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 Longtime
Miami Beach resident Diana Susi has spent a lifetime serving
those in need.
In 1977, while
studying for her master’s degree in social work at Barry
University, Susi founded the nonprofit AYUDA Inc., an acronym
for Adults and Young Children with Unmet Needs Deserve Attention
that means “help” in Spanish.
The
organization works with at-risk families and children through
such programs as Family Empowerment, Early Childhood
Scholarships, Counseling Services, Go Kids Go classes and summer
camps, and Elderly Advocacy and Support. It receives funding
from private donations and such organizations as the Children’s
Trust, Alliance for Human Services, Alliance for Aging, Women’s
Fund, Miami-Dade County Cultural Arts Department, Dade Community
Foundation and the Miami Beach Parks and Recreation Department.
Besides her
work with AYUDA, Susi has served — or currently serves — on
various boards, including the Domestic Violence Oversight Board,
Dial-A-Life, the Youth Crime Task Force, the Miami Beach
Commission on the Status of Women, the Miami Beach Community
Development Advisory Committee, the Miami Beach Sister Cities
Committee and the North Beach Development Corp. She’s a lifetime
member of Hadassah, a volunteer Zionist women’s group.
On Friday, the
Miami Beach Hispanic Affairs Committee will recognize Susi with
a 2007 Hispanic Heritage Month Award, which is given annually to
individuals who live or work in Miami Beach and have made a
positive difference in the community.
“I think she
is a wonderful individual and she has contributed a great deal
to the Miami Beach community,” Lucero Levy said of the Hispanic
Affairs Committee. “We are very proud of her community
activism.”
Though she’s
still an active board member of AYUDA, last year she turned the
reins over to Luis De Jesus so she could focus on Happy Kids, an
early learning center she established in 1983. The center offers
classes to children at or below the poverty line in diverse
subjects that include yoga, music, meditation, “bully-proofing”
and journalism.
“I give them a lot of push so they can follow
their interests and not follow bad influences from other kids,”
said Susi.
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