LCC Corpsmembers stepped up to the plate and displayed their leadership skills to a group of young mentees. The mentees were 12 – 18 year olds participating in Habitat for Humanity Fresno County and United One Productions’ Growing Hope community garden project at the Mary Ella Brown Community Center in west Fresno.

The four week partnership gave youth with the garden project a chance to see what steps their older peers are taking to rebuild their lives while giving Corpsmembers an opportunity to experience, firsthand, the benefits of mentoring. Once a week, Growing Hope participants came to our Neighborhood Youth Center for summer life skills sessions which included team-building activities that were developed and facilitated by LCC Corpsmembers in collaboration with staff. Corpsmembers also led a group tour and shared with the younger students the challenges they’ve had to face while working to change their lives in more positive ways. 

As part of their service and leadership commitment to the community and in celebration of the successful Growing Hope summer mentoring program, LCC Corpsmembers organized and implemented a youth carnival at the Mary Ella Brown Community Center.

Feedback from the Habitat for Humanity Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator Sabrina Kelley was very positive as she commented, “[This] is truly how innovation begins when people are willing to work outside of the box to find a new solution to the old problem of preparing youth to be productive, active and responsible citizens!”

Congratulations Corpsmembers for setting such a great example and teaching our youth that change does happen!