Motivation

I want to thank you for all you have done for our son Michael at Eva's Phoenix. It is far beyond anything we could have imagined. I'm still a little nervous to talk about anything past the training program since we haven't seen yet how Michael will actually fare in the work world. But I do know that if it wasn't for Eva's/Print Shop guidance, support and fabulous training, Michael would never have learned a skill or developed the confidence he now has to go out into the workforce.

We were extremely impressed with the Print Shop when we first had a tour of it with our son, but we had no idea whether Michael would be accepted into the program, or if he would be motivated enough to try to be accepted. Michael has not had success with school and does little to nothing if he's not motivated. Figuring out what motivates him is of course a challenge. While we of course knew Michael needed some form of training, he wasn't interested in anything. Therefore, the motivation issue was huge for us/him. What was going to motivate him? Bingo! You figured it out. You paid him for training. I truly don't think that he would have been motivated to enter the program or stick with the training if it wasn't for the pay you provided as an incentive. It's so, so important for people like Michael who don't see or understand things like the rest of us. It motivated him to get into the program and it motivated him to work hard to stay in the program. And at the end, he finished up with a skill.

My husband and I were really worried when Michael started the program because we knew of the high expectations you have for the trainees. Rightly so, but could our Michael actually get up in the morning and go at the required time? NEVER ever in his 18 years has he gotten up without a fight, and in the past few years he wouldn't get out of bed until at least noon. We consider it a miracle that Michael made it to class regularly at 7:30 and that once there he worked as hard as he did.

The life skills component of your program was extremely important for Michael too. Michael is not worldly wise and needed the basic kind of information about workplaces, looking for jobs, writing resumes, etc. that your program provided. Though we tried teaching him these types of things, he wasn't interested because it was all in the abstract.

I also think that while you realistically expected high standards from the trainees, you also understood the challenges people like Michael face (he has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) and the supports they require to achieve any kind of success. You stuck with him, worked out problems as they arose, AND YOU GAVE HIM A CHANCE at something that was real (as opposed to theoretical book-learning), hands-on and of value (skill training as opposed to abstract work).

How can we ever properly thank you? Michael will begin the job you helped him acquire next week. We are of course nervous about how he can and will handle himself in a real workplace, so I'm a little afraid of getting too excited about the job yet until we see how he does. But we never thought Michael would get this far, so who knows what might lie ahead. He's excited, motivated and skilled. He was none of those six months ago. You clearly developed a program for high-risk youth with a realistic understanding of their needs. By building a training program with such needs in mind, I believe you have given these kids the greatest gift imaginable - a chance to live by the fruit of their own labours. While my fingers are still crossed for Michael and probably will forever be so, he has come further than we ever dreamed because of your program. I am not overstating it by saying we are grateful to you from the bottom of our hearts.

How I Left the Shelter System

The family I grew up in was upper middle class-until we moved to Canada. After that, we became lower middle class at best; and our, until then reasonably successful family dynamic slowly started to fall apart. Soon after I reached the age of 17, I judged my situation at home unbearable; and two weeks later, I moved out unceremoniously without my parents' consent or knowledge. This, despite subsequent attempts of mine at reconciliation, seems to have left a permanent rift between me and my mother.

I lived on my own for about two years with varying degrees of success; but eventually ended up in a situation-brought on by an excess of youthful infatuation-that slowly drained me of all I had. I found myself financially ruined and, as a result of my shame over my impoverishment, alienated from all my friends. Soon thereafter, I had made the realization that I needed time to rebuild my life, In the middle of October, I came to my senses and moved from my shared room in an unheated house into Eva's Place, an emergency youth shelter, and had accepted that I had lost not only of all my money and most of my belongings, but also my friends. All I had left were a few changes of clothes and two books of my once extensive and much beloved library.

At Eva's Place, I spent some time resting to recover from all the adversity I had experienced; then I started to try to put my life back on track. In a few months, I moved into Eva's Phoenix, a youth shelter that allows homeless youth semi-independent living while still providing them with the support of a primary support worker on site.

