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–All the rage in North Miami is Cafe Creme, a French restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s the kind of place that you wouldn’t dream to find in this working class Miami suburb a few years ago.
-Cafe Creme co-founder Cory Finot and his partner Claude Postel were lured to North Miami by some grant money from the city’s community redevelopment agency.
-While additional future locations for Cafe Creme are in development, the three Frenchmen have embarked on another ambitious venture.
-In mid 2018, they opened Sixty10, an old school place that serves classic French chicken dishes in a unpretentious way.
-Claude owns the land it sits on in the heart of Little Haiti and the Frenchmen are betting that it becomes the Wynwood Walls of the neighborhood as it continues to experience gentrification.
-If you think that sounds like a pipe dream, don’t be so hasty. Cory was mentored by the man who put Wynwood on the map, the late Miami developer Tony Goldman.
**IF YOU GO:
Cafe Creme, North Miami- 750 NE 125th St, North Miami, FL 33161
Cafe Creme, Buena Vista- 5010 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, Fl 33137
Sixty10- 6010 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33137
——Here’s Something Completely Different: ——
Newly Reopened To The Public, Miami’s Iconic Freedom Tower Has Positioned Itself As An Ideas Hub
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Soccer Activism: American Millennial Is Making A World Of Difference In South Africa
This article was originally published on risemiaminews.com on June 9, 2015.
By Linzee Werkmeister
Sam Stokesberry has taken her love of children, God and soccer across the Atlantic to the Western Cape region of South Africa and channeled it into something truly inspiring.
In January of this year, Stokesberry packed her bags and moved 7,672 miles away to Stellenbosch, South Africa. She is currently working for a nonprofit organization called training4changeS, where they focus on using the sport of Futsal to build relationships with the local youth to make a difference in their lives. Futsal is typically played indoors on a hard court and features five players to a side.
The ages of the participants currently range between 5-7 years old, but it’s Stokesberry’s hope to journey with them as they get older. Stokesberry works with the children after school twice a week and every other Friday for futsal league games.
“Our program includes social impact lessons and games that focus on issues such as gender equality, using your voice, discrimination, drug abuse prevention, anti-racism, violence prevention, HIV prevention, teamwork, and making wise choices,” Stokesberry said. “Our goal is to incorporate social impact games into our Futsal practices so we can create a safe learning environment that will keep the kids off the streets and out of danger after school.”
Stokesberry grew up playing soccer in South Florida. She was good at it too and played club soccer while at the University of Central Florida. After graduating with a degree in Sports and Fitness, she worked for several private strength and conditioning facilities including Primal Fit Miami and the Fast Twitch Performance Training.
She also coached soccer at Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory at the high school level and at Doctors Charter School at both the high school and middle school level.
In 2012, Stokesberry first visited South Africa to attend a six-week International Sports Leadership Training Course hosted by the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and SCAS (Sport for Christ Action South Africa). She lived with a group of Americans who also attended the course, and then returned the following year as a co-leader. Stokesberry said that she knew then that South Africa would become her second home.
“When I first came to South Africa in 2012, I saw the great need there was in this country for change and empowerment especially amongst the youth. I also saw their passion and love for soccer which was something I could relate to,” Stokesberry said. “My heart broke when I heard about the obstacles that these kids were having to battle through, and I developed such a great love and compassion for them.”
Sam Stokesberry watches a drill while working in South Africa as a soccer coach and mentor. Photo Credit: training4changeS
The following year in 2013 Stokesberry was given an opportunity to come back to the country and coach soccer.
“Being able to see the kids who were told that they would never amount to anything, become kids who now value their own lives and the lives of the next generation is a huge inspiration to me,” Stokesberry said. “They are setting a new standard and they are standing up against hate, indifference, and oppression. It’s been a huge blessing to witness the heart and life changes in these kids and amongst the South African coaches we hire on our staff. I am surrounded by some amazing overcomers and fighters each day I show up to work.”
Stokesberry currently works with six different primary schools in the Western Cape area, and each school is composed of a different demographic. The group, training4changeS promotes cultural diversity and a family-like atmosphere amongst the students and the staff which can be rare to find in South Africa because of deep standing racial tension.
In addition to working with training4changeS, Stokesberry is also partnering with Ambassadors in Football who work with juvenile inmates in Hope Academy within Drakenstein Prison, which is famously known for being where Nelson Mandela was held in the final years of his prison sentence.
The groups says that they focus on “Faith, Football, and Future” by maintaining a strict set of core values within the prison. They are a Christian organization who share the love and hope of Jesus through soccer, while also teaching the boys about character development and life skills.
