Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Dr. Steven A. Chambers Talks NYC Young Men's Initiative, Hustle Culture, Destigmatizing Mental Health Care + More

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INTERVIEW: Dr. Steven A. Chambers Talks NYC Young Men's Initiative, Hustle Culture, Destigmatizing Mental Health Care + More · The Breakfast Club

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Every day a week ago, clicks up the Breakfast Club.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: You don't finish for y'all. Done morning.
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: Everybody is DJ Envy just hilarious, Charlamagne and the gud
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: We are the Breakfast Club. Law La Rose is here
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: as well, and we got a special guest in the building.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: We sure do from Hampton University, Hampton and Mom, you
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: don't see many people from Delaware State up here, but
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: we have doctor Stephen chamber as welcome brother, Thank you man.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Good morning y'all. Morn.
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  Speaker 4: I would like to apologize just to start because you
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  Speaker 4: ended up at that.
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  Speaker 2: School and I mean it was a blessing. It is.
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  Speaker 5: Delaware State University. But go ahead.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's all.
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  Speaker 3: Is executive director of the NYC Young Men's Initiative.
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  Speaker 6: You're back again.
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  Speaker 3: So well, first of all, this is the first time
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: we're meeting. Yes, you just got this role or breakdown.
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  Speaker 3: First of all, what the New York Young Men's Initiative is.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Why it's needed? Yeah? Absolutely so.
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  Speaker 1: We are a basically a thirty million dollar mayor office
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  Speaker 1: that is now housed within the Mayor's Office Equity and
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  Speaker 1: Racial Justice. It's an initiative that started in twenty eleven
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: in the Bloomberg administration. So we're celebrating fifteen years this year,
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  Speaker 1: and the goal of the initiative is to reduce disparity
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  Speaker 1: gaps for black and brown young men, particularly ages fourteen
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: twenty four, but a lot of our programs and initiatives
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: go even beyond that, up until thirty and sometimes a
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  Speaker 1: little younger. So our goal is to really increase the livelihood,
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  Speaker 1: the success rates, the general health of black and brown
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  Speaker 1: young men. But I'll also say that, even though that
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  Speaker 1: is our mission right now, we are very like rooted
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  Speaker 1: in data. So if the data says that we need
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: to emphasize or support a different demographic, then that's something
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: obviously we would do. But unfortunately, the data continues to
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  Speaker 1: persist that black and brown young men have the highest
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  Speaker 1: needs across many indicators of our social determinants of health.
• 2:02
  Speaker 6: So what are some of the programs that you guys
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: are doing.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so well, right now, we're celebrating ten years of
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: NYC Men Teach, which is one of our flagship programs.
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  Speaker 1: It is basically in service to increase the pipeline of
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  Speaker 1: teachers and making sure we have more black and brown
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  Speaker 1: teachers in the classroom because we know that when students
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: see teachers that look like them, and this is not
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: even just like black and brown students. Like data shows
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: that if you if you see black and brown teachers,
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  Speaker 1: the whole community benefits in the classroom and in the school.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: And so that's a program that's near and dear to
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  Speaker 1: my heart. They've made a lot of progress, Like we've
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  Speaker 1: touched over three thousand black and brown teachers that are
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  Speaker 1: men who are now in the district because of this program.
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  Speaker 1: And I started my career as a teacher, So for me,
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  Speaker 1: this hits close to home, and I know that in
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  Speaker 1: a lot of ways, education is the foundation for a
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: lot of folks, especially how they show up in the
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  Speaker 1: world and how they contribute to society.
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  Speaker 2: So really happy about that one.
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  Speaker 1: We're also right now celebrating a new initiative that we're
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  Speaker 1: about to launch, and maybe we'll talk about this a
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  Speaker 1: little later, but it's called NYC Men Heal, which is, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: also like a replication of the Men Teach model. So
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  Speaker 1: with the same logic that when you have like black
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  Speaker 1: and brown men in the classroom, the exposure for students
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: is increased and the community engagement is increased.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: We want to try that in the behavioral health space.
