Our Stories:

David was referred to CROSSROADS by a probation officer at the Harris County Youth Village in Seabrook, TX. He had no goals or ambitions besides being a rapper. He lacked motivation and self-esteem. The probation officer felt he would benefit greatly from a positive adult in his life. David wasn’t excited, at first, about getting a mentor, yet said he was willing to give the program a try. This sixteen-year-old kid was assigned to a 66 year-old female volunteer. Why?

David’s mother abandoned him and his family when he was four. When he was fourteen his father left, too. At the innocent age of fourteen David was left in a cold, unloving, uncaring world: alone. He was put in the custody of Child Protective Services and looking to belong to a family, he joined a gang. He was finally put on probation for carrying a weapon to school. This young man needed nurturing.

His CROSSROADS mentor saw something in him that many people had overlooked…his potential for success. She saw how intelligent, funny, compassionate, and incredible this young man was. She mentored with him at the Youth Village for 9 months.

With the encouragement of his mentor, this now seventeen-year-old kid has received his GED and has signed up for classes at Houston Community College. What does David want to be now? Not a rapper, but a drug and alcohol counselor. He wants to work with boys, who like himself have made bad decisions. He wants to give them hope, just as his most unlikely friend gave him hope.

THANK YOU
You helped me through my Problems
You helped me through my Past
But most of all You helped me
To help good feelings last

You got me through some real rough days
You brought real food to eat
You made it so, through every game,
I was never in defeat.

You helped me let things go
You helped me let things pass,
And you didn’t show your disappointment
When I gave some girls some “sass“.

You changed my mind on many things
And I thank you in advance
You‘re my angel from up above
And I thank you for my chance.

(Valentine’s Day poem from youth to her mentor)

Superbowl XXXVIII Houston makes a positive impact on Crossroads

Crossroad’s Youth from the Harris County Youth village were able to share in this excitement as they experienced history by working out and running practice drills in the Texans “bubble” training facility with some of the NFL players. The boys were treated with sports bags filled with football memorabilia. The NFL also provided football souvenirs that were distributed to youth at the Brown school.

NFL players also went to Burnett Bayland Home and visited with 71 boys who listened to motivational speeches, which were followed by photo opportunities and autographs. The NFL players that participated were, Chukie Nworkoria -Defensive End - Green Bay Packers, Roland Williams - Tight End -Tampa Bay Buckaneers, Zack Crocket - Running Back - Oakland Raiders, Jabar Gaffney -Wide Receiver - Texans, Chad Stanley - Wide Receiver - Texans, Josh McCown - Quarterback - Arizona Cardinals and Jonathan Wells - Running Back - Texans.

Below are excerpts taken from thank you letters written to CROSSROADS from the youth that attended:

“I also felt good because we got to have some kind of fun, instead of being in the Youth Village. We weren’t identified as bad juveniles, we were doing good”.

“It was a very positive experience, it gave me the chance to get out and look back on my old football days”.

“Meeting Warren Moon with his Houston Oilers jersey was so cool”.

“I really enjoyed the practice drills with the pro’s. Being able to do this made me feel like I was in my neighborhood playing the game I love”.

(Client names have been changed to protect their identity.)