MAD DADS CHANGES ITS NAME

Once MAD DADS started raising money outside Delray Beach, it felt its name
became a liability. So it recently changed it to The Village Foundation,
after the community school it founded.

"The word MAD had such an angry sound to it that the first impression was
hard to overcome," said Rick Seymour, co-chairman of the organization's
board. "They're a positive, known entity in Delray Beach, but as we went
beyond Delray borders for funding, a lot of people [also] confused it with
MADD [Mothers Against Drunk Driving]."

When it was founded in 1992, MAD DADS, short for Men Against Destruction
Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder, at least in part reflected the
state of mind of its main founder, Chuck Ridley. Like many residents in the
black community, Ridley was frustrated by the lack of progress on the
area's crack cocaine epidemic, urban blight and high crime rates.

"Just like the rest of Delray, we were going through our own turmoil," said
Ridley, 44. "A lot of people were very, very alienated and were becoming
extremely bitter because we had no voice in the way the city was run."

Richard Overman, the new police chief at the time, told a gathering of
black community members that he could have very little impact on the crime
in their neighborhoods without resident support. That meeting galvanized
Ridley into starting MAD DADS as a grassroots community organization to
improve the condition and safety of black neighborhoods.

"We simply started walking the streets, about 35 to 40 men and some women,"
he said. "We rolled up our sleeves and tackled the hard issues to break the
cycle of poverty."

From the beginning, Ridley also reached out to members of the white
establishment to help him get MAD DADS off the ground. "I took a lot of
personal criticism for being an Uncle Tom for approaching the whites,"
Ridley said. "Having a real clear vision was the only way I could
personally survive some of the challenges."

After getting more than 100 crack addicts into treatment and trying to get
drug dealers into alternative ways of earning a living, Ridley and his
cohorts realized that lack of education was holding back many young people.

Last fall, the Village Academy came into being at 400 SW 12th Ave., with a
commitment to small class sizes, longer school days, Saturday school and
summer school.

"If the school district would build the school in our neighborhood, we
agreed to raise the money for everything extra above the standard," he said.

While breaking the cycle of poverty is still its mission, the new name
reflects the expanded vision of how to accomplish that goal. Ridley plans
to build a middle school and high school as further rallying points for
Delray Beach's black community.

For more information, call 561-276-6755.