On most Tuesday nights, the Jobs of Hope offices are buzzing with activity. Around 4 pm, a delicious aroma wafts through the offices. It’s always a pleasant surprise to see what our House of Hope Manager Billy Morones and dedicated volunteer Diane Montoya are cooking. One Tuesday was taco night and another was BBQ night. These valued team members faithfully cook a delicious dinner for the men who attend the Men of Valor class.
Around 5:15 pm, the clients start trickling through the doors. There are hearty laughs, hugs, and greetings as the House of Hope men and the clients who live in the community greet each other and catch up on that week’s happenings. About 5:30 pm, the men sit down to a delicious meal and fellowship. It is a uniquely warm atmosphere that is only made possible by committed staff members creating a healthy, safe, and supