Deep has two new staff members: Brad Jefferson and Kalima Harris!
Brad Jefferson
First off, meet Deep’s new Life Navigator, Charlton Bradford “Brad” Jefferson! Brad was born and raised in Ridgeville, South Carolina, and joined the military after high school. He served for 22 years before retiring in 2015 at Hunter Army Airfield here in Savannah. “At the end of my career, I got sick. I ended up with head and neck cancer. I had to do radiation and chemo, and that’s when I figured out I wanted to do something with the youth,” Brad said. Brad began working as an ROTC instructor at a local high school and then joined 100 Black Men of Savannah, Inc., as a mentor. He has also served as a youth health coordinator and a career counselor.
Brad was familiar with Deep Center for many years before joining us as a Life Navigator. “I always knew the great stuff they were doing. Any time I was at an outreach program, I would see a rep from Deep,” Brad recalled. When a full-time role with Deep opened up, Brad jumped at the chance to make his passion his career. “There’s nothing like being in the building and seeing the energy and seeing the holistic approach and knowing your mission and ideas line up with the company. I’m loving every minute of it,” he said.
As a Life Navigator, Brad spends his time working with the young men at the Work Readiness Enrichment Program (WREP). WREP is a collaboration between the Chatham County Juvenile Courts, the Savannah–Chatham County Public School System, and Deep Center. It was created to reduce the number of youth being committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). “We have young boys who don’t really conform to the traditional school. We mentor them and connect them to work opportunities. Growing up, I didn’t operate in a traditional classroom myself. I had to get up out of my desk,” Brad explained.
Brad knows that what the young men of WREP deserve more than anything else is a caring, trusted adult in their lives who understands what they’re going through—someone who is able to advocate for them and support them in navigating the complexities of coming of age within a system not always designed for their success. “The thing is, we have to realize that the youth are our greatest asset. We have to put them in a position to be successful, to provide for themselves and their families. No youth learns the same way. If we have youth who can’t learn and can’t conform to a traditional classroom, we can’t just toss them aside,” Brad said.
Brad is a husband, a father, and a lover of movies and live music. He is an avid sneakerhead and a big sports fan. And he is committed to the hard but necessary work of creating change in our city and our world. “I truly believe our youth are our greatest assets and we have to pour into them. I’m so happy to be part of this team. Deep is really one of the voices of the youth in Savannah,” Brad said.
Kalima Harris
Next up, we have Deep’s new Director of Youth Programs, Kalima Harris! Kalima is an accomplished leader with over 20 years of experience spanning leadership, foster care case management, counseling, healthcare administration, and information technology. Born in Beaufort, SC, Kalima believes that she is the culmination of so many of the experiences that brought her here to her current position, but each are related back to well being and mental health.
“Certain populations don’t have access to mental health resources,” says Kalima. “I wanted to be the individual that made that change and gave them that opportunity – I want to be a part of the solution.” It’s this drive that led her into the field of mental health, where she started working at the Department of Family and Children’s Services. It was there she saw the impact of what happens when people lack the resources they need due to generational and systemic disadvantages.
“I began to understand what happens when we don’t care for actual children. They were my kids – that’s how I treated them.”
After her time in that role, she transitioned to SCAD, where she worked with older youth in crisis. She developed some programming at the university for students in crisis that created a direct pathway for them to access resources and immediate help. It is these cumulative experiences that led to her current role at Deep – as well as her love for programming, her passion for youth and her solutions focused thinking. As the Director of Youth Programs, she works daily with people and with policy. “ I spend the bulk of my time reviewing processes and how we do what we do: How our team functions, how programs function. I often ask if there is a more efficient way we can do what we do? It’s looking at our programs, visiting schools, being immersed in our programs like the Young Author Project and Block by Block.”
Kalima truly has the experience to take on this role that often requires so much nimble maneuvering and navigating the larger Deep community of administrators, writing fellows, teachers, site coordinators, and of course, young people!
To learn more about Deep’s work with WREP, click here.
To learn more about Deep’s work with the Young Author Project or Block by Block, click here.