Tuesday with Mentor and Mentee - Pat & Kimberly

"I would like to thank you for always being there for me when I needed someone. I’d also like to thank you for offering your advice and perspectives for me to put into action. Not everything is at it seems.
The fact that you listened to what I had to say was enough to prove to me that you cared about me. In this program I learned that I don’t have to face everything alone; its’ okay to have someone there to help you or to just stand by your side".

-Kimberly

Hawaiian Gardens 2011

The start of Hawaiian Gardens 2011 mentoring program year. Mentors and mentees went bowling on their first mentoring session.

You Know that cousin you loaned money to, who is now robbing your house?

His initials are B of A !

Just received a notice from Bank of America that they will raise my interest rate to 30% if I fall behind on my payments. I won’t (I pay my card off monthly), but it leaves me wondering about the poor souls who have lost their jobs because of Bank of America and other financial institution’s fraud upon our nation, destroying our economy, or the families of our young people who were given credit cards at already predatory rates. We the taxpayers gave BofA almost 200 billion dollars to bail them out, and this is how they thank us. We were told that if we didn’t bail them out the entire economy would collapse, but that if we did they would loosen up credit restrictions and get the economy flowing again, thus creating jobs and relieving the housing crises. It didn’t happen. Instead, credit was tightened and they have increased penalties on the very people that saved them when those people get in trouble. Let’s recount:

1. They ruin our economy and we bail them out

2. We lose our jobs because they ruined our economy

3. We can’t keep up our payments, because we lost our jobs because they ruined our economy

4. They raise our interest rates to make it even worse for us, because we can’t keep up our payments, because we lost our jobs because they ruined our economy

Someone has to pay for the huge bonuses given to those whose practices ruined our economy. B of A paid out $96 billion in bonuses and compensation, including $9 million to CEO Brian Moynihan in 2010.  Bank of America received $199 billion in taxpayer bailouts and other assistance, stuck us with the bill and then paid no taxes from 2008 to 2010, receiving instead a $16 billion refund, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Why do they do this? Because they can.
 
respectfully with a bit of anger,
 
Tony

Adams Grande Game of Life

Mentees and Mentors experience a life size version of the game of life! This game was created to give the mentees a little taste of life and how to use money wisely.

"With My Victim in the Room"

Too much clothing for a warm day, hiding tattoos that mark his claim to a few blocks in South Central Los Angeles. Fresh out of juvenile hall for activities dictated by his gang, the young man who appears older than his years, has been sitting sullenly but attentively in the corner of the room at our annual retreat in the Big Bear Mountains. He is watching, listening for a sign that acceptance into a healthy community that has eluded him all his life might finally be forthcoming.

I recite the Half Boy Story that I learned from Michael Meade.  Something in that telling stands him up and his own story must be revealed. He is shaking and his voice quivers.

“You tell that story and you tell my life” he says.

He recounts the beatings at an angry father’s hands. He peals back the sleeves of his coat to reveal the green of inked tattoos mingled with the black scars of cigarette burns from a father’s sadism. He recounts how he sought refuge in the streets only to find more violence and confusion.

“I became a monster” he proclaims.

He pleads with the other boys in the room not to follow his ways, not to get caught up in gang-banging.

“You think you are going to get protection from your homies, but what you get is a target on your back.”

Finally he says: “I never thought I would find this kind of place. I never thought I would find men that would welcome me and show me love and acceptance like this…and I never thought I would be telling my story with one of my victims in the same room.”

He can’t get himself to make eye contact. So, the young man, identified as the victim, stands up and walks across the room. They embrace. The tears flow. 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

We stopped a gang that day.  Help us keep this experience alive for youth who need us.  Donate to our annual campaign.  Click here. Even a little helps alot.

sincerely,

Tony
Tony LoRe, CEO/Founder

1 Year +

About 1 year ago I met Daylajane at my first YMC bowling event through my company, Shout Factory. It’s easy for me to say, we clicked instantly. I’ll admit I was nervous, feeling much like a kid myself at 22, but if she was nervous, she never showed it. We paired up from the start and rented our bowling shoes, joking about how large my feet are and how bowling shoes only accentuate this (they are and they do). I found listening and talking to her easy. Not your average 16 year old, Daylajane was mature beyond my expectations. She was very forthcoming and I found our personalities to be similar, making it easier in the beginning to form a connection based on the things in life that we both value; honesty, communication, trust, and personal relationships.    

Now, a year later, when I look at these two pictures of us, the first on our match day and the second taken recently at a group session, I see four different people. The two kids who started this adventure in YMC and the two adults who are now really ready to own it.  (I also realized that we both change our hairstyles a lot.) Just over a year later, I am now 24 and Daylajane is just weeks away from turning 18, going to her senior prom and graduating high school. I can hardly contain my excitement for this coming year with Daylajane. She has so much ahead of her in the next few months and I am so excited to share some of her journey with her. My final semester of high school was HUGE – scary, exciting and so much to take in - and graduation day being one of the best days of my life and I wish the same for her. I never could have imagined Daylajane in my life at that time, but now, I can't imagine it without her.  Sounds cliché? Sure, but it's true.

Thank you Daylajane, YMC and Shout! Factory for an enriching and wonderful year (and many more) of mentoring.

-Samantha Pennacchio
YMC Mentor & Leadership Board Member

Tuesday with Mentor and Mentee- Scott & Jose

I would like to thank my mentor for being there for me and for being a friend that I can count on. He was always there when I need him. He gave me advice to have a better relationship with my mom and listened to how I felt about my mom. The one thing I learned in this program that will help me grow and make a better life is to be communicative to others, to be able to be understood when someone doesn’t know me, to be respectful, and how to work as a team.

-Jose

CHLA Senior I Family Night

Mentors meet their mentees families and families learn more about what YMC is all about.