Adrian Thomas and his co-workers noticed a problem. Young men without a father around are much more likely to get into trouble. As a program manager at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee he wants to help those young men in Milwaukee and offer some positive adult male role models.
“Based on our work here at the Boys and Girls club, we saw that our young men needed to be embraced in a real way,” says Thomas.
He’s working on a new project at the Boys and Girls club called MEN in Action. MEN stands for Mentoring, Educating and Networking. MEN in Action assists young men in Milwaukee, often African-American, by holding weekly sessions with them and identifying obstacles in their lives, then figuring out how to overcome them.
Thomas says, “It’s all about connecting with them and helping them see that no matter what circumstances they come from, they can succeed and we’re here to help them.”
MEN in Action work to understand the specific issues affecting these youth so they can be better prepared to help them. They’re able to point youth in the right direction and get them resources to help themselves and grow into strong role models for the future.
Produced by Benjamin Wick
