Youth Mentoring Connection - President's Message

Why Youth Mentoring Connection?

Youth Mentoring Connection is a California based non-profit organization dedicated to transforming young lives through one-on-one connections between adults and "at risk" youth.

President's Message

WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT THIS PROBLEM
There is a Beautiful Creature
Living in a hole you have dug.
So at night
I set fruit and grains
And little pots of wine and milk
Beside your soft earthen mounds,
And I often sing.
But still, my dear,
You do not come out.
I have fallen in love with Someone
Who hides inside you.
We should talk about this problem-
Otherwise, I will never leave you alone.
by Hafiz

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> Board of Directors
> Staff
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This poem by Hafiz has a beautiful line: “I have fallen in love with someone who hides inside you.” It expresses the essence of the work we do at Youth Mentoring Connection. We realize that hiding inside of every confused, angry, shy, sad or braggadocios child is a gifted soul that came into this world to contribute from their genius. When a mentor comes into the life of a young person, they are affirming that something beautiful is hiding inside of that child. In fact, the poem describes the process of mentoring for at-risk youth. It is a process of consistently showing up and offering sustenance in the way of caring, listening, deep conversation and guidance to help young people to begin to climb out of some of the holes they have dug. This requires the ability to “see” beyond their behaviors and attitudes and into the goodness that we all possess.

In our efforts to help keep the spirit of “seeing” alive we have adopted a Zulu word as our customary greeting whenever we get together in program. The word is “sawubona” and it means “I see you.” It speaks to the necessity in each of us to have our gifts affirmed and to know that we are valued, by each other and by our community.

In a similar way, your support lets us know that you value the sacred work that we do. You are saying to Youth Mentoring Connection “We see you.” We “see” the lifted spirits of youth because you create the space where that can happen. We “see” the passion, dedication and self-sacrifice on the part of your staff to try to make this world a better place. We “see” the need for us all to join in this effort to give hope to kids and to support their dreams, indeed to help them believe they can have dreams. We appreciate that you are reintroducing the concept of elders that bring the accumulated wisdom of their fulfilled dreams so that youth can learn and be inspired.

So, I offer a big “sawubona” to all of you today.

A BIG THANK YOU to our wonderful Board of Directors. You play a vital role, not only in our organization, but by supporting this work, in the culture too. You “see” the value in what we do and offer your love, support and talents to make this dream a reality. From the bottom of my heart, I love every one of you and am touched by your generosity.

Once again to everyone: Thank you for supporting our work. I hope browsing this website gives you a little taste of the ‘magic’ that we experience every day. If you are moved to become even more involved I encourage you to become a mentor; you’ll change two lives.

Yours in peace,
Tony
Tony LoRe
President and Founder
Youth Mentoring Connection

Our Kids Are In Trouble
Today, there are more than 14 million youth under 18 who are "at risk".

They're Crying Out For Help
America's youth, desperate for guidance, are discovering mentoring.

Mentors Are The Answer
A small time committment can have a big impact on a kid's life.