“What’s good in Liberty City?”
“We are.”
The response rang out across Historic African Square Park in Liberty City as dozens of children answered Samantha Quarterman, founder and executive director of the Multi-Ethnic Youth Group Association (M.E.Y.G.A.) Learning Center, during the organization’s 25th anniversary commencement ceremony.
The exterior of the M.E.Y.G.A. Learning Center in Liberty City, where the nonprofit has provided educational and family support services for 25 years.
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)
For 25 years, Quarterman has opened graduations with the same chant, one she said is meant to challenge perceptions of the neighborhood and remind students of their own potential.
“Everybody looked at Liberty City as being something bad, and our children are something great in Liberty City,” Quarterman told The Miami Times. “They could be anything they want to be.”
Friday’s ceremony celebrated graduates from kindergarten through high school, recognized community leaders and marked a milestone for the nonprofit Quarterman founded in 2001. It also highlighted how one organization has evolved alongside a neighborhood shaped by decades of economic disinvestment, redevelopment and shifting community needs.
A graduating M.E.Y.G.A. student embraces a school administrator while crossing the stage during the organization’s commencement ceremony.
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)
Founded in the 1930s to house Black residents during segregation, Liberty City has long experienced higher poverty rates and fewer economic opportunities than much of Miami-Dade County. More recently, redevelopment projects and rising housing costs have displaced some longtime residents, creating new challenges for families who remain in the neighborhood.
Quarterman said she has watched those changes reshape the community M.E.Y.G.A. serves.
“Gentrification… it’s real,” she said. “I lost a lot of my kids at one time. I used to stay with my kids for four to five years, but after the gentrification took place, a lot of them moved out of the area. A lot of them couldn’t afford to stay in the community anymore.”
Graduating M.E.Y.G.A. students listen as City of Miami District 5 Commissioner Christine King and other speakers address the audience during the organization’s 25th anniversary commencement ceremony.
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)
The nonprofit also faced setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even so, Quarterman said families continued seeking out the organization, with some commuting from Homestead, Brownsville and Miami Gardens after relocating.
“We had to rebuild ourselves,” she said. “But people knew our name, so a lot of parents depended on us and believed in us.”
What began as a mentoring program has grown into a private learning center and nonprofit offering academic support, leadership development, food distribution and family assistance. Quarterman estimates M.E.Y.G.A. has served approximately 15,000 children and family members through its educational programs and community outreach over the past 25 years.
A M.E.Y.G.A. graduate smiles as she enters the commencement ceremony with fellow graduates during the organization’s 25th anniversary celebration.
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)
Tiffany Tyson said her family is among those who relied on the organization for more than academics.
She first learned about M.E.Y.G.A. through a family member while navigating a difficult period involving child welfare services. Tyson said Quarterman helped enroll her children and connected the family with resources that included clothing, shoes, backpacks and food.
“When we were displaced… she also helped me with that,” Tyson said. “She had a lot of resources that she gave parents.”
Today, all nine of Tyson’s children have attended M.E.Y.G.A. One son serves in the U.S. Army, while another recently graduated from the program.
Children receive free ice cream from Miami-Dade Police officers during M.E.Y.G.A.’s 25th anniversary celebration.
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)
Tyson said the school’s environment is one reason her family remained there after enrolling.
“My kids then were getting bullied,” she said of a previous school. “But when we came here… the program is very, very good. That doesn’t happen here.”
Children attending M.E.Y.G.A.’s 25th anniversary commencement celebration play on the playground before the ceremony begins.
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)
Her 12-year-old son, Danarus Cooper, said the difference was the environment.
“I feel safe at this school compared to the other school I went to,” he said. “Nobody gets beat up or anything.”
Meeting those needs, Quarterman said, has sometimes meant helping families with expenses beyond the classroom. Before partnering with Miami-Dade County on emergency assistance programs, she often covered immediate needs herself.
An emotional M.E.Y.G.A. graduate embraces founder and Executive Director Samantha Quarterman after receiving a diploma during the organization’s 25th anniversary commencement ceremony.
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)
“A lot of stuff was coming out of my pocket,” she said.
Through a later partnership with the county, Quarterman said M.E.Y.G.A. was able to help approximately 75 families with emergency assistance, including housing support.
Quarterman also said the organization’s ability to serve families has expanded through Florida’s Step Up For Students scholarship program, which allows eligible families to use state-funded scholarships toward private school tuition.
“Step Up has been a blessing for nonprofits and also for low-income families that can’t afford education,” she said. “One thing about us, we don’t charge the parents. We just use Step Up.”
House Bill 1, signed in 2023, expanded eligibility for Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship to all K-12 students regardless of household income, while maintaining priority for lower-income applicants. State evaluation data, however, found that newly enrolled scholarship recipients in 2023-24 were less likely to be Black, Hispanic, English-language learners or eligible for free or reduced-price lunch than eligible students who did not participate.
Despite expanded scholarship access, Quarterman said affordability remains one of the community’s biggest challenges.
“You can look at someone on Section 8 versus a person being a police officer, and you would think the police officer’s doing better, but not really… it’s hard on everybody in Miami-Dade County.”
As graduates crossed the stage Friday evening, Quarterman returned to the tradition that has opened M.E.Y.G.A. graduations for years.
“What’s good in Liberty City?”
The students, ages 5 to 18, answered together once again.
“We are.”