INDIANAPOLIS — Each month, WRTV recognizes the unsung heroes in our community. We award the Jefferson Award for Multiplying Good to people who work tirelessly to make central Indiana a better place for all of us.
This month's recipients are a husband and wife duo working to make an impact on Indy's youth.
"Our goal is just to keep our young people engaged," said Kareem Hines, founder of New Breed of Youth or New Boy Mentoring Youth and Development Program. "We are not even six months into the year and we are losing a lot of our young people, girls and boys."
Hines says he grew up on the streets of Harlem and a mentor helped pull him out and put him on pace for success.
He came to Indianapolis where he met his now wife, Chrystal.
Chrystal grew up in Indianapolis and attended IPS schools. She says as the child of young parents, she was lucky to have a village of helpers and mentors surrounding her to keep her on the right path, so she too is passionate about leading young girls.
She created the Inner Beauty Program in Indy to help mentor and provide experiences for young ladies in Indianapolis.
The two organizations, New Boy and Inner Beauty, partner in the summer for programming almost everyday of the week.
"We've got a lot of graduates in the program this year and so we are watching their pictures, and we've been invited to their graduations, their open houses," said Chrystal Hines. "And that is amazing to see our kids be able to walk across stages."
This summer, the pair are putting on day camps and activities to keep kids engaged. The goal is to have fun. But mixed inside the sports programming, cooking classes and more -- there are messages and lessons.
They say it challenges kids to develop their characters, build self-esteem, make good choices and re-frame goals for their futures.
These summer programs are provided at little to no cost for families, which is also a goal of the organizations.
But on one day this June as the kids played basketball in the gym, WRTV stopped by with a special guest to give Kareem and Chrystal a big surprise.
Eric Whisler is a mentee of the pair who was one of the people to nominate them for the Jefferson Award for Multiplying Good.
He waited in the wings with their medals as WRTV arranged a photograph of the kids with Kareem and Chrystal.
After surprising the pair with their award, he shared more about how they made an impact on his life and set him up for future success.
"From the moment I met the two of them, they welcomed me as like literally in their family," said Whisler. "They've really worked on me from the inside out. They built me up as a young entrepreneur. Mr. Kareem has helped to build me up as a young man, because they met me when I was 14 years old. His energy, his cadence, the way he speaks and holds himself, really just shines through so well. So you really get to see just a portion of his history living through each and every person here. When they leave the earth one day, the evidence will still be of what they did."
If you want to learn more about either of these organizations -- how to help them or get your child involved -- visit IBNBMENTOR.ORG or NEWBREEDOFYOUTH.ORG.