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  Speaker 1: So we're focused on Masters of social work black and
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: brown men who are pursuing masters and mental health counseling.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: And so we're about to pilot this this fall where
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  Speaker 1: we will actually be supporting a group of about twenty
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: five black and brown men who are pursuing their master's
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: degrees in either of those directions and providing them with
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: wrap around supports. So that means like we're going to
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: give them stipid because we know cost of living here
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: is crazy. We want to give We're want to pay
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: for testing and retest because statistics show that unfortunately black
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: and brown men struggle with with standardized tests. I can
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  Speaker 1: I can personally attest to that. And we're also going
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  Speaker 1: to provide mentors help them get job placement. So we're
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  Speaker 1: really we're excited about and this is you know, June
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: is Men's Mental Health months.
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  Speaker 7: So yeah, I'm sorry because I'm going this early, and
• 4:26
  Speaker 7: everybody was.
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  Speaker 4: Like, no, it's not yes, it is yeah, Selam say no, yes,
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  Speaker 4: and he's met missed the mental health.
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  Speaker 5: He posted about it on his Instagram. It happened, And so.
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  Speaker 1: We're gonna because of that, We're gonna do like a
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  Speaker 1: public launch of it in a couple of weeks June eighteenth,
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  Speaker 1: so day before, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, And that's intentional, and we want to make.
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  Speaker 1: Sure that there is like perspective students in the room,
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  Speaker 1: We got stakeholders in the room. We're going to get
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  Speaker 1: our deputy mayors there, our commissioner there, the commissioner from
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  Speaker 1: the Mayor's Office of Equity, and a couple other commissioners
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: that we're partnering with. But we have about twenty programs
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  Speaker 1: like across various city agencies. These are just some of
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  Speaker 1: the big ones that are top of mind right now.
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  Speaker 1: I also say we have Acunity Fatherhood Academy that I'm
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  Speaker 1: really passionate about as well, where we're trying to support
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  Speaker 1: fathers who either don't have their diplomas or their college degrees,
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  Speaker 1: and we provide them with training to get their high
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: school equivalency but also their degrees and like classes and
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: workshops to help them become better fathers.
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  Speaker 2: And that's right right now. That's happening in.
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  Speaker 1: Three quny three munity locations, but we're working to do
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  Speaker 1: some expansion work there too, so really trying to hit
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  Speaker 1: it all with a.
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  Speaker 3: Limited budget, right I know you mentioned thirty million dollars. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: that seems like a lot. But for all the people
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  Speaker 3: in New York City exactly needs this help, how do
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  Speaker 3: you guys decide who gets to help, Who get stipend,
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: who gets the degree, Yeah, the actual education opposed to
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: who doesn't.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good that's a good question.
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  Speaker 1: I appreciate that question because there's a lot of complexity
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  Speaker 1: of that one.
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  Speaker 2: I'm always looking at data.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm looking at what are the disparities that this
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: city has. Every five years, why am I puts out
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: what we call a disparity report. This year we're putting
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: out the next disparity report. And in that disparity report,
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  Speaker 1: we look at four indicators. We're looking at education, We're
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: looking at health, we look at we call the justice system,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: but I called the criminal legal system because you know,
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  Speaker 1: I have issues with the justice work.
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  Speaker 2: And then and then we have employment.
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  Speaker 1: So those four indicators are the big buckets for.
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  Speaker 2: Us, and that's where our mission is rooted.
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  Speaker 1: And so we look at those indicators and then we
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  Speaker 1: look at the data connected to them, and then we
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  Speaker 1: look at the city agencies that do work in those
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  Speaker 1: areas and decide where we want to make an impact.
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  Speaker 1: So for example, we have in the Department of Probations,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: we have what's called rap sheet Cleanup, so we help
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: young people, young men in particular, come in. We have
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: lawyers look through their rap sheets, make sure there's no errors,
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  Speaker 1: train them on how to like communicate what's on their
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  Speaker 1: rap sheet when they're applying for jobs so that they
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: can walk in confidently for interviews and let people know like, look,
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  Speaker 1: this is what happened, this is why it happens.
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  Speaker 2: Give them some context and some training behind that.
