Valarie Ashley, 51, puts great faith in small, daily steps as the executive director of Congress Heights’s Southeast Ministry. The organization, founded 20 years ago in partnership with Capitol Hill’s Lutheran Church of the Reformation, serves hundreds of adults with dreams of bettering their lives through education and job readiness training. Ashley sat down with The Washington Examiner at the start of the holiday season to share a faith and perseverance that bring about small miracles. Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I am a Baptist. But since I’ve been working at Southeast Ministry, I think of myself as a Baptist Lutheran. Both faiths have a strong sense of praise and worship, and both emphasize the relationship with God as central to life. And I certainly think about the Holy Spirit as my guide. In the past 18 months, especially, as I’ve taken on the leadership of a small nonprofit, I’ve seen the hands of the Holy Spirit in what I do.
Did anyone or any event especially influence your faith or your path in life?
My mother got her GED at the age of 37 because she wanted to make a better life for her children. After my parents divorced, we went from a middle class lifestyle to welfare – and this was welfare in the days before food stamps. I remember when you had to go to the welfare department, and you walked out with a box full of cans with silver and black writing that said peanut butter, or canned beans, or cornmeal. But she wanted something different and better. And you know, there was a time when we were doing the same math homework. But she went ahead and got her GED. So – that spirit of perseverance, the importance of education no matter what your age, and seeing that as a pathway out of poverty – those things have influenced my work.
And through it all, even when I think she often felt disappointed by life, my mother was a woman very strong in her faith, and she always insisted that we offer praise.
You’ve seen so many people turn their lives around, and many who’ve failed to do so, as well. What are the most important character traits in the people who make lasting change?
There has to be a willingness to be open and vulnerable, because it’s very difficult. And it can be humiliating to be older, and to realize that there are things that you should be doing, but you have not been able to do them. So people have to be willing to ask for help. There also has to be perseverance because there are going to be difficult moments. Most people don’t pass the GED their first time around. On average, people come to us at a fifth- or sixth-grade reading level, and a second- or third-grade math level. If that’s your starting point, you’re not going to be ready after an eight-week class. Lastly, I think people who succeed are able to break success down into manageable pieces. Yes, the GED can be an end goal, but it’s a big deal too if you can go up a grade or two in eight weeks, or if you can go home and help your child with his or her homework.
What lessons could D.C.’s power brokers and politicians learn from the people you work with every day?
There’s a lesson that could go both ways, and that is to see the basic humanity and similarities that exist between us all. When you stop looking at people as stereotypes and circumstances, then you start to feel what is it that we have in common. We all know what it means to want the best for our children but not be able to provide it, or to feel frustrated with a job, or treated unfairly by a supervisor. If we can step outside of inflammatory contexts, and relate to human moments, then relationships can form.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I believe that at their essence, people want to be good people. They want to be people who contribute to society. And I believe that we, as part of the human community, need to reach out and see what it is that we can do to help people be all they can be.
– Leah Fabel
