Annette Dove, the founder and CEO of the Pine Bluff nonprofit Targeting Our People’s Priorities with Service (TOPPS), is the subject of a glowing column profile by the New York Times Nicholas Kristof. In the wake of a a dispiriting election, Dove is “a salve for our aches and wounds, for she represents the American grass roots’ best,” Kristoff writes.
TOPPS works with at-risk youth and families in Pine Bluff, providing an array of services, including after school, feeding and mentoring programs.
From the column:
Dove, 60, is a black woman who dropped out of high school when she became pregnant and who has endured racism and domestic abuse. Drawing on her own experience overcoming difficulties, she now runs a widely admired program for troubled children. Funding the program in part with her own savings — even going into personal bankruptcy to keep it going — she transforms lives.
Dove works seven days a week and struggles month to month to pay the bills with donations, foundation support and a state grant; when the money runs out, she prays.