YOUTH MENTORING CONNECTION'S BLOG
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In it together
- Posted on 10.14.09
Related causes: Youth
Thanks to Hoolie for giving me the opportunity to guest blog on Wednesday's Word on the Street.
Tonight we had the incredible privilege of holding a training for the mentees who will be joining us as Youth Leaders on our upcoming Mentee Initiation Retreat. I don't call this a "privilege" lightly - believe me, I knew we were going to work till 9 pm tonight, and I was fully expecting to be stressed, exhausted, and maybe just a tad resentful by the end of the long day. Instead, I am filled to the brim with gratitude: today has been a privilege indeed.
Our Youth Leaders are young men and women who have been with us for several years. I have known some of them since they were hard little 14-year-olds hiding behind long bangs or under a hoodie, and now they are 17 and 18 and coming into their own. What we witnessed tonight was our Youth Leaders responding to two questions: "What gift are you bringing? And what do you yourself need to work on up on the mountain?" And it seemed like 3...Read More -
Tony's Blog: Transformation is a Transferable Skill
- Posted on 10.14.09
Related causes: Youth
"Wow" I respond. "That's your hardest subject."
Gio: "I know, at first 'functions' made my head hurt. But I stayed with it, just kinda stared at the page and didn't give up, and finally I got it. I need to stay with it more though because I can't explain how I got it yet."
Tony: "You mean, like how you lost the weight."
Gio: "Yeah, I just found what works for me and stuck with it, no matter what anybody else said."
Tony: "That's your gift. Even when you were big and guys were making fun you stayed true to who you are."
Gio: "Yeah, people are tellin me I should write a book."
Tony: "What do you think they see in you?"
Gio: "That I can do anything I put my mind to."
Tony: "That sounds like Tim" (Gio's mentor). What would you say in your book?"
Gio: "I would tell my story. How I lost all the weight and how that makes me know how strong I am. But, I'm playing basketball now, and even though people are saying I can do anything I set my mind to, I go out on the ...Read More -
Related causes: Youth
...then love is possible. I believe that one cannot love deeply until your heart has been broken. Think about: people with hearts that have been broken come together and through those wounds get to know each other in a way that was not possible before.
Today was such an opportunity for me. As I sat and listened to the judge rule that our young parents will lose the rights to parent their own child my heart tore open with ferocity that threatened to drown out the sobs of Hoolie sitting next to me. You could have driven a truck through that break. I realized that I would need to let that wound stay open so our young father would have a soft place for his heart (already hardening from the decision) to land. My spirit yearned to find a peaceful place to take him, but my soul whispered to get down into the depth of the despair with him. The whisper won out despite the risk that I could get lost down there as well. "My life is over." "That b*%$ took my son away." "I should be the one t...Read More -
And Still They Rise
- Posted on 09.18.09
Related causes: Community, Youth
As I watched her, sitting in the mortuary’s pew looking down at her month old baby, she seemed serene… truly at peace. I wondered if she felt relief knowing her mom no longer was suffering, and she no longer had to question why her mother chose drugs over her. She held her baby girl with such pride as she held her up to introduce her to me, not a tear in her eyes. She will write a poem one day, about this day, and maybe then she will cry. But today, she is strong, and she has to be, because she is going to be the mom she never had…
He sits with his shoulders slumped in shame, arms covered in tats, laughing nervously, admitting that smoking helps him not have feelings. He doesn’t want to feel, he explains, it “scares me” he says… “And that is why I come here, because I can talk about what I am thinking and feeling, and then I can go out there with ‘them’ and feel ok”. We make invitations: “Call me when you are thinking about doing something stupid”, “I’ll take you to meetings, and...Read More -
Tuesday with Mentor and Mentee - Scott & Jose
- Posted on 09.18.09
Related causes: Community, Youth
"I would like to thank my mentor for being there for me and being a friend that I can count on when I needed him. He gave me advice to have a better relationship with my mom and listened to how I felt about my mom. What I have learned in this program that will help me grow and make a better life for myself is to communicate with others, to understand when someone doesn’t know me, to be respectful, and how to work as a team".
-Jose
