The House of Adonis is an outreach program, which was established in 1995 through Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA) and seeks to change the lives of at-risk youths. This is accomplished by introducing them to the arts, dancing, singing and performing. Instead of joining a gang to fill up their spare time they have an alternative, an alternative that changes the direction of their life.
Bridget Hanson: Executive Director of The House of Adonis said, “We started out with highly gang-related youths and we turn them toward the arts. Because of our success, The House of Adonis has won the Jefferson Award, the Meyers Golden Award, and Toledano of the Year. Our students range in age from two years old to 25 years old, with some of the older students becoming mentors and trainers for the younger ones, at The House of Adonis we are all like one big family.”
Studio, LaShanna: U-Change Consulting, Lynnette Claybrooks: I Candy, and
Sherelle Goodbae: Fashion Designer.
One of her former students, Ms. Shawanda Johnson, who is now associated with Winterfield Venture Charter Academy and operates Fame Studios, located in the Academy, has an actual dance studio there. She has collaborated with The House of Adonis and works with students on their presentation. Through Fame studios, they learn all the secrets of being a successful polished and a professional performer. Ms. Johnson is just one of several alumni of the program, who have returned to teach, and to ensure that others have the same positive experience they had.
From college prep to makeup, scouting and various forms of dance and performance, The House of Adonis tries to cover as many bases as possible. “We want our students to be cultured,” said Bridget Hanson. “We take them into different environments and try to expose them to different things.”
One of the crown jewels of The House of Adonis success story is the dance squad, The Queen Dancing Divas and King Dancing Divo. This group has performed in parades and competitions all over the country including here in Toledo and the Central State homecoming. “This is another form of teaching’, said Bridget Hanson. ‘If you are a queen or a king, you can’t walk around with bad behavior now can you?”
She added, “I’ve been doing this a long time and it works. A lot of my students have gone from gang banging to college. They end up being productive citizens and become respected people in life. Our goal is to teach our students how to become successful adults, who are not in prison, but people who grow up and have families and help others. So far, this is what we’ve accomplished at The House of Adonis.”
The House of Adonis also gets the parents involved and is currently working on a program for seniors. For more information call Bridget Hanson at 567-315-2155.
