Hackney: The shattered dreams of two girls

I try to remain upbeat in the face of adversity. Work harder, I say. Dig deeper. Believe that even if we don’t have the ability to change a situation, we have the strength to push on and eventually make life better.

Don’t quit, is my mantra.

Yet news of the fatal shooting of two teen girls on the city’s Westside on Sunday took all the fight out of me, particularly after I learned more about them. These young ladies didn’t have the best of life’s luxuries, but they were working to better themselves. They wanted to be somebody — women who could hold their heads high.

Instead, they’re gone. Best friends robbed of any chance of fulfilling their dreams.

Two teenage girls found fatally shot in car

Just a week before they were gunned down, Coriana Johnson, 17, and Makayla Mitchell, 18, served as chaperons for seven young girls who attended the Circle City Classic as part of a mentoring outing. As chaperons Coriana and Makayla were attentive and supportive, explaining the game of football to the girls and accompanying them on bathroom breaks and to get snacks.

See, Coriana and Makayla weren’t self-absorbed teens; they were sharing their time and life experiences with younger girls who needed role models through a program called G.L.A.M. (Guidance, Life-Skills and Mentoring). The organization is dedicated to empowering young women to overcome adversity and achieve their highest potential.

In fact, Coriana was what the executive director considered the heart of the organization. Coriana had been involved with the group since its non-profit incorporation in 2008. She helped recruit girls, ages 9 to 18, who needed a boost or a big-sister figure to encourage character development, leadership skills and academic success.

Coriana and Makayla refused to sit on the sidelines of life, to be victims of their circumstances. They were fighting to have lives of value and meaning. They appeared to be doing all the right things. They were trying.

“These young girls were serving their community,” G.L.A.M. Executive Director Shanel Poole told me. “They lived a tremendous life of love and generosity in a short time.”

News spread like wildfire across social media among the 40 or so girls who are currently enrolled in G.L.A.M. Coriana and Makayla had been shot multiple times as they sat inside Coriana’s 2004 grey Pontiac, just a few blocks from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” Poole said. “One of our G.L.A.M. girls, a 12-year-old, called me first thing the morning after it happened, and she was in deep pain. I don’t think she even knew how to articulate the words. I’ve made personal house calls to the girls since, and each girl is in tears. They are speechless. They just don’t understand how and why this would happen to Coriana and Makayla, their big sisters.”

The G.L.A.M. organization has mentored about 300 girls since its inception. These girls aren’t all troubled: Some of them perform strong academically and have tremendous parental support. But many of them have experienced horror and trauma at an early age and lack coping and social skills. Others are straddling the fence and battling the temptations of poor choices, such as promiscuity or dropping out of school.

The peer-mentorship component is what makes the program so powerful. The older girls — girls like Coriana and Makayla — show the youngsters that self-esteem is critical, that remaining a virgin isn’t a bad thing, that getting good grades doesn’t make one a nerd and that going to church doesn’t make one an outcast.

“The girls are able to offer advice in a way that’s understandable to their peers,” Poole said. “They can say, ‘This is how I dealt with being raped;’ or ‘This is how to survive being a foster child;’ or ‘Here are the tools you need to cope with a parent who is a drug addict.’ ”

Grandmother of fallen teen: 'This killing needs to stop'

Coriana and Makayla led by example. They surely had their share of disappointment and trauma — Makayla’s father was fatally shot in 2005, and Coriana’s father is in prison. The men were best friends, and the girls became friends as toddlers. After an emotional struggle, the girls decided they needed a safe place where they could talk out their issues with other girls who shared similar challenges.

“They were very, very positive girls,” Charity Mitchell, Makayla’s mother, told me. “Makayla was very emotionally supportive of people. Even though things were not perfect for her, she tried to give more light to the world.”

Coriana worked at McDonald’s inside Indianapolis International Airport. She was enrolled in online high school classes and earned extra money as a hair stylist. Makayla had just been hired at Taco Bell and was undergoing employee training. But they saw beyond their lives as fast-food workers and dreamed of becoming doctors. They had no guarantees, but they had a desire.

Poole, 32, is as broken as anyone I’ve heard about the loss of two of her girls. She’s ready to retreat to a quiet room. Her fight is gone, too. But she has pledged to keep pushing through, to keep helping Indy’s girls realize their full potential.

“These kids were practicing what I was preaching, and they still lost their lives,” Poole said. “It’s going to take God to stitch me back up, but I’m going to keep moving forward, so their legacy will continue. I’m going to keep moving for the sake of Coriana, for the sake of Makayla and for the sake of the girls I serve.”

While my heart is heavy about this senseless crime, I certainly can’t stop either. I refuse to give up on making this city a better place to live and raise children. Makayla and Coriana are gone, but there are dozens of girls just like them who need me. We’ve all taken one on the chin, but I still believe. So I volunteered to be an adult mentor with G.L.A.M.

Dig deep. Don’t quit.

Email Star columnist Suzette Hackney at suzette.hackney@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @suzyscribe.