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  Speaker 1: And so, like to answer your question, DJ, like, we
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  Speaker 1: want to make sure that all.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: Of the different buckets have coverage.
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  Speaker 1: Like those four that I mentioned, we want to make
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  Speaker 1: sure that we have programs making an impact in all
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  Speaker 1: of those areas. I just started in January, So one
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  Speaker 1: thing that I do when I hit the ground is
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: like I bring the team together and we do some
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: retreat work. And in that retreat this year, what we
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  Speaker 1: did was look at those four indicators, look at our
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: program portfolio, and then like match it up. Where are
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  Speaker 1: we underrepresented, where we over represent it, and that's where
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  Speaker 1: we invest the money that we invest. A lot of
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  Speaker 1: city agencies also reach out to us and say, hey,
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  Speaker 1: we have a program right now, we're talking to the
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  Speaker 1: health and hospitals and they want to do some mental
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  Speaker 1: health work and they sent over a proposal. So in
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: that instance, we would look at the proposal. Sometimes we
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: have to do a request for proposals to keep it equitable,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: to make sure anybody who is a provider can come
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: to the table and say I can help this agency
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  Speaker 1: bring their program to life through the work that we
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: do in our provider's space.
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  Speaker 3: What about for jobs that are not your traditional jobs, right, yeah, teachers,
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  Speaker 3: not lawyers, not attorneys, not businessman. Let's say to somebody
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  Speaker 3: that's outside of the box that wants to do something,
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  Speaker 3: do you.
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  Speaker 6: Guys trade for that as well?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely?
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  Speaker 3: Somebody I'm just going to use a streamer, or somebody
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  Speaker 3: wants to be a manager, or they want to be
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  Speaker 3: in an entertainment industry, or they want to be a
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: sneaker design or clothes designer. Do you help with those
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: young because started fourteen those young kids as well.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: So we do a lot of different types of employer engagement.
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  Speaker 2: So one way we.
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  Speaker 1: Hit that is through the Department of Youth and Community Development.
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  Speaker 1: We have a mentorship program, huge program and in the
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  Speaker 1: mentorship program, they're exposed to a lot of different pieces
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  Speaker 1: community service, different jobs, and different job pathways. We know
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: ai is is hitting as cars, and so we want
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: to think about careers and preparation for careers.
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  Speaker 2: In a different way a lot of times.
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  Speaker 1: I was just community the other day and we were
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: sitting around with the Blackmail Initiative group, and they were
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: some of the visitors in the room were saying like, oh,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: we need to have a college fair and a career fair,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: and they named the traditional ones, and I'm like, yes,
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  Speaker 1: and what about these other career Like I got homies
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: that like get six figures a month on just streaming.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: So I'm like, everybody's not trying to go into the courtroom.
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  Speaker 1: So what are some of the ways that we can
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: infuse some and some exposure in some of our programs
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  Speaker 1: like mentorship. We have programs at New York City public schools,
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  Speaker 1: we have what's called student success centers where we actually
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: have other students preparing, like seniors and juniors, our partner
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: with freshmen and sophomores and like saying, look, we know
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: that this is something that we've experienced as upperclassmen in
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: terms of preparation for the career field, and they bring
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: that into the counseling space with the formal counselors, but
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: they also bring their experience there with students we also do.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: DYCD also has some what's called Advance and Earn, which
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: is supporting students with high school writing, high school diploma,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: so getting their diploma, getting their degrees, but also preparing
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: them for careers that are not always the traditional career paths.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: And that's funding that's going to training. So we're trying
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: to be creative and there's so much more work that
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: I think we need to be doing.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: So this is, like I said, this is like month
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: five for me.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: So I'm right now just kind of doing a landscape
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: analysis of like where are we making the impact we
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: want to make and then where can we do more?
• 11:17
  Speaker 7: And then what's the biggest issue that you see young
• 11:20
  Speaker 7: men of color facing in New York City?
