Former Youth Spotlight: Felicia McAdams Felicia is living her dreams as the Director of Academic Advising at a community college and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She is currently a doctoral student in the Development Education Administration program at Sam Houston State. “I hope to graduate this December. I can’t believe that by the end of this year, I will be Dr. Felicia McAdams. I can’t wait to see what else God has in store for me,” she said. It’s been a pivotal year for her as she purchased her first home and entered the dissertation phase of the program. Looking back on her time in HFY, Felicia said she loves the concept that volunteers are able to witness to disadvantaged youth. “I don’t know if the volunteers even know how much they impact the students.” When asked what advice she might give her younger self in HFY she said: “I would tell my younger self to not be shy and be a leader. I wish I could have been a witness for the other youth and lead by example.” We think you are a great leader and example to our youth Felicia! Congratulations!
HFY Alumni Reunion Thanks to a faithful HFY alumnae and volunteer Charde Jones for planning the recent HFY alumni reunion where close to 25 former Hope For Youth students came back to share a meal and catch up on where life has taken them. It was a blessing to see alumni from what we call the “old days” who are grown, some with kids and jobs of their own. Then there is the group in
Upcoming Events
Summer 2016
Saturday Night Live ...........June 25 Mentorship Actvity..............July 15
Hope For Youth builds and maintains long-term Christian mentoring relationships with urban youth to challenge and enable them to reach their full potential spiritually, academically, and socially.
Stoney Creek Camp.......July 20-23 Volunteer Party.....................July 23 KAA.......................................Aug 7-13 Pool Party...............................Aug 27 Friday Night Live...................Sept 9
their 30s who still make time to see each other and vividly remember the fun times had at Jesus N the ‘Hood or Friday Night Live. Finally there is the group of recent alumni
Congratulations Graduates
who have friends and siblings in the ministry now and hope they cherish every moment because it goes by faster than expected.
We are proud to celebrate 12 graduating high school seniors and 2 college graduates this year, many who have been active in our program over seven years. All plan to attend a community college or university starting in the fall or spring next year. Among this group there is a future pediatrician, a SWAT team officer, a special education teacher, an audio DJ, a restaurant owner and an accountant to name a few. One is waiting to hear about a basketball scholarship to walk on the team at UH. Another wants to get a degree in business marketing before becoming the owner of a brunch café in north-west Houston. “My favorite food is between breakfast and lunch so it’s the perfect option,” he said. One senior, originally from New Orleans, moved to Houston after hurricane Katrina. Her mom worked in
prison ministries and inspired her to become an officer because she wants to serve and protect others. One of the twins involved in last year’s terrible bus accident, Lakeisha Williams will be graduating later this summer. She plans to attend Sam Houston to study biology and become a pediatrician. “I love helping kids and don’t like seeing any kids with terminal illnesses suffer,” she said. Another senior has dreams to one day travel to Africa to teach kids in the mission field. All reflect on their time in Hope For Youth by saying they will miss the people and friendships formed among other youth and mentors. Please join us in praying for their safety, strength in their faith with Christ, and determination to succeed as they begin this next chapter in life. Congrats Class of 2016!
Jesus N the ‘Hood concluded the second week of June with 119 students and 84 volunteers participating in small groups, team games, concerts, memory verse competitions and spontaneous Christian rapoffs. 12 youth came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior throughout the week. This year’s theme highlighted the 25 years of family that HFY has fostered since 1991. Each night we explored a different letter from that word: Faith, Accountability, Mercy, Image and ending with Love and You. We enjoyed a throwback to the “old days” with a performance from Soulfruit mid-week and rap/worship artist Trevor Lee the first two nights. 30 students memorized all 5 bible verses to
Thank You One Hundred Shares Houston
A small group station gathers during the Good Friday Journey to the Cross Service
qualify for camp at KAA. The theme verse this year was Hebrews 10: 24-25: Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. This verse is essentially the goal we have for holding HFY events with youth from such diverse backgrounds. Thank you to all who contributed to this years’ momentous program.
G3: Girls compete in an egg toss relay race at Memorial Park
C4: Sacred Revolution
In April, HFY was one of two ministries to receive a $50,000 grant for the purchase of two new vans to use for our expanding programs. With this money the ministry is able to replace the current 15 yr old van and also purchase an additional van that will be safer, more efficient and comfortable for our youth. Within one week of receiving the grant we had purchased the first vehicle. With God’s blessing and timing we are hoping to purchase a similar 12 passenger van in the coming months.
It was a group effort this year as we presented our application to the ladies of One Hundred Shares, an organization of ministry minded women who grant a large gift to one or two Christian non-profit ministries each year. These women have become prayer partners with us this year as we continue to grow our youth attendance and programs. Thank You to the youth, Board Members, Advisory Council and volunteers who spoke at our site visits. These new vans will bless countless youth in the coming years because of your faithfulness.
This spring we took 96 youth, 23 volunteers and 9 student interns to spring retreat at Carolina Creek for a weekend of zip lines, campfire s’mores, pillow fights, scavenger hunts and most importantly thorough biblical teaching in three sessions of worship and reflection. Over the weekend we had 4 youth commit their lives to Christ for the first time and 7 rededicates. This year’s theme was sacred revolution with the idea that we as Christians are not meant to look like everyone else, that we are sacred, holy and different. Also that we are called to start a revolution in our schools, homes and neighborhoods sharing the love of Christ with others. Do you want a revolution? Whoop Whoop!
Retreat is one of the best chances each year we have to speak specifically to our guys and girls separately about topics that pertained to them. This year we held nothing back as we talked about relationships, respect, sexual purity, selfimage and what to do when you feel like there’s no way out of temptation. Thank you to all who helped make this year’s retreat a great success.
2016 is the 25th Anniversary year of Hope For Youth serving inner city youth in Houston. We have much to celebrate in the hundreds of lives changed and youth who came to know the love of Christ. This year’s fundraising gala was one of our most successful ever with the introduction of our first live program auction and close to 240 guests in attendance. In total the campaign raised over $60,000 toward our continuing programs and mentoring, to God be the glory! We were blessed by the group of active youth and volunteers who served dinner during the evening and to those who shared their stories of hope and inspiration from their time at HFY. Thank You also to our honorees Adam Allen, Hank Rush and Kim Hansen for sharing your words of wisdom. Your decisions helped positively shape the past and continue to influence the future of Hope For Youth.