BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont nonprofit is helping troubled teens break the cycle and turn their lives around.
ReVision is a nonprofit looking for volunteers to spend time with teens that are in the program. Many of the teens have found themselves in trouble at school or in a juvenile detention center and are on probation.
Volunteers with reVision would be spending just one hour a week with mentees for six months up to a year.
Program Director Joe Evans says he's found that the key to reducing criminal behavior in young people is to focus on building a positive community.
"We see on the news every day that our young people are committing crimes that will not only take away from the quality of life from others but their quality of life as they transition into adulthood. So, we see the need," said Evans.
A group of Beaumont city leaders are working to break the cycle of juvenile justice involvement.
Evans says the group does this by providing a variety of services that include education and employment support, life skills and housing assistance.
"If they need counseling we try to provide counseling, if they need tutoring we try to provide tutoring. If they're older teens or younger adults we try to help them with vocational skills, job skills, just the positive life skills they'll need to become productive citizens," Evans said.
Positive reinforcement is something that one of the teens in the program wishes he had growing up. He is currently on juvenile probation and his name cannot be shared.
"Somebody to tell me you can do this you'll be ok. Stick to football, make sure you get the right type of education," he said.
The 18-year-old spent five years in and out of Minnie Rogers Juvenile Justice Center. He started getting into trouble at 13-years-old.
"It was everywhere. It was at school, it was at home, it was in public," the teen said.
Now, he has earned his GED, has a welding certificate and is working to enroll at Lamar Institute of Technology. The 18-year-old is thanking Evans for mentoring him.
"He used to come. He used to sit with us, talk to us. He used to ask about our situation, what you wanna be, those types of questions and give you the encouragement that you can be it," said the teen.
That encouragement is the same type of positivity reVision is working to instill in Jefferson County teens.
"We know that there's a huge void in positive leadership and male leadership and the juvenile justice center itself is strained," Evans said.
If you're interested in becoming a mentor, you can email info@revisionsetx.com or call 409-444-8048.