Our mission is to build lasting relationships, nurture hope, and restore dignity by creating family-like relationships for Ohio's youth.
When we first meet the young people who are referred to us, they have been through many traumatic and difficult experiences. On average, they have had 7 adverse childhood experiences.
Without support and encouragement, many youth do not believe that life can get better or that they can succeed. Sometimes, the support of their Community of mentors is the first unconditional support they have experienced.
Our Communities are places where it is safe for them to make a mistake and not be rejected. We believe to break generational cycles, we must create new communities where positive lessons are taught over and over again. We are patient and we are persistent.
Youth will say at the end of the first year this is the best thing they have ever done.
OUR VISION
As a result of our work, we believe that youth impacted by poverty will no longer be invisible or marginalized in Cleveland. There will be a decrease in loneliness, homelessness and joblessness among the youth we serve, resulting in a reduction in the loss of human potential in our city and a lasting reduction in the exposure to adverse experiences for the children of young parents we serve.
RELATIONSHIPS + HOPE = DIGNITY RESTORED
OUR PROGRAMS
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
We are people of deep faith inspired by the Gospel to love all people and to serve all people. We believe our mandate is to offer hope and love to young people and to welcome friends from across the faith spectrum to our tables.
RECONCILIATION
We have volunteers from different faiths, different races, and different ages coming together and discovering that stereotypes melt away when you get to know one another.
SOCIAL CAPITAL
Rather than give people our money, our used clothes, and our stuff. We have decided to give them our connections, networks, and know how. We offer youth our social and intellectual capital to help them access better opportunities at success.
DIVERSITY
We want our volunteers to reflect the wide spectrum of people in our communities. We believe that cultural humility is the framework for building stronger relationships.