Making A Change Over the Years

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Robert “Bob” Corrigan has always been an avid outdoorsman and enjoys getting in touch with nature, hunting, and recharging from his busy schedule with the simplicity of the outdoors. He is also our second longest running board member, next to Youth Odyssey founder, Kim Cox. There’s an expression, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” and that proved true when it came to Bob finding out about Youth Odyssey. His good friend Andrew Sanson, Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife at the time, was headed to Corpus Christi to be a part of Youth Odyssey’s annual fundraiser. He invited Bob to attend and suggested that he “get familiar with [the Youth Odyssey] organization” because he knew [Bob] was big into the outdoors and aware of the “need” for both youth and adults to enjoy nature. Lucky for Youth Odyssey, Bob attended the fundraiser and met Kim Cox and Darlene Avery, our Executive Director at the time; shortly after he joined our board. When Bob chose to serve on the Board of Directors, Youth Odyssey was only a few years old and he is still with us 12 years later. Talk about staying power! 

What drew Bob to join the Youth Odyssey team was how different Youth Odyssey was, and still is from other organizations. We make it possible for youth to gain experience in the outdoors and we make it affordable since our Adventure Challenge Programs are free of cost for youth; and our camps only require a deposit, the rest is sponsored by the community. That way, everyone can have a chance to participate. In Bob’s words he says, “I believe that inside all of us, to mentally and physically mature, we need to connect with the [natural environment].”

CBCFyoThe main influencing factor of  Bob’s dedication to Youth Odyssey is the impact we are having on the youth and their future.  He loves hearing the passion when you talk to Superintendents and Special Programs Heads that have moved around their tight budgets to find funds for Youth Odyssey to keep our programs in their schools. They fight for us each year when budget cuts seek to eliminate extra programs because they believe in us and have the seen the results we produce.

Bob shared a story of a young man, “about 8 or 10 years ago, who was number one in his class and had every potential in the world. Unfortunately, he got involved with the wrong people and his grades and attendance plummeted. His parents were actually the ones who came to [Youth Odyssey] seeking help. So, we worked with him intensively and by the time it was his chance to graduate from high school, he was back at the top of his class and had received a scholarship to attend Annapolis Naval Academy.” It is stories like these that let Bob know that the work he is a part of with Youth Odyssey is truly making a difference; and can change the mindset of a child from defeat to one of accomplishment and trust

Bob got involved with Youth Odyssey on the ground floor, so to CBCF award 9_16_2015speak, and at times it was challenging to keep our little non-profit initiative afloat. Bob mentioned how, he had to dig into his own pockets to pull us up by our bootstraps so we could keep going. He shared how in the beginning, they relied heavily on funding from federal grants; and at that time, grants were awarded based on “how many people you touched, not how many of them were [affected] by our programming. It was all about the numbers.” It wasn’t until Bob spoke with a friend, Gary Leach, that he realized a change in focus was needed. Gary suggested that Youth Odyssey needed to get into the “adjunct delivery process”, reaching out to youth through an organization like the Corpus Christi Independent School District. Where you know you’re going to see the same kids over and over. That way you’re going to be able to measure the impact you’re having through surveys and observations.” By changing the focus we were able to get the numbers that grants wanted to see and, therefore, we were able to be awarded more and more grants on both the federal and local levels.

Currently, Youth Odyssey is having its best year to date and we hope to keep that trend rising in 2016 and years to come. Part of Youth Odyssey’s growth means that we will be able to evolve as an organization as we acquire more resources. Bob has a vision of where he would like to see Youth Odyssey go from here as they look to the future. One of Bob’s goals would be to track down and find people we touched years ago through Youth Odyssey programming and see what they are up to now: “The question, I think, isn’t just asking the young kids in our programs now how Youth Odyssey had effected them, but to reach out and find those who were in Youth Odyssey years ago and see what they have to say about how [our programming and activities] impacted their life and the choices they’ve made since then.” Another one of his goals for Youth Odyssey is to create brand/name recognition throughout the community and on a larger scale as well: “I’d just love to be able to reach more kids. Through communication and outreach to promote awareness and educate the public [on Youth Odyssey’s mission] and then the funds will be there. [Funds to] establish a Youth Odyssey headquarters and allow it to be open to the public looking for more information, to improve recognition of Youth Odyssey in the community and elevate us among those who give to philanthropic organizations, [and funds to hire more staff members so we can] increase our presence at local meetings [and create ambassadors for Youth Odyssey].”

Though none of these will happen overnight, if we continue to grow as we have in 2015, then we are well on our way to meeting and exceeding our goals.

Grande Cares Checka July 2014