We Are Committed to Supporting Boys, Men and Dads In Their Communities |
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Greetings!
Happy New Year and prosperous 2021! We would like to thank you for helping our organization drive sustainable change for boys, young men, men, fathers, and families in Santa Cruz County. As we say goodbye to 2020 and asher in 2021 we are determined to advocate and support children, fathers, and families in Santa Cruz County.
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MENtors Completes Successful Santa Cruz Gives Campaign!
Thanks to all who donated to MENtors through the Good Times Santa Cruz Gives Campaign. We finished with almost 8 thousand dollars in contributions, putting us in the middle of the forty non-profits that participated. We were also in the top ten in the number of donations received! In addition, Mentors received generous end of year contributions that came directly from local donors. Great work all, and thank you so much!
Special acknowledge to Kaiser Permanent, Granite Construction, and Lookout Santa Cruz for their support of our campaign and mission.
Just a reminder that you can give to MENtors anytime through our website. If you get a stimulus check you don’t need, think of supporting MENtors with a donation!
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Upcoming Event
On Saturday, January 30th, between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm Mentors will be sponsoring a ZOOM interactive talk entitled, “Deepening Your Communication with Relational Parenting”. Partners, Saliha Bava, Ph.D. Couple and Family Therapist and Mark Greene, Activist and Speaker on Men’s Issues, will be presenting useful strategies regarding relationships within the family and beyond. Mr. Greene gave the opening speech at MENtor’s year-end conference. He was so well received that he agreed to come back, along with his wife, Saliha, and lead the upcoming talk.
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Mindfulness is one of the important focus components in all our group meetings with boys, young men, and fathers. Each session starts with a 5-10 minute invitation to retreat to the inner core of our being, where we concentrate on self-awareness, self-care, and self-nurturing. As boys, men, and dads we have been preoccupied with titles, accomplishments, responsibilities, and education, yet we all need self-nurturing and connection with our inner child. Unfortunately, this self-care is not taught at school, so regrettably we don’t have the tools to find the inner peace that we all desire. We end up resorting to tough love and harsh words for ourselves. Thankfully, the act of mindfulness brings us the awareness to self-nurture and tend to the important task of supporting our identity and essence as human beings. Each time we go through the ritual of focusing inward, we come back to ourselves with a greater appreciation of love, care, kindness, and compassion—things we don’t usually receive from the outside world. Our mindfulness exercises are reminders and a permission slip to take time to nurture and love ourselves so that our inner voice is kind, patient, and forgiving—our pace is gentle, our breathing slow and full. In the words of Nayyirah Waheed, “Be softer with you. You are a breathing thing. A memory to someone. A home to a life.”
By the number: 10 months 66 days, 121 sessions 22.10 hours
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100 MENtors Who Care Santa Cruz County Update |
On the following Saturday, February 20th, at 10:00 am our 100 MENtors group will be meeting virtually for their second “Book Club” gathering. Co-ordinating the meeting will be Mentor’s own David Stockhausen, a Santa Cruz Transformational Life Coach. David will be focusing on connection and communication in our ongoing human relationships.
Communication is at the heart of our world. Whether we are communicating in a public role, in business, or in our private lives, how we communicate with others defines our relationships. And our relationships define our well being and the well being of those around us.
Our 100Mentors reading group will start in 2021 with a short excerpt from the Zen priest and author Thich Nhat Hanh’s book The Art of Communication. Please join us on February 20th via Zoom to discuss this piece. We hope that all of the 100 Mentors will attend and help us build a schedule for the spring. A PDF of The Art of Communication article excerpt will be sent out soon via email to members.
The material should make for some interesting conversations!
Contact David at david@ironjohncoaching.com.
Sometime in March, 100 MENtors will be again gathering for a social event. There are some new members that need to be introduced. Be prepared to share your thoughts on the coming year. We are hoping to be able to meet in person this summer!
We like to welcome our new 100 MENtors and congratulate them in helping us drive our mission and goals to guide coach, and mentor boys, young men, men, and dads in our community.
- Kyle Coulter, Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors
- Gary Williamson, Retired West Marin Merchant
- Doug Underhill, Community Bridges CFO
- Bill Dickenson, Founder of Smith Society and Philanthropist
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MENtors programming is still conducting its client meetings via ZOOM. Participation remains steady and is poised to increase this Spring and Summer. A lot depends on a return to in-person schooling and the widespread distribution of the Covid vaccine. Currently, Deutron is handling all of the groups, but it is possible that we may need to hire additional staff in the near future.
Best Wishes,
The MENtors Board of Directors
Deutron Kebebew, Executive Director
Rob Allen
Buzz Anderson
Richard Davis
John Williams
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MENtors Driving Change for Boys, Men and Dads
Phone: (831) 588-7592
Office address: 15 Madison St
Watsonville, CA 95076
Mailing address: PO Box 1585
Freedom CA 95019
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