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm like, my my baby right now is the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: NYC Men Hell Pilot. And so my big bet in
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: this work is mental health just to be honest, like
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: it's I mean, if you look at the statistics around
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: suicide and depression, isolation, and this is not just men
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: of color. This is like like nationally, men are exceeding
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: statistics compared to women in terms of all of those indicators,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: but then when you drill down more to men of color,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: it's even more it's even more of a problem.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: And so I want to spend more.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Of our funded support and partnership thinking of creative ways
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: to hit the mental health issue.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: And that's not just men heal.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Where you're bringing in professionals, but also thinking about the
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: informal ways that mental health can be supported, like the.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Yogas, the like the outdoors.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: We're talking to a group right now who takes young
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: men and goes camping, and that camping is like connected
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: to a mental health model. We have like different schools,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: colleges and high schools are implementing apps. I was just
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: on a call with the Department of Health and Mental
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Hygiene and we have a program there public health careers,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: and half the students who presented created mental health apps.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: Like they literally created mental health apps.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, so this is not only a problem
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: that we see in research, but y'all know as high
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: schoolers that this is something that you need to respond to.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: So now you know in this seat, I'm thinking, Okay,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: what can we do leveraging city funds, leveraging city tax
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: levy dollars and the mayor's office to actually make a
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: greater impact, because that that's I mean, we need to
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: hit it from all sides. Yeah.
• 13:19
  Speaker 7: I love the Black Men's Health program that you speak about. Now.
• 13:23
  Speaker 7: The thing is like, I know that you said it
• 13:25
  Speaker 7: got the apps and everything, the mental health apps. But
• 13:28
  Speaker 7: for me, I look at it another way where it's like,
• 13:32
  Speaker 7: in order to get to, you know, a better mental space,
• 13:36
  Speaker 7: a lot of these young men have to unplug, like
• 13:39
  Speaker 7: put down your devices, you know. But I get you know,
• 13:43
  Speaker 7: it's the way of the world, and we are technology
• 13:46
  Speaker 7: kings and queens now, I mean like everything runs from technology.
• 13:49
  Speaker 5: So I do love and respect the fact.
• 13:51
  Speaker 7: That they're trying to find help, like with apps like that.
• 13:54
  Speaker 6: But I think I like.
• 13:56
  Speaker 7: That if you're going camping and outdoors and you're connecting
• 13:59
  Speaker 7: with each other, we need that that connectivity between human yep,
• 14:03
  Speaker 7: you know, because a lot of people don't know how
• 14:04
  Speaker 7: to speak to that's real, yeah, behind the apps and there,
• 14:07
  Speaker 7: you know.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: So I agree, Yeah, and I think a lot of
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: I think that's a great point. And I think the
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: example of like the camping example, that's one of them.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: But I know and I also.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Think a lot of our So we're gonna be establishing
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: a youth council for for why am I, and creating
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: and developing those leadership skills, but also those interpersonal skills
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: where you're stepping away from the screen and really getting
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: that like human to human connection because I mean, like
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: gen z Jen Alpha, a lot of the the data
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: behind their depression and isolation is because of what you're
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: just saying. Yeah, so we need to think of like
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: alternative ways and even acknowledging that there's sometimes in a
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: lot of ways, a stigma around even just getting mental
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: health support.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: People think there's something wrong.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: With you if you have to go or even acknowledge
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: that you're depressed. I have lots of friends who have
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: experienced depression, myself included, and others who have faced and
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: even sometimes committed suicide.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: So it's and these are like all ages this is like.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: And also just getting people to realize like like what
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: depression is. I think a lot of times when from
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: certain places you so used to just like pushing through,
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: working through until you get to a peaceful state. You
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: don't realize like, oh, I wasn't exactly like that too.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: That's such a good point, like the grind culture of like.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna go, go, go, or
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: push through the challenges that you have, not realizing that
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: you're functional. You're functioning in a space of depression, and
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: just because you're functioning well in that space doesn't mean
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: that you're not depressed and don't need the support I
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: was gonna ask.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: You know, another thing that's very important, especially for our community,
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: is I would say the education when it comes to finances, right,
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: all their programs that start these kids off early learning
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: about credit.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: Right, My son is all this.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: Look Jack Jackson is eleven, he has six but you
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: know he's already talking to me about stocks and bonds.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: But yes, his classmates are talking about you know. Uh
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: so when we come from an area where we don't
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: necessarily talk about investments, we're so late. But since he
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: has classmates that are their parents are doing, he's already
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: doing it. Are their programs that dive into that early,
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: open up their accounts early?
