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On Saturday, June 19, 2010, Pima County Community Services and the Oasis Family Life Center held its Certification Ceremony for the first class of mentors as part of the Youth Employment and Re-Entry Network program.
YEARN is a newly developing program to train, certify and manage mentors that will play a role in the youth restorative justice system in Pima County. The training consisted of 9 weeks of classes, workshops and exercises. A total of 30 students completed the course. Among the graduates were a few married couples and a mother and daughter. This class represented 9 churches and a number of denominations.
The primaries facilitating the event were Elder Rick Stevenson, Director of the Oasis Family Life Center and Linda Leatherman, the Pima County Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Coordinator.
The opening prayer was given by Pastor Merle Gathers, who was a graduate himself. Doretta Elliott followed with words of inspiration in the form of a poem she had written.
Apostle Warren Anderson, Jr. presented “Kingdom Vision for a Better World.” Within his talk, Anderson encouraged and challenged the graduates by saying”…Jesus had twelve disciples and changed the world. Today we had thirty (graduates) to change Tucson.”
Anderson was followed by remarks from Leatherman who stress the importance and appreciation to the mentors as well as the uniqueness of the YEARN program.
Supervisor Ramon Valadez, Chairman Pima County Board of Supervisors spoke to the need for YEARN and the importance of mentors.
Mentors were then given the opportunity to express themselves as to what the training had meant to them. The value of the program was realized when at the conclusion of one of the mentor’s remarks; the young man that she was mentoring stood by her side and shared the difference his mentor had made in his life.
This was followed by the presentation of the certificates by the staff and instructors and a closing prayer by Pastor Charles Payne. In addition to their certificates, the mentors were given shirts with the official YEARN logo.
With each certificate came a sense of accomplishment. To each mentor, the certificate also came with a sense of purpose.
For more information:
Elder Rick Stevenson, Director
Oasis Family Life Center
(520) 745-5236
lwministry4343@aol.com
Photo Album
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| YEARN First Class of Mentors |
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