When Angel Williams was growing up in southwest Atlanta, the YMCA was more than a place to go swimming or play soccer. It was where she received help with her homework, encouragement to stay in school and instruction on how to behave during meals.

"They taught us table etiquette. I'd never learned that," said Williams, now 19.

Williams credits the Andrew & Walter Young Family YMCA —- and especially the Dr. Maya Angelou teen programs —- for helping her not only learn how to "be a young lady in society," but also with keeping her in school. Williams became the first in her family to finish high school and is now a freshman at Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss.

There are many such success stories, Angelou said proudly during a phone interview last week. The poet and author, whose birthday was April 4, will be in Atlanta today for a celebrity-filled 80th birthday party at Atlanta Symphony Hall to benefit the YMCA's teen programs. The proceeds will go toward renovating several rooms to create a Dr. Maya Angelou Teen Center, nearly tripling the number of teens served.

Angelou became involved in the Atlanta teen programs because of her longtime friendship with the Young family.

"She has always used her connections and fame and her friendships to help others," said Andrew Young, the former Atlanta mayor and former U.N. ambassador. "And that's the reason so many people responded when we decided to honor her."

Angelou's special passion is working with young people.

"I am aware there are some parents and guardians and folks who should be in the know who don't teach them manners —- and by that I mean real manners, human manners," she said. "That human beings are more alike than not alike. ... I think it's very good for those of us who are able, to put an umbrella over children's heads and say, 'Let me show you how it's done.' "