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: I love that question. We need to do more of that.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: But we do have a program now that does that,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: and the reason why I say we need we need
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: to do more is because right now the program we
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: have is a very targeted program. So right now we
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: have a program called Jobs Plus which happens in many
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Nightscha communities across the city. And Jobs Plus not only
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: provides job training for for targeted communities, but it also
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: provides financial literacy. I was just at a site in
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Brownsville on the other day and I was talking to
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: the tax prepair and she was like, yeah, I didn't
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: really prepare. I wasn't planning to do people's axes. I
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: was just here to give financial advice. But I went on,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: I had a couple people asking me for support. So
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: she took like a free class to learn how to
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: do it and started doing people's taxes. And so like
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: that part and like training people to manage their money
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: well is something that is happening in that Jobs Plus program.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: And to your point, DJ Envy, like, how do we
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: do that more with our school age children, our college students.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: And that happens like organically and informally through the mentorship models,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: because different campuses kind of do different things with their workshops.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: But I do think we need to be more targeted
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: in how we hit that level of support.
• 17:39
  Speaker 6: What about trade schools? Are you guys connected with trade schools?
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: We don't have And that's another one, like we don't
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: have a lot of trade school like explicit connections.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: Lincoln Tech is so big, especially in the area right yeah,
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: in New York. But some of these students might not
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: want to.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Go to exactly a four year degree.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: Or not even a two year degree. They might say,
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: you know what, I'm ready to jump into learning how
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: to well.
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: Do learning h back, learning electric electricians is very import
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: even you know, being a nurse.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Especially with a like when I think of like, how
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: is like moving through our workforce? Trade schools in my
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: opinion are even more important than they were before.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: And so I can't be playing can't exactly and I
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: don't want to a barber.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: So I'm like that's like, so I'm thinking of like,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: I mean the point that you made when I think
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: of the gaps, that's a gap, Like we need to
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: do more there. I was just at HBCU prep out
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: in Queens and I was like, this is yeah, it's beautiful.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah they do and the principle with to Dell State
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: and so and rightfully so, but you know what, they
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: got a Hampton house, so yeah, you gotta you gotta
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: pull up.
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: We've been supposed to get out there though.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Beautiful.
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: I know the day that I forget what happened, there
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: was something that happened that day together.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you should go.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Doctor Johnson is great and and I know she really
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: wants to get more community engagement. They're doing a beautiful
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: work there and we want to partner with them, and
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: we want to partner with.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: Trade schools as well.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Like we got to hit it from all sides because
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: every student is not going everywhere, that's right.
• 19:11
  Speaker 7: Yeah you remember like job Corp. Yeah, yes, my brother
• 19:15
  Speaker 7: went there, he learned.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Soch my cousin's going, you know what I mean.
• 19:19
  Speaker 7: And all American trade school you go to get your CDLs,
• 19:22
  Speaker 7: all little things, all of those things are gone.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: They're losing funding.
• 19:25
  Speaker 7: Yes, it's very important to you know, implement those things.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: That's a good point because when I was in high school,
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: going to a trade high school was like the thing
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: in Delaware just because.
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: They were like the better schools.
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: And now it's people mad people I know that are
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: actually living off of the trades that we went and
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: got in school.
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: Like yeah, like a lot of.
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: My friends at home, like they're they're doing the trades
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: that we went to school for, which wow.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that that's a that's a note I'm definitely taking
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: that we we want to push in more with trade
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: school supports and just the non traditional career pathways.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: That that's work we definitely have to do.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Because if if I could do it all over, I
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: would go to trade school for a year.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: I still him.
• 20:03
  Speaker 6: Let me tell you why. The other day one of
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: my pipes bursts. It was his forearm water.
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and I wish I didn't even know what the
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: crib like, and I would the water off of your house.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: I figured out the other day mom My mom did
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: she lay hot?
