Stone of Hope Youth

Our after school program is a large help to our youths’ families because they know their children are in a safe place while they are getting home from work or leaving for work. This continues to relieve one more responsibility for them, even if it is for just a few hours where they do not have to worry about getting their children to an activity that will be safe, impactful, and fun.

Because of our belief in these boys, knowing that each one has the potential to succeed - despite their circumstance - we are committed to seeing these boys through their upper elementary, middle school and high school careers. Our vision is to grant partial scholarships to each of the boys, who stay in the program until high school graduation, to go on to attend a four-year university, a two-year college, or a trade school. Our hope is that they will grow into successful, Godly young men who will positively impact their families and communities. Our weekly mentor sessions, monthly service projects, mini camps, and summer leadership camp aim to teach leadership skills, daily structure, team building, and life-skills as well as empower students to make a difference in their community.

Our program is more strategic than similar organizations as we have organized time that we mentor on a weekly basis at their schools. We consistently work hand in hand with their parents, foster parents, social workers, teachers, principals, and probation officers to ensure that they receive the proper resources and guidance for their wellbeing. We will mentor each of the boys for years, from the time they enter our program as most do in the fifth grade, to the day they graduate high school. The Stone of Hope Youth mentorship program guides disadvantaged youths to a better future. We provide a safe place, positive role models, a learning environment, and we have access to resources that provide food, clothing, and emotional support to families and students as needs arise. We provide weekly mentoring, monthly service projects, mini camps, and a summer leadership camp to encourage them throughout the entire year. We focus on improving the health and activity levels of our youth as well as teaching discipline and leadership skills in a fun and engaging way to those youth in the program as measured by consistency in attendance and personal, individual growth through the Positive Youth Development model (5Cs).

Some of the activities that we incorporate in our program include:

- Leadership games that incorporate our core values of hope, integrity, love, perseverance, and honor;
- Financial Literacy through the Ramsey Solutions curriculum;
- Teaching the importance of exercise through CrossFit, obstacle courses, and sports;
- Life lessons that provide practical know-how such as changing a tire or the oil in a vehicle;
- One-day mini camps throughout the year for team building and to experience new activities such as snowshoeing and rock climbing where we will provide transportation;
- Service projects such as park clean-ups, Stone of Hope Youth Community Greenhouse work, free community pictures with Santa, animal shelter murals, project to help the elderly with West Valley City Hall, and more where we will provide transportation;
- Field trips for students to experience university football games, bowling, theme parks, and planetariums that they may not normally have access or funds to experience where we will provide transportation;
- And standard methods of combating trauma and depression, emotional outbursts, and plenty of contact with parents.

Some of our past accomplishments include:

-June 2022: Our fourth annual Summer Leadership Camp with 48 youth attending for four days and three nights at Camp UTABA where the boys learned basic life skills, practiced archery, competed in team building activities, faced their fears of swimming, and learned how to fish and build a fire.
-2021-2022: Our Mission to Mars STEM Project, with 20 youth enrolled, is designed to generate interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics subjects and future careers.
-November 2021 : Savers Thrift Store to fundraise and donate 3,718 pounds of clothing to those in need.
-June 2021:Our third annual Summer Leadership Camp with 26 youth attending for four days and three nights at Camp UTABA where the boys learned basic life skills, practiced archery, competed in team building activities, faced their fears on a ropes course, and learned how to fish and build a fire. During camp, they also visited Weber State College and spent the final day at Lagoon theme park.
-March 2021: We began our Stone of Hope Youth Community Garden as a service project for our youth, where all of the produce grown will go back to support their families.
-April 2021: Our Indoor Rock Climbing Mini Camp helped our youth and their families experience something new, work on trust, and this also taught them to face their fears.
-February 2021: We began our financial literacy course by Ramsey Solutions to help our youth break the cycle of generational poverty and create wealth, focusing on appropriately giving, saving, and spending.
-February 2021: Our Snowshoeing Mini Camp where our youth and their families experienced snowshoeing for the first time in the Wasatch Mountains. They learned to appreciate all that God has given to us through His creation.
-August 2020: Our first Family Lagoon Celebration. The boys earned a celebration for their commitment to online mentoring during COVID-19.
-August 2020: Our first annual social distancing Mini Summer Leadership Camp with 22 youth in attendance and more volunteers than ever before! We spent one morning emulating the activities we typically provide at summer camp, but with masks, sanitation, and social distancing.
-April 2020: Began a new online mentoring program with our youth due to the COVID-19 shut down.
-April-May 2020: Taco dinners for all the families as an encouragement at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We supported a local small business taco restaurant where two of our boy’s mothers worked.
-2019-2020: We introduced service days as part of our Adventure Legacy After-School Mentor Program. Service days included volunteering at the local animal shelter by painting a mural; prepping medicine bottles for Vial of Life for the elderly in partnership with West Valley City Hall; packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for children overseas; etc.