Episode 94 Vicki and Matt Whitehead - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Common Ground Youth Program Directors Vicki and Matt Whitehead sit down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

0:36 1. You are the Youth Program Directors at Common Ground. How did you first get involved with this extraordinary nonprofit?

8:13 2. Common Ground is doing something this year that very few nonprofits have the opportunity to do – celebrating its 20th anniversary! Common Ground was founded as an outreach program of Grace United Methodist Church to Cedar Grove residents.

Tell me about Thursday nights at Common Ground.

14:21 3. Tell me about 2-3 of your other programs.

29:42 4. A couple of years ago I had Clay Walker on this podcast. At the time he was the Director of Juvenile Services for Caddo Parish. He explained that the number one factor for the 66 kids who were repeat offenders in detention was that they did not have a single pro-social adult in their life. Not a parent, not a grandparent, not an aunt, not an uncle, not a principal, not a teacher, not a coach, not a pastor, not a mentor.

I know that mentoring is such an important aspect for the kids you serve through Common Ground.

For those listening and thinking I really want to get more involved in strengthening my community, tell me about the type of mentoring activities you offer.

37:58 5. Volunteering is all about giving back. But often what happens during volunteering is we actually gain more educationally and/or emotionally than the people we are assisting.

Will each of you share a story of a preconception you had or a gap in understanding or awareness that you had that has been changed because of all your time working with Common Ground?