'Success Story: 50 Young Men Honored at Broken Men Foundation Graduation'
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT)—For over a decade, the Broken Men Foundation has been working to grow and guide responsible young men. On Thursday night, the organization honored 50 new graduates.
“So all we just want to do is to celebrate them today, to let them know that they’re in the right direction for success in the future,” Broken Men Foundation Founder and President Ellery Lundy said.
Lundy and Vice President Steve Clarke welcomed the latest graduates who began their journey in January.
“Extremely proud of these young men,” Clarke said. “They’re finishing what they’re started. Oftentimes, we look at the room on day one, and then we look at the room during graduation, and we see the difference.”
The Broken Men Foundation’s mission is to coach and inspire young men to be positive forces in their communities by giving them emotional support to overcome any past trauma, teaching them basic life skills and lessons, empowering them to be productive citizens and leaders, and providing them with a support system through mentorship.
“My favorite memory throughout the 22 weeks is to not think of the negative people, and staying focused on the positive people will help me get to where my goals are,” said 13-year-old graduate Amir Gainey.
“It was a lot of good bonding with everybody. Everybody is so friendly and nice. I learned gun safety and how to tie a tie,” said 16-year-old graduate Christian Plummer.
Throughout the program, the young men participated in special events, such as training on how to interact with police.
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards attended the graduation to show his support and praise the organization for taking action to make a difference in the community.
The Broken Men Foundation Youth Academy graduation happened on the eve of the second anniversary of the deadly Huguenot High School graduation shooting , a situation where the two young men involved lacked the conflict-resolution skills that this organization teaches.
“On the cusp of that being two years ago, you know, that was a hard hit in the community when it happened, and these are things that we don’t want to repeat. So whatever that looks like, we want to learn from those things,” Lundy said. “And that’s where the gun prevention and the traumas and all those different things come from that we try to make sure we teach. And because now [the young men] are held accountable.”
The young men, aged 11 to 18, were given medals, certificates, and monetary awards for their completion, but the real gift was the mentors they would have for a lifetime.
Many families stood and shared personal testimonies, with some thanking the mentors for always showing up for the boys.
One of the graduates, Josiah Lee, recently graduated from high school and plans to study psychology at VSU next year and play in the marching band.
“Although they showed tough love, at the end of the day, it’s nothing but love, that’s the motto. It really brings out a good side of you,” Lee said.
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