“He’s one of Susan’s success stories,” says Amanda.
For what had felt like a long while, Randy, Amanda’s oldest son, was struggling.
“He didn’t want to do any kind of work, be part of any kind of club,” remembers Amanda, “He was aggressive. He was a loner and wanted to be by himself.”
As much as she cared, hoped and dreamed for her teenage son’s future, Randy didn’t seem to care about anything. He didn’t have direction or purpose and was going down a bad path.
“He was getting in trouble at school. He was getting in trouble with the police. It got to the point where he got a one-week suspension from school,” Amanda laments.
But it wasn’t just Amanda who saw Randy losing touch with the things that mattered. Susan, his CityKidz captain and Kevin, his mentor at CityYouth also saw the young teen losing his way. He was bursting with potential, but also anger and frustration at the different roadblocks and speedbumps that seemed to keep popping up in his life.
So, working together, Amanda, Susan and Kevin tried to help Randy see a hopeful future for himself and to map out a path towards it.
“And then he started smartening up,” says Amanda.
His turbulent energy found direction in his high school’s football team. His indifference found purpose volunteering as part of the Saturday Squad.
Because of CityYouth, says Amanda, “he knows he’s setting an example for other kids. He knows if he’s in trouble at home or in the community he knows he’s not going to have the opportunity to go to CityYouth.”
Amanda is proud of and grateful for her son’s growing maturity. He’s involved in his community, he’s going to school, he dreams of a professional football career but is also looking at pursuing a trade.
“He’s gone from I don’t care to I want to make a difference,” Amanda says with pride.