Aside from her efforts through an athletic platform, Stokesberry works with STOP – Stop Trafficking Of People, which is an organization that fights against sex trafficking by raising awareness throughout Africa by hosting school presentations and outreaches for young people.
STOP is also in the process of establishing safe houses for human trafficking victims in the Western Cape area.
Sam Stokesberry (C) is a soccer coach and mentor for young people in South Africa. Photo Credit: training4changeS
Back in 2012, at the FCA International Sports Leadership Training Course, Stokesberry made fast friends with Rencia Young, a South African who she now coaches alongside with for training4changeS.
“She’s a very passionate, loving and kind person. I adore her, her heart for people is pretty amazing,” Young said of Stokesberry. “She’s full of compassion and that’s what makes her so good in what she does, whether it’s coaching, handing out food to prostitutes or playing soccer with prisoners. I am learning a lot from her especially when it comes to compassion and love towards those who it’s difficult to love.”
Stokesberry said that growing up in South Florida helped prepare her for life in a diverse nation like South Africa.
“Miami is incredibly multicultural, and so is South Africa. But a huge difference is the amount of racism that takes place in this country,” Stokesberry said. “In Miami, I grew up in school surrounded by different languages and cultures and skin colors, but we were all equal and valuable. Women are also discriminated against when it comes to sports, so the young girls who are interested in playing lack the female role models and leaders to look up to in the industry. It’s a lot harder for a girl to succeed in sports than it is for a man in this country. For women, the opportunities just aren’t there…yet.”
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Cover Photo Credit: training4changeS/Submitted
This article was originally published on risemiaminews.com.
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VIDEO: Sea Level Rise Is Not Just Impacting Miami Beach In South Florida
By Maria Serrano
As the national debate over climate change intensifies, South Florida has become a flashpoint. And South Florida is much more than South Beach.
On Nov. 24, 2015, fifteen days after king tide day, the largest tidal range seen over the course of a year, the residential neighborhood known as the Upper East Side in Miami was still experiencing floods.
The area has an annual estimated income per household of $45,000.
Similar to Miami Beach, the Upper East Side is a middle-income community facing the consequences of sea level rise, but it has not received the attention or funding necessary to protect its residents, their houses, and small businesses.
Scientists, researchers, legislators and residents recently met at Little River Pocket Park, located in the Northeastern section of the neighborhood, to collect data, learn about sea level rise, and discuss that this is not simply an issue for Miami Beach, but a coastal issue for much of South Florida.
“It’s designed to get citizens involved in being a part of the solution,” Juliet Pinto a, Journalism Professor at Florida International University and organizer of the event for EyesOnTheRise.org said.
More events like this are being planned by EyesOnTheRise.org in the upcoming months to increase the awareness about sea level rise and the consequences for residents of South Florida.
WATCH: Sea Level Rise Impacts In Upper East Side of Miami
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The Flower Project Inspires Women To Find Beauty Within Themselves
Lauren Laveria, a 22 year-old photographer based out of Melbourne, Florida, is creator of The Flower Project, a photo project dedicated to nude art, female empowerment, and sharing personal stories to help women feel more free in their lives.
Each piece in the project features a girl who is naked and almost completely exposed, except for the flowers she is holding in her hands.
Every photograph is accompanied by a passage written by the model in the photo, telling an anecdote about their past or personal experience they have overcome, like they are writing in an open diary.
Laveria said about the project is “for girls who want to break free from their personal restraints.
“A lot of girls have done it just to face people who have told them that they’re worthless, they’re not worthy of even being loved and doing this helps these girls feel love for themselves,” Laveria said.
The project started about a year ago when Laveria was working on a different photography project with two friends, a nude portrait that Laveria was excited to do but her friends felt nervous and unsure about it at first.
They were scared about the idea of being so exposed in a photo, but by the time the shoot was over the girls told Laveria how beautiful and comfortable in their bodies she had made them feel.
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Laveria also shared her own experience of posting a nude self-portrait of herself online, something she has done now on her birthday for the past three years.
She was scared at first to share it, but she ended up receiving words of encouragement that made her feel mature and confidant.
“After that I felt if I can help other girls feel this way and actually accept themselves for how they are than that is something I want to do,” Laveria said.
Since then Laveria has posted photographs and stories of one girl every week.
The Facebook page has close to 2,000 followers and is filled with nothing but love for these girls brave enough to share their stories with the world.
Laveria is truly creating a safe space for women to inspire, support, and love one another through encouragement and empowerment for each other.
“I really just want people to read the stories and relate them to their own lives and feel a lot better and realize there are a lot of things that they can do,” Laveria said.
Year 1 of The Flower Project has finished, and Laveria is currently working on starting up Year 2.
To see her latest work you can follow The Flower Project on Facebook.
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Photo Credits: The Flower Project
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