I first met Xavier at our Family Empowerment Camp this past October. He seemed to be a pretty good kid. He was very excited to be out at the camp and even more excited for all the activities we had planned (especially fishing). After getting to know his mom a little bit, I learned more about Xavier as well. Yolanda is a single mom who works for the local police department. The best father figures Xavier has are the police officers who work with his mom. Of course Yolanda does her absolute best when it comes to raising a great kid but I think we can all agree parenting is tough, especially when you are doing it by yourself. I learned that Xavier had been struggling in school. He struggled not only academically, but socially and behaviorally as well.
The Family Empowerment Camp was a great success and everyone had a great time! Shortly after the camp, Xavier’s mom reached out to us again. She wanted to know if there was a way to get Xavier involved in our after school programs. Of course the answer was a resounding YES! He ended up joining our program at Martin Middle School. After just a couple of weeks, we got a fantastic message from his mom!
"Xavier has been with Youth Odyssey for just a little while, but it's already making a big difference in his behavior at school. He looks forward to Monday now. I can't thank you enough!"Xavier's Mother, Yolanda
Just three weeks after that, she reaches out again! This time with even better news...
“He was really struggling with school. But I just had a conference call with his teachers and am so excited to say, he is showing a HUGE improvement. Not just grades, but his teachers referred to him as a model student. I have happy tears! I honestly believe it has everything to do with his participation in Youth Odyssey.”Xavier's Mother, Yolanda
Gabby who has been working with Xavier at the Martin program has seen a big improvement in him as well. She said, Xavier has grown so much during her program at Martin. He began the program shy but excited to learn. Now he is not shy at all and often times takes on a leadership role in games and he is the youngest youth in the program!
A Track Record of Success!
Xavier's story is just one of many success stories to come from our programs. You can read Donovan's blog about how Youth Odyssey changed his life or check out our Testimonial Page of our website. Youth, Parents, and people in our community are always sharing how great our programs are and how much impact they've seen them have. You can join us in making a difference by getting involved in our Summer Fiesta coming up May 10th! The Fiesta will help us send kids like Xavier to summer camp. We can't wait to see you there!
