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Last Friday’s gathering
brought together a host of acquaintances who have played an
important part in the new doctor’s life – as a some attested
to during a portion of the night’s event when many in
attendance paid tribute to her various accomplishments.
Perryman, minister of
music at Center of Hope Baptist Church (where her father,
Rev. D.L. Perryman, D.Min is the pastor), is the executive
director and co-founder of Center of Hope Family Services
whose mission is to improve the lives of individuals and
families living in urban settings. Under her leadership CHFS
has developed an array of evidence-based programs centered
around positive youth development and adult/family support.
The programs include a 21st
Century Community Learning Center which has been rated a
“high quality center” and a “model for other tutoring
programs” by the Ohio Department of Education.
She has developed
parenting education and support programs that have been
utilized by the Local Fatherhood Initiative and, in
partnership with Lucas County Juvenile Courts, has expanded
that initiative to provide support and advocacy to parents
of youth in contact with the juvenile justice system.
Perryman graduated from
St. Ursula Academy in 1997 with a 4.18 GPA and earned a
bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of
Michigan, where she graduated with honors. She then earned
her master’s degree from Bowling Green State University in
mental health counseling.
Perryman intends to
integrate practice, wisdom and research for national
presentations and to publish manuscripts on culturally-based
interventions to improve African-American youth behavioral
and educational outcomes.
She believes that her
greatest contribution will be “building the capacity of
marginalized individuals to identify, advocate for and
leverage the resources and supports needed to thrive and
live life with the expectation of individual, familial and
community stability, dignity and respect.”
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