When the Rev. Joe Harris was pastor of Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Church in Compton, Calif., he began to see problems among the young people in his church.

“I had seen so many young folks who needed help and it wasn’t there for them,” he said. “There were some basic needs I noticed the young folks in my church needed. I looked around and noticed how they were dressing; they couldn’t even sit and hold a conversation with you.

“I was associated with a nonprofit organization working with helping veterans find jobs, and I tried to bring it (the program’s lessons) back to the youth in the church, but they wouldn’t listen. They were into a fad.”

Fast forward to 2012, and Harris is pastor of Pleasant Valley M.B. Church on Mississippi 27, and he is talking to his congregation about establishing a program, The Prestige Institute for Success, a nonprofit organization to do the same things in Warren County he wanted to do in Compton.

A native of Waterproof, La., a Vietnam veteran and retired Army Sgt. Major with 26 years of service, Harris move to Vicksburg after the death of his sister to be closer to his family.

His only desire while in the military, he said, “Was I wanted to preach, and once you start preaching, preaching leads to pastoring, and that was what my desire was.”

He also had a “love and zeal” to help young people.

“When I was growing up in Louisiana, I didn’t have that mature male guidance, because everybody was working in the fields. After I enlisted in the service and through my travels, I developed a love for young people,” Harris said.

“I looked at myself when I was growing up as a teenager and I looked at the young folks of today and I just wanted to be a help.”

And he wanted to implement a program at Pleasant Valley to help young people.

The idea for the Prestige Institute came when he and his wife were in Memphis, Tenn.

“We were driving on Elvis Presley Boulevard and I saw this sign that said ‘Prestige Institute for Success.’ I told her that was what I was going to do.

“I brought it back and sat with the members of the church. The first thing I wanted to do was to help the young men and young women in school. It hurts me to see the direction some of our young folks are going in.

“When I graduated college and started working for a nonprofit organization, I didn’t realize how important it was to learn how to dress. I didn’t know how important it was to sit down and fill out a job application. How to construct a resume, how to sit and just hold a conversation with someone.”

The Prestige Institute for Success, he said, offers tutoring services, computer training, instruction on filling out job applications and how to construct a resume. The program also teaches young people how to dress properly and how to act when they go to a job or an interview.

Harris is the program’s president.

There is also a staff and a board of directors.

One thing the program does not presently have is young people. “We just can’t get them to come,” he said.

“The first year the program started, we had two girls who were having problems in school,” he said.

“They sat with us for two years, and when they graduated from Vicksburg High School, both of them graduated with honors.”

He said the instructors working with the program are college graduates and proficient in areas they teach.

“We try to help in the school — whatever problem they (students) may be having in the school system, I have someone who’s qualified to offer the necessary assistance. We’re there, and I push it every chance I get,” he said.

“We need to get our kids into a learning environment. One of the greatest experiences I had, was I had the opportunity to work as a substitute teacher in our school system, and there is need, no doubt about it. I can help some of the young folk.”

“I’m not going to give up on them,” he said.