Shepherds and Wolves expands for children in Baltimore

“Leyla Rodriguez is a pioneer.,” Harris said. “I say this because she has helped lay the groundwork for Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project by bringing innovative ideas which have opened up that new line of thought and activity which a true pioneer will always do. They are to be followed. And Leyla is a selfless leader; a mother first, but one who has seen firsthand the effects of illiteracy on the community she was raised in in the Bronx, NY.

She is a staunch proponent for teachers and their importance to the structure of an educated America. Leyla is the voice of Shepherds and Wolves; unambiguous and determined in her style and morals. She is the missing brick of our foundation.’

“When I first heard of the Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project, I thought to myself ‘I am an inner city child,’  Rodriguez said. “Born in Manhattan, New York City, and lived a good chunk of my childhood years in the South Bronx. I immediately took interest in the project.”

“Literacy has been the path to success throughout our history even when there was no education and no school systems,” she said. “People were eager to learn how to read and write before learning anything else. The mission of Shepherds and Wolves is to bring back this love for literacy to the underprivileged children of Baltimore. While parents are busy working and struggling to give their child the best, and while others may not have the resources at their fingertips, Shepherds and Wolves is the place to go. Every child has a voice. We want the youth of today to be heard because we believe in them. Shepherds and Wolves, will be their “safe haven” a place where they can come and express themselves, a place that they will find warmth, and people who genuinely care about their future.”

“Shepherds and Wolves will offer an array of resources and activities,” she continued. “There will be fun programs, as well as educational. It will be a center for learning. We want the children to have a place to call their own. Together we can make it possible. As the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”

Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project is a non-profit project created by Samuel Harris ,which aims to promote literacy, language and literary arts to underprivileged communities in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

“We believe that a sincere commitment to bring these tools to the poor and underprivileged children in Baltimore’s inner city would have lasting social and economic benefits,” Harris told Baltimore Post-Examiner. “The Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project believes that there are no greater resources than our children. We believe that through the power of understanding words and the skill of how to use them is the responsibility of all teachers, educators and parents – it is the responsibility of us all to promote the value of ‘informed discretion’ just as Jefferson penned.”

“The purpose of Shepherds and Wolves Project is to ensure that every child has the right to literacy, and the right to make decisions in life based on this informed discretion, and in this vain we are all educators – we are all Shepherds.”