 |
| Vision Youth |
| | in Appalachia
|
Dedicated to Helping Young People Thrive, Succeed |
|
Bobby Benavides is there for kids like C.J. Even at 5:30 in the morning when the phone rings and he just wants to talk. And most days, he feels like talking. “I’m up at 4:30 anyway, so why not,” he teases his mentor, who wouldn’t mind sleeping in a bit longer. But Bobby is a Vision Youth outreach worker in Philippi, West Virginia, and C.J. is a seventh-grader who has turned to Bobby for friendship and guidance. A little sleep is a small price to pay for making a positive difference in the life of a young man like C.J. The teen has plenty of caring women in his life, but no relationship with his dad, and that void was beginning to take a toll on the young man’s confidence and self esteem. “I was a real pain in the behind,” he says, laughing as he launches himself from a large boulder onto Bobby’s back. C.J. started coming to Bobby’s youth outreach activities at People’s Church when the group numbered a mere handful. He was disruptive and showed little interest in anything—until Bobby showed an interest in him.
“He’s like a brother to me. I like to have someone to talk to, and he teaches me a lot,” C.J. says. |
|
 |
|
C.J. hitches a ride with youth outreach worker Bobby Benavides. Bobby is in Appalachia to help carry the burden for young people like C.J. who need the influence of a caring adult in their lives. |
Before he met Bobby, he was doing poorly in school. Today he’s thinking about college and a life of service to others.“Before I knew him, I had no ideas about the future.”
Life in its Fullness
Vision Youth is a church-based initiative that reaches out to young people who need the presence of a caring, stable adult in their lives—someone to whom they can turn with questions, troubles, or pain. Vision Youth develops relationships with children and teens, offering tutoring, mentoring, and opportunities for safe, positive activities. Its programs help young people live life in all its fullness by giving them the tools they need to succeed and share their gifts with others. It helps mold them into the next generation of community leaders with the heart and desire to build strong, healthy communities for children.
Bobby sees his job as providing guidance and inspiration to young people like C.J. He listens and offers alternatives to the cycle of hopelessness pervasively wound into communities that suffer from a struggling economy and lack of opportunity. Today, C.J. not only faithfully attends all of Bobby’s outreach and church activities, he has recruited a number of his friends and family to join him.“Now kids are looking at him as kind of a role model,” Bobby says.
| |
|
