Marcus Harrison: "I'm 10X More on Top of the World"

Marcus Harrison, 19, remembers the time, a couple of years ago, when his mentor made all the difference in his world, and probably his future, too.

It was SAT week, and Marcus was worrying about taking the all-important test that would determine whether he would get into college.

“I was stressing. I called Mark (Lounsbury, his mentor through Pathways Danbury) and he started telling me ‘Marcus, you’re a smart kid. You’re prepared. You know you can do it. You’re just psyching yourself out. Stay calm and focus, and you’ll do great.’”

“He got my head back in the game, and I stopped my whining,” Marcus said. “He was always there for me. Always.”

Today, after having done “pretty well, actually” on his SAT, Marcus is studying Public Health at Franklin Pierce College.  He says the mentoring relationships he had through Jericho Partnership had a life-changing impact on him.

“I am ten times more on top of the world,” he said. “That people took the time to see my personality and spend time learning how I would function best, is really great. They give you guidance that most kids don’t get to have.”

Marcus credits his tutors at S.A.Y. Yes! with helping him through math (“my worst subject), and Mark Lounsbury with giving him a place to take his problems, especially when he didn’t want to go to his parents.

“I learned a lot of life lessons that made me stronger,” he said. “This program creates fantastic people…people who mentor others, and people who were mentored. Mark is a fantastic person and I want to be just like him. He’s got a great job, with a beautiful family and he drives a nice car; I want that for myself, and he’s a great role model.”

Marcus also said that, these days, he’d do anything he could for Mark. “I tell Mark, ‘I’ll give you anything you want, because you gave me everything I needed.’”

PDYM Alum Give Back Through Football

Two Danbury brothers, whose lives were transformed by Pathways Danbury Youth Ministries’ mentoring programs, have created a youth flag football organization with the goal of developing not only area youths’ athletic ability, but their character and pride too.

Kih Best, 22, and Robert Best, 19, have started Connecticut Pride Flag Football, and are inviting both boys and girls from all over greater Danbury to a series of free clinics this month at the Danbury Sports Dome. A tournament ($10 per player) will follow; during both, coaches will be evaluating players for a travel flag football team that could potentially play at regional levels.  Selection to the travel team, will be based on attitude, improvement and athletic ability, they say.

The organization is being sponsored by PDYM, a ministry of Jericho Partnership, and the Mitchell Oil Company. The clinics, for athletes aged 8 -14, take place every Sunday: January 8 and 22 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm; January 15 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.; January 29 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

“We wanted to start an organization that was just for kids, and not run by parents,” said Robert, who along with his brother have been players, coaches and referees with various sports teams. “Every single kid that is going into this is going to come out a better athlete, but also a better person, because we are going to talk about things like that at our team meetings.”

“We really just want to give back, and bring kids together and give them a sense of brotherhood since they don’t normally play (sports) with each other,” Kih said. “They see each other at the movies and at the mall, but we just wanted to bring them all together and give them that sense of family. Flag football is one of those activities where you can be good at it even if you haven’t played football or other sports, because it’s about speed and agility.”

Both young men were mentored for years through Pathways Danbury, a Jericho program that matches at-risk boys with a mentor who helps guide them through life’s inevitable challenges. They both say their affiliation with Pathways has brought them to where they are today.

“It’s made me mature,” said Robert.  “If it weren’t for Mr. (Michael) Taylor (his mentor) and Mrs. (Clara) Perkins (PDYM leader) being tough on me, I wouldn’t be who I am today, and we wouldn’t be doing this. They always taught me to look to the future and to always think big.”

The clinics are open to athletes from Danbury, Brookfield, New Milford, and other towns. Teams are being assembled for 8-10 year-olds (co-ed); 11-12 year-olds (coed); 13-14 year-olds (boys); and 13-14 year-olds (girls). Clinics will cover introduction to flag football, basic football skills, footwork and football vision, and speed and agility. Participants must attend at least two clinics and play in the tournament to be eligible for the travel team.

To register, visit http://bit.ly/2j8AOFs.  For questions about the clinics or tournament, contact Kih at (203) 313-8119 or Robert (203) 313-7716.

The Blessings of Being a Mentor

The term mentor has the potential to strike fear into the heart of those who are being asked to consider such a role. This is unfortunate because the reality is that many of us are already serving in the role of mentor in an “unofficial” capacity and probably succeeding! Just spending productive time with someone younger or less experienced than yourself has the potential to grow into a mentoring or guide relationship with that person. As we mentally make a conscious decision to invest in another person we make a commitment to walk the journey of life with them. Sharing this journey will help a younger person to avoid many of the pitfalls that are common in this day and age. A relatively small block of time devoted to this person will have a profound and life changing effect on them.

