AUGUST 2021 NEWSLETTER

August 17, 2021
 
The summer months are full of excitement! As we prepare for a new school year to begin, new mentors are being recruited, mentor training sessions are getting scheduled, and new partnerships are being created for the coming year.  But that’s not all that is happening this summer! 
 

After months of meeting on Zoom every Monday night, the girls from the Second Chance Dayton group home have finally been able to start meeting with their mentors in person. This summer they have continued to work through the “Why Try” curriculum they have been using for the past year. “Why Try” uses visual metaphors to teach important life skills. 

The most recent lesson has been a visual metaphor of crabs climbing out of a pot. When blue crabs are put into a pot they immediately start looking for ways to grab the edge of the pot and climb out. But what often happens is other crabs grab onto them and pull them back in the pot as they attempt to climb out themselves. This metaphor is powerful for young people as they think about times when they have been in trouble (in a pot). Sometimes friends, and even family members, don’t want us to change or get better so they will do whatever they can to pull us down. 

MVLF mentors worked with the teens to help them see that surrounding themselves with strong, positive and encouraging individuals will help them get out, and stay out, of their “pots.” One way they activated this new knowledge was by being the change they hoped to see in their own lives. They did this by painting “kindness rocks” and intentionally giving them to someone who they knew could use the encouragement. The teens also wrote encouraging and positive messages on the sidewalk at the park for people in the community to see.

Through the power of mentoring, the teens at Second Chance Dayton experienced a lesson about doing positive things for other people. Not only does it help the other person get out of their troubling “pot”, but it also makes us feel better.

Together we can make a difference in the lives of young people throughout the Miami Valley! Yes, you can help transform a life and influence a young up-and-coming leader. 

Interested, but need more information? Visit the MVLF website or email Shannon Todd, MVLF Mentoring Program Director.

Ready to become a mentor? Complete the MVLF Mentor Application!

 

Churches linking arm-in-arm with each other as well as with others in a community is such a beautiful thing!  This past month, Hope4WestDayton (H4WD) and Hope4Miamisburg (H4M) were given a wonderful opportunity to not only link arm-in-arm with each other, but also be the hands and feet of the Lord as they partnered with Rebuilding Together Dayton. 

Rebuilding Together Dayton is a local organization focused on creating safe and healthy homes for Dayton’s low income seniors. They partner with community groups who can bring the manpower to projects across the city. On a hot Wednesday in July, H4WD and H4M volunteers met at a home in West Dayton to help a beautiful lady clean out her flower beds, clear brush and overgrowth, and help restore her yard to the beautiful landscaping she once loved so much. 13 volunteers, teenagers and adults from H4WD and H4M, not only worked hard, but relationships were formed that will transform the lives of everyone involved.

Humble leaders, shared vision, common mission, focused action - this is the power of Hope4Communities. 

Emerging Hope4Communities:

God is stirring the hearts of His people!  We are excited to see multiple communities around the Miami Valley begin to engage in bringing hope through the combined efforts of the churches.  Kettering and Centerville are just a few.  To God be the Glory!

 

Your financial partnership means MVLF can continue to mentor youth, strengthen families, and build healthy communities in the Miami Valley.

You can sign up using the MVLF website,  AmazonSmile and Kroger Community Awards, as well as through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) if you’re a current or retired federal employee (MVLF’s CFC # is 99973).