A Crisis for Real Men
The absence of positive male role models in the inner cities translates to increased crime, higher dropout rates and more violence among young males. Families with poor male role models leave adolescent boys caught in a vicious cycle of poverty and underachievement, often with fatal consequences.

As a boy I longed to be loved and accepted by my dad. Although physically present, he was preoccupied with alcohol and his own insecurities and wasn’t able to be there for me. Feeling rejected, I searched for love. In and out of juvenile hall, I dropped out of school and was on probation by the time I was 16.

Between the ages of 16 and 26 my brother Benny died in a drunk driving accident, my cousin Michael overdosed from heroin, my cousin Tim died of an AIDS related illness and one of my best friends, James, committed suicide.

By age 25 I had become a jaded drug addict. It was then that Howard reached out to me. He talked to me about God and showed me how much my true Father loved me. He and his other buddies at church loved and accepted me. They taught and showed me how to love others like Jesus.

The absence of positive male role models in the inner cities translates to increased crime, higher dropout rates and more violence among young males. Families with poor male role models leave adolescent boys caught in a vicious cycle of poverty and underachievement, often with fatal consequences.

There is a crisis for real men in the world today. Here are some facts about the men of today:

• Men commit 90% of major crimes.
• Men commit 99% of all rapes.
• Men commit 95% of all thefts.
• Men commit 91% of all offences against the family.
• Men commit 94% of all drunken driving accidents.

Boys need dads, grandfathers, coaches, mentors and brothers who they can look up to.
Boys with absent fathers desperately need positive male role models to love and guide them.

If you're a male disciple reading this then I believe God is calling you to be for our inner city boys the man who you wanted or were blessed to have as a young boy.

It might be too late for my brother Benny and my other friends, but it’s not too late for young boys who live in Philadelphia, Seattle, Baltimore, New Orleans, Jamaica, Cambodia and Indonesia (2008 HYC sites).

Jesus delighted in children and said that they were the greatest in the kingdom. He said that if anyone would cause a child to sin it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

As Christians and men of God, we are all called to follow Jesus…follow him into the margins, into the inner city streets of America and the rest of the world; to delight in, protect and guide our youth because they are the hope of our future.

Year after year, it is a struggle to find young men who are eager to serve on HOPE Youth Corps. This year, we have a two to one ratio for female to male participants for many of our sites. We have to ask ourselves, why is it so hard to find males who are eager to serve?

As a young male, you are needed more than ever to serve! HOPE Youth Corps still has spots available for male participants and we encourage you to apply! We even have many slots available, where you serve 300 hours over four to six weeks and earn $2,100 divided between living allowance and scholarship funds for your education.

If you can’t serve this summer, please start planning for next summer! Thanks for taking the time to read, and we hope you apply!

To learn more about our HOPE Youth Corps program and to apply, please visit www.hopeww.org/hyc.