My time at Eva's Phoenix was eventful: I went through two high school credit courses and two very positive, professionally meaningful jobs-the second of which I still hold. It was also through Eva's Phoenix that I became involved in a mentorship program. I have three mentors. By profession, one is an accountant, one a banker, and one a lawyer. They are all professionally successful; but, unlike the popular stereotypes of their professions, they are fundamentally good men. As I get to know them closer, I continue seeing more deeply into each of them, and know that they are men whose characters and fortunes are built upon countless lessons they have learned over the course of their life; and each lesson is one that I may yet come to learn from them.

It is perhaps difficult to define what exactly mentorship means, or what it is supposed to be; but I can easily note the most fundamental way in which my mentorship experience made a difference in my life as a homeless youth. It is influence. Though youth living in shelters are in many ways no different than anyone else; a pervasive quality in them is hopelessness. Many, it seems to me, have lost their hope and consequently their drive and inspiration; too many youths though bright, kind, and deserving of so much more simply no longer believe that their life will ever improve. This defeatist thinking is infectious. Time and time again, I myself was beset by doubt as to my own abilities, virtues, and even my very value in society. When one is surrounded by people with no hopes and dreams, one can start to lose one's own perspective as well.

My mentors' introduction into my life however introduced a fundamental counter-influence to my occasional bouts of self-doubt. Soon after our first few meetings, I came to realize that my mentors saw something in me. They saw many of the virtues that I always hoped, but often doubted, that I had. They saw opportunities ahead of me. They saw potential in me for achievements that I had stopped allowing myself to even dream about. I also recognized that my mentors were living examples that ought to be followed: three men who have known more needful times before, who have worked and studied hard to earn their place in life and society, who have achieved that most joyous goal of building a family for themselves. My occasional glimpses of their lives filled me with motivation and hope. I saw with my very eyes that success and a measure of happiness in life is entirely possible, and achievable through goal-setting and hard work.

Our regular interactions were of tremendous value to me, as my mentors' freely given and gratefully accepted wisdom and advice began to guide me in the right direction, even when my instincts might have otherwise led me astray. Among other things, it was in large part due to their support that I was able to move out into my own apartment at the end of my stay at Eva's Phoenix. Though I had adequate savings and a job in my profession, as my time to move out slowly approached, I suddenly started doubting myself and my security in the world once I leave the shelter system. I actually had all but made up my mind that I would move back into Eva's Place at the end of my time, and spend a few more months being homeless, until I felt even more secure financially. On our Christmas meeting, I told my mentors about my decision. They could hardly believe what they were hearing. They thought that my choice would needlessly prolong my homelessness. They assured that they were certain that I was more than ready to reclaim my life and my independence; and that my financial and employment standing was certainly enough security for me to be able to do so. Initially I was not fully convinced, but through subsequent conversation and continued support from my mentors; I carried through my belatedly started but successful plan of moving into an apartment of my own.

Today I live in my own bachelor apartment in a high rise at an adequately pleasant area of town. I continue to work at the second job I held during my time at Eva's Phoenix, and my employer strongly appreciates my work and continues to challenge me in ways that further propel me along my chosen career path. I now look back and think very gratefully of my Christmas meeting with my mentors. I wonder if I would be anywhere near where I am today, had I stayed in the shelter system; or if instead I would have succumbed to hopelessness and self-doubt and let pass the opportunities that were mine for the taking.

To this day, I continue to meet regularly with my mentors, and stay in touch via telephone and email in between meetings. They continue to be a source of both wisdom and inspiration for me. They keep opening my eyes to possibilities that I did not even see before, and guide me along the paths toward realizing them. But first and foremost, they continue to be excellent examples of professional and personal success for me to try to strive for, and thus to continually better myself to the best of my abilities.

My mentorship experience found me promising but broken, and helped me heal and build a life for myself. Imagine what mentorship can do for you...

Roland
Toronto, Ontario