I have mentored dozens of people in my life and continue to do so today. Many of the young people I have mentored still stay in touch with me today even as adults. Young women and young men desperately need godly role models in their lives, especially if one or both of their parents cannot fulfill that relationship. God may be calling you to be that “mentor” in their life, you really can make an amazing impact on them.  I find this mentoring experience to be one of the richest activities in my life. Other than my personal time with God I know of no other more precious expenditure of my time. I encourage and challenge to get involved in mentoring, not only will it change the person you are mentoring, it will change you! Don’t just pray about it, pray and then act!

– Rev. Christopher Yount, New Life United Methodist Church

Christmas Gift of Compassion

As long ago at this past summer, 11-year-old Eliana Marrero decided she really didn’t need anything for Christmas this year; instead she wanted to collect money for people who were less fortunate.  And after seeing homeless people on the streets of New York, she knew exactly who she wanted to help.

Fast-forward to earlier this month. Eliana and her mom, Juana, decided to enlist the help of their family at their annual Christmas party. After securing about a half dozen “gifts” (items like Kohl’s Cash, which was donated by a relative), Eliana collected donations from her relatives for her cause, and then gave the items as thank-you prizes to some of those who donated.

When all was said and done, she raised $1,030!

The family chose Jericho Partnership to receive the contribution because “it was a local organization already doing outreach to the homeless,” said Juana. “We heard about Jericho from my dentist, Dr. Gedeon, and so we checked it out online and decided our money would be going to a worthy cause; they were like missionaries.”  (A team from Dr. Gedeon’s office helped serve Thanksgiving Lunch to the homeless at Jericho’s Good Samaritan Mission in November.)

The Marrero’s donation was matched by AWA Medical Supply Company in Danbury, where Juana is employed. And BOTH of those contributions were matched by a Friend of the Good Samaritan, who had pledged to match any new gift given in 2016. So the impact of Eliana’s selfless act of love is worth more than $4,000 of ministry through Jericho!

“Whenever I go to New York, I see a lot of people on the streets asking for money… people who are hungry and cold and I just wanted to help them,” said Eliana, who is a student at Broadview Middle School.

To recognize those in her family that contributed, Eliana created a poster showing a huge tree, with the names of those who donated on Santas or reindeer. On one panel, she wrote “Let’s make a difference this year.”

Pastor's Corner: Leroy Parker

We are living during some tumultuous times in the United States of America. When we look at the political climate in our country, it has in a major way opened the vaults of racism that many people thought would never be resurrected. The issue is not the resurrection of systemic racism, but the blatant denial of it, rather than owning it and moving forward toward reconciliation.

Since the 1600’s, we’ve had issues with race in our country. There are many who are on the front lines of this issue, trying to eradicate this evil, which pervades all of our communities. If we are going to have intentional movement toward racial reconciliation in this country, it must start with the body of Christ. Even within the body of Christ, there are those who suggest that we don’t have to deal with this issue in 21st century. But the sad reality is that it is more blatant in our linguistic expression, actions and judicial system like never before. The body of Christ has to take seriously God’s admonition in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive them sin, and will heal their land.”

Our vision then must be bigger than trying to bring black and white people together, but more importantly, reconciling them to the Lord Jesus Christ. It means nothing to work hard for social justice when we don’t appreciate or place value on those whom God has created in His image. He called them good. The Bible is very clear: there is no other way to look at our fellow brothers or sisters than through the lens of a loving God who sculpted them with His loving hand (Genesis 2, Psalm 139). Therefore, we are and were created in the imago dei whereby we have no right to look at the other and put ourselves above them based upon looks and socioeconomic positioning with the culture.

If we are going to see significant strides towards racial reconciliation in this country, we must honestly acknowledge the sin and repent of the sin that is constantly pulling us apart rather than bringing us together (1 John 1:9). The civil rights activist Andrew Young said, “Any racial reconciliation we’ve had in this country has not come not out of confrontation but out of a spirit of reconciliation. If we continue to practice an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth, we’ll eventually end up with a land of people who are blind and toothless.”

– Leroy Parker, New Hope Baptist Church, Danbury

Clarence Bouie: A Life Transformed

Drug abuse hung like a dark cloud over Clarence Bouie for 17 years of his life, causing all the hurt and despair one might imagine.

“I thought I’d be dead or in prison,” Clarence said of his younger self. “But I let God do His plan.”

That plan has led Clarence down some twists and turns, and through more than one treatment program, but today, with 11.5 years of being clean under his belt, Clarence is living a life filled with joy, with Jesus, and with a new part-time job at Jericho Partnership. A life, transformed!

This new position on Jericho’s facilities team represents a life come full circle; Clarence was a client at Discipleship House, a residential ministry that is now a component of Jericho’s Good Samaritan Mission.  And even though Clarence is now on the payroll, it’s far from his first encounter with Jericho Partnership. On the contrary, Clarence has been a Jericho volunteer (as well as paid summer staff) for about eight years – working primarily with kids at our Spring Street Neighborhood Center.

