Brittany is looking forward to being older and being able to go to the
movies alone, and to talk to boys on the phone. "Don't rush it,
Brittany, it's coming," Ms. Burton said.

She is trying to teach her granddaughter as much as she can, now. "I'm
in the evening of my life; she's in the morning," she said. "I'm not
going to be with her always. I try to teach her the best I can."

Ms. Burton is hoping that Brittany will make her way safely through
their neighborhood and out into the world beyond. "It's O.K. for me,
you know, 'cause I'm pretty strong," she said. "I want her to get a
good education so she can move on." But it might take some outside
help to keep her granddaughter in the school Ms. Burton thinks best.