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  • Changing young people's lives at Friends for Youth - planetcirculate

    Changing young people’s lives at Friends for Youth


    Growing up, Juan Cuevas didn’t have many dreams or aspirations.

    Like many other immigrant children who come from poverty, Cuevas could see how his family lived day to day, week to week, year to year.

    It just wasn’t in his nature or upbringing to think long-term. So when asked that proverbial question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” as a child, Cuevas lied.

    “I made something up,” he said. “All I knew was I didn’t want to be a gardener like my dad, but I never had any goals, never had any dreams like that.”

    In middle school, Cuevas struggled with grades. And his parents, who didn’t have much schooling themselves, couldn’t help him. A shy kid, he struggled to make friends and isolated himself socially. He knew not to even ask his parents about extracurricular activities or going out; he already knew the answer — they didn’t have any money.

    But one day everything changed for Cuevas. On an off chance, in the hallway at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Redwood City, he was approached by a friend boasting about all these new things he got to do with his new “mentor” through a program called “Friends for Youth.”

    Going to the movies? Kayaking? Camping? Making friends? It all sounded like exactly what Cuevas had been missing.

    Juan Cuevas, a mentee turned mentor at Friends for Youth, poses for a photograph at the San Mateo Central Park in San Mateo, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Friends for Youth Wish Book. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
    Juan Cuevas, a mentee turned mentor at Friends for Youth, poses for a photograph at the San Mateo Central Park in San Mateo, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Friends for Youth Wish Book. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

    “He told me all the things he would do, that he would get one-on-one help and talks,” Cuevas said. “I said, ‘Oh man, I want that.’ I never got that one on one with my parents. We never went out anywhere because of financial stuff. To this day I’m so thankful for that friend because it turned my life around.”

    Since 1979, Friends for Youth has worked to empower underserved youth through mentorship and community relationships, forging long-lasting friendships between mentors and mentees and building new skills, teaching new hobbies and offering experiences many low-income folks just don’t get the chance at.

    For Cuevas, the program was transformative. He started at 13 and stayed for two years, working with his mentor to raise his grades, plan for the future and reach inside himself to find out what inspired him in life.

    To continue changing the lives of more young people like Cuevas, Friends for Youth is seeking $30,000 through Wish Book to expand mentoring services for struggling, low-income students at San Mateo and Santa Clara County schools.

    “We have an immense need for social interaction and social-emotional learning on school campuses for students to feel connected to their school communities and thrive in education,” Associate Director of Friends for Youth Christine Akhtar said. “The money will fund two pilot programs in new school districts, serving 20 additional students, and will also help us increase our 1-to-1 mentorship matches by 10. This translates to 30 new students and their families served for a total impact of 120 individuals.”

    Through the program, Cuevas had his first adventures, experiences he never thought possible as he had been stunted by a lack of money. He went kayaking for the first time with his mentor in Elkhorn Slough, and to this day whenever he passes by it, he remembers the youthful joy he felt at the time, and how wondrous and new it all seemed.

    By the time he got to high school, Cuevas said he started getting serious about his life.

    “I realized I liked visiting new places, I wanted to travel and I wanted the kind of life my mentor had,” Cuevas said. “She was successful, a DEA agent, had a house, had a good family, and I remember thinking, ‘I want to do that too.’”

    Cuevas finished high school, went to college, traveled across California and the country and learned about himself through it, always keeping the advice his mentor gave him handy – to always try new things. Cuevas, 38, now works in human resources in Silicon Valley, and as a way to give back, he volunteered to get his own mentee through Friends for Youth two years ago. He lives in Belmont.

    “I started thinking, I’d like to be that change for someone like me the way my mentor did for me,” Cuevas said. “I didn’t realize it at the time because I was young, but as an adult, I realize it had such a huge impact on me. I had more friends, I became more outgoing and opened myself up to new things. I wanted to give that to somebody who might have been in my position.”

    For Akthar, the money will help reach more kids like Cuevas, and hopefully, show them a new life is possible.

    “We believe that those best suited to serve the community are from the communities themselves, and our goal is to stay connected to our youth after their year-long mentoring programs end,” Akhtar said. “We include their voices in developing programs and engage them as speakers and peer mentors, with the goal of hiring alumni mentees as interns, and eventually, staff and leadership.”


    THE WISH BOOK SERIES
    Wish Book is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operated by The Mercury News. Since 1983, Wish Book has been producing a series of stories during the holiday season that highlight the wishes of those in need and invites readers to help fulfill them.

    WISH
    Donations will help Friends for Youth expand its mentoring services within San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Goal: $30,000

    HOW TO GIVE
    Donate at wishbook.mercurynews.com or mail in the coupon.

    ONLINE EXTRA
    Read other Wish Book stories, view photos and video at wishbook.mercurynews.com.



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