From Our RHK Executive Director: Train Them Up

Last month, Tarah Curry, our volunteer coordinator, and I were able to go to California for training through the Urban Youth Worker’s Institute (UYWI). A local nonprofit, Life Decisions, recommended Rock House Kids for a UYWI grant to provide 10 months of training. We applied, and within 5 weeks, Tarah and I were on a plane headed for our first steps of training.

UYWI comes alongside those who are serving in urban areas. They help in the following areas:

• Clarify your leadership identity and calling.

• Strengthen your spiritual and personal foundation.

• Develop strategic thinking and organizational leadership skills.

• Learn a proven discipleship framework you can implement immediately.

• Grow alongside experienced urban youth leaders.

When Tarah and I arrived in California, we had no real expectations. The first night, we had a welcome dinner with participants from four other organizations from across the United States, and we were introduced to our personal coach. Our coach’s name is Jenny. God could not have matched us with anyone more perfect. She gets our humor!

The first full day, we got to work. Personally, I thought RHK was doing ok. I felt something was off in programming. I could not put my finger on it, but it was nothing major. These next couple of days should be pretty easy, right? Well…God must have been giggling (if God giggles). By midday on the first day, my head hurt. We were dissecting RHK. Is RHK being run to the best of its ability? Were we running RHK the best way for the kids? Are the mission and vision of RHK still the same? Are there holes in our programming?

During this process, we learned there are five types of solutions that nonprofits provide.

• Palliative- immediate relief (food, hats, coats, backpacks)

• Salvitative- rescue solutions (out of gang life, safety)                              

• Restorative-rebuild capacity (safe supportive environment)

• Regenerative-create something entirely new (mentorship, help develop a new mindset)

• Preventative-why were they there to begin with (address root cause before problem manifests)

Most nonprofits work in two to three of these areas. At RHK, we hit each area. We help meet the immediate needs of the kids who come through the doors of RHK by making sure they are being fed and receiving their daily necessities. We work hard to make sure they hear Biblical truths and learn the ways of the streets are not what the Lord has for them. Our doors are open for kids as young as six years old, so we can “train them up in the way they should go, so when they are old, they will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

How exciting! We are touching the kids in each area. BUT we do have an area where we are lacking: preparing them for the days AFTER RHK. How are we equipping them for when they leave RHK? What does success look like for a graduate of RHK?

Society says, “Graduate high school, go to college, and get a job that pays X amount of dollars.” Well, I am going to be really honest with you. When you ask our kids, some will tell you they don’t expect to live until they’re 18. So, reaching 18 is a success. Keeping the kids safe and teaching them ways other than the streets is one way we can show them success.

Once they turn 18, what can we be doing? Life skills. We are lacking in teaching them how to do life. Financial security, job skills, emotional well-being, healthy habits, communication skills, just to name a few. Each item I listed can be intertwined with the teachings of Jesus. Who better than Jesus can teach us how to live successfully?

In the months of training with our UYWI coach, we will explore ways to define and refine how to make RHK even better for the kids who come; ways to point them to Jesus and see themselves as reflections of Him.

If this sounds exciting to you, we could use you on the team. We need more people to invest their time in the lives of our amazing young people; to believe in them, show them they are seen and worth fighting for. You will get just as much out of it as the kids, if not more! It will be the best investment you will ever make.

Blessings,

Dee Lacny, Executive Director, Rock House Kids