On my last day at The Mentors Project I am reflecting on 25 wonderful years. Today is bittersweet, heart wrenching and difficult. Some people are happy to retire and count down the months, the days and the hours. I feel as if I am drilling a hole in my heart today. It has been a roller coaster ride, from going to a staff of 1.5 in 2000 to leaving with a capable staff of 6 in 2025, sleepless nights when a child was missing or suicidal, celebrating 100% graduation rates for 2023 and 2024, furnishing apartments and houses for homeless children and their families, field trips to DC and Chattanooga, feeding 2,000 children for 5 summers, taking children to Subway, DQ and Taco Bell for the first time, and celebrating our 3 valedictorians, and working alone for 5 months during the pandemic.
#ItIsAllAboutTheChildren.