“My mother always said, ‘when something good happens, it happens for a reason. But it ain’t no good if you don’t give back,’” he said. So, for several years now, he’s been dispensing love – and even tough love, because he knows the kinds of challenges they face – to the kids at Spring Street.

“I love those kids,” he said. “When I see them smile, I’m good. I’m content. I don’t need no Rolls Royce or a big house on the hill. When I go home, I just can’t wait to wake up again and go back to Jericho.”

Clarence’s road to recovery began in Maryland (he’s from Annapolis) and went through a program called Teen Challenge in Rochester, NY. That program, which was also for adults, provided counseling and education aimed at helping clients stay off drugs. He graduated without a real plan for his life, and soon experienced pain with his back.  That, he said, is where the enemy got a foothold.

“I felt the enemy saying, ‘I got ya now because you didn’t have a plan,’” Clarence said. God once again led him to Pivot Ministry in Bridgeport, where he also found some temporary success. A final push led him to Danbury, and our ministry here.

“That place is where I was discipled. I got my high school diploma. I got my own apartment. I got a job,” he said. “Now, I enjoy my life the right way. Jericho keeps me sane. It keeps me clean.”

Throughout his challenging years, Clarence had a relationship with the Lord. “I was baptized in the Church of Christ at age 28.  We fall. It ain’t about how you fall; it’s about how you get up.”

Clarence will share his story of transformation at Jericho’s Annual Gala on December 1; the theme for the night is “transformation through mentoring,” and Clarence’s journey is rich with people who he says have spoken truth – even difficult truth – into his life.

“So many different people told me what I needed to hear, but in a positive helpful tone,” he said. “When I am in a depressed mood, I just go see them. I don’t have to go find the drug man – I just go to Jericho Partnership.”

God is Blessing CityServe Projects

Jericho Partnership is several months into CityServe, a joint initiative with the city of Danbury designed to reach into new pockets of need in our city. Here’s an update on the two main projects within the initiative – Project CleanStart and our South Street School Partnership.

Project CleanStart

They endured the hottest of summer days out on Danbury’s streets, picking up trash, painting fire hydrants, pulling weeds, cleaning the parking garage, and more – and now that Project CleanStart is breaking for the winter, participants and volunteers can look back on a successful pilot program.

“This program was an overwhelming success,” said Jericho’s Harry Pugner, who served as CleanStart project manager. Over the course of the program, which began this spring, 20 homeless men and women participated; all but eight finished, and today, five of them have secured at least part-time jobs outside of the program.

CleanStart was designed to impart valuable life and job skills to our homeless neighbors as they worked on projects selected by the city; each participant (vetted to ensure they were engaged with case managers) worked two four-hour shifts per week under the supervision of Jericho volunteers, who served as team leaders and job coaches. As the program progressed, some worked four days in a week. At the end of each week, team members received compensation in the form of gift cards.

Before the program ended, each team member was required to fill out a job application and go through an interview process, as if they were applying for an actual job, Pugner said.

“This project next gave the team members a positive look at how our city government cares for this population,” said Pugner. “It also allowed CityCenter merchants the opportunity to get a better perception of those in need. A few of the merchants thanked the team members, provided them with water, and let them use their restrooms.”

“The work we do at Jericho is always about transforming lives, and this program has had a direct impact on the lives of 20 people who are facing difficult challenges – not to mention how it impacted our volunteers and anyone who witnessed how our homeless neighbors contributed to the beautification of our city,” said Carrie L. Amos, Jericho’s President.

South Street School Partnership

Four mornings a week, just as the school day begins, South Street Elementary School’s cafeteria is filled with the sound of reading. Adults reading to kids; kids reading back to adults. Laughter and high-fives. This is the sound of progress.

The Reading Buddy program is into the third month of its second full semester at the school. Today, 25 students are being mentored by volunteers who desire to help them improve their reading skills. Plans are in place to double the census during this academic year, according to Jericho President Carrie L. Amos. The need is great.

You see, these children are from families where English is not spoken at home. Many have parents who are immigrants and, for a variety of reasons, simply cannot help them with their studies. So they fall behind. Far behind. Jericho’s Reading Buddy program – underway at this Title I school recommended by Danbury school officials – is already making an impact.

Although the program is still so new, those participating have either maintained or slightly improved the grade level at which they can read and comprehend. Others – who struggle with other challenges in addition to reading – are making untold progress simply by demonstrating an ability to sit with volunteer Reading Buddies.

“Each of these children has needs we might never fully comprehend, but each of them has the potential to soar,” said Amos. “Our Reading Buddy program helps unlock this potential by addressing a most basic skill – the ability to read. The volunteers who work with these children are such a gift. We can’t turn our backs on these kids, so we DO need more volunteers to serve even just one hour per week, in the morning before most people go to work, to work with these students,” she said.

If you’d like to help unlock the future for these children, contact volunteer@jerichopartnership.org and say you’d like to be a Reading Buddy.