North Minneapolis Musical Group Delivers Youth From Danger
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - North Minneapolis is home to a group of young people making incredible strides as a musical group.
Deliverance for Youth was formed in 2007 by Jovanta Patton.
It has grown into one of the premiere singing groups in the city and has gotten the attention of several national gospel recording artists.
But DFY is much more than a musical group. They may be young, but members of Deliverance for Youth are warriors.
"It's a refuge," said Patton. "Rehearsals and these engagements are a shelter--to recover and to have somewhere to break away."
Patton, 24, founded the singing group seven years ago.
He said DFY was an answer to all that was wrong in his life and community.
"There was a lot going on the north side of Minneapolis, where I was born and raised," he said. "There were a lot of killings [and] I felt like there were no examples of young black men or young women doing anything that was positive."
So in the heart of the north side, inside Shiloh Temple Ministries, Patton decided to set out to make a difference.
But the music ministry became so much more than just an extracurricular activity.
The group has benefited "kids from foster homes, kids who came to rehearsal and didn't have anywhere to go afterward because they were homeless," he said.
Along with their voices, members of the group also bring the stress and strain of being a teenager living in North Minneapolis.
DFY offers support to withstand the lure of the streets.
For 12-year-old Jalen Barnes, being a part of DFY has changed his life.
Not only has it helped him develop as a singer, it's helped him understand that hanging with some members of his family could lead to things he wants to avoid.
"With them, you never know what might happen," Barnes said. "You might be at the wrong place at the wrong time--you might end up dead."
DFY is empowering and saving youth by giving young people a positive message to talk about and to live by--one song at a time.
"The songs and the music and the fellowship bring something out of you that you would never think you had," Patton said.
Patton and DFY's new single, "Warriors," will be released soon on iTunes.
The group is made up of more than 100 young people who take part in the group's activities and community service events.