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: Well, not anymore, but she used to lay till she carpetry.
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: All that, I can turn on.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Water.
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: I could do circuit breakers. I know, I know what, Queen. Yeah,
• 20:35
  Speaker 5: I don't know what.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: I didn't know what to do. So but but I'm saying,
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: if I would have just took at least a year,
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: I would know a little bit to survive until Monday.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: And I had to pay five hundred dollars quick cold
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: and then the fix, and it was.
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: Like you could have faced time my mom, she would
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: have told you how to.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Love that your face time.
• 20:53
  Speaker 7: His coworker's mother wow to help him on YouTube.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: So now how can she be day People get involved
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: with Young Men's Initiative involved if they need.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: To, so you can go to all of our socials
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: or NYC Young Men Instagram, LinkedIn Facebook.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: But also we have events happening across the city.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: So one thing we try to do is like through
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: our programming hit the more longer term impact, but through
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: our events we try to do the more acute short term.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: So we just had a college signing day celebrating all
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: of our students in then my Brother's Keeper, my Sister's
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Keeper program and shout out to our sister agency NYC
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: her Future, who does the exact same work that we do,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: but for young girls and women. And so we try
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: to do events like that to celebrate more of the
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: good things that our young people are doing. So if
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: people ever want to get plugged in, they can check
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: us out on our socials see what's happening there. We're
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: also under the umbrella of the Mayor's Office of Equity
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: and Racial Justice, so both websites Mayor's Office Equity, Why
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: am I, and then I would also shout out NYC
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: her future as well. So any any anyway, if you
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: see events, if you see programs that you're interested in,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: all of the agencies that we partner with.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: Have their own outreach efforts as well.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: So if you go to Department of Youth and Community Development,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: you can find programs that why am I fund? Same
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: with public Schools, CuNi, and like about ten other city agencies.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: Now, if there's one message you could personally give some
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: of these black and brown brothers out there, what message
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: would you give these younger generations?
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean my message would definitely be poured into yourself.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: I think if we can heal ourselves, then we can
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: help heal our communities.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: But I think it also starts acknowledging.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: That healing is necessary, and healing has different layers and
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: different levels.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: You may not need with somebody else needs, but you should.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: I think we should all be reflective, we should all
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: be iterating, and all be like thinking about ways that
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: we can improve. Every day I'm reflecting on like, Okay,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: how could I have done what I did yet yesterday better?
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: And I know that that.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Plus surrounding myself with positive friends was like my key
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: to success. Like my friends, especially the ones that went
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: to Hampton with me my freshman year.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: We're still best friends. Yeah, and we still hold each
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: other down. We're still at each.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Other's weddings, funerals, like barbecues like and we push each
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: other and we hold each other accountable. And that healing piece,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: though it's internal, I think initially, I think it also
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: like moves through your social groups as well.
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: I love that you said poor.
• 23:33
  Speaker 7: I always look at poor as a acronym. So pause,
• 23:39
  Speaker 7: open up, unwine and restore. Oh yeah, I love.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: That you unwind and restore.
• 23:44
  Speaker 7: I like that, you know, for men and women, the youth,
• 23:48
  Speaker 7: young girls, and young guys, I have a foundation not
• 23:51
  Speaker 7: always go buy that. You know, we help young women,
• 23:54
  Speaker 7: older women, families, all of that. And that's what I
• 23:57
  Speaker 7: had a Mother's Day event recently, and that that was
• 23:59
  Speaker 7: an aim of it. Women who pour, I love that
• 24:02
  Speaker 7: you said it just pouring to yourself poor into each other.
• 24:04
  Speaker 7: You never know what somebody else is going through. So
• 24:06
  Speaker 7: I love that.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that too. Thank you.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: Appreciate you for joining us, doctor Stephen, Thanks for having
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: the New York City Young Men's Initiative, And thank you
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: so much.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, thanks you.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: Hampton's own doctor Delaware, Delaware, Ohio.
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: Sorry, just leave it.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Don't put that on. I'm sorry. It's the breakfast cloaking.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: Morning every day wakes up the breakfast club.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: You don't finish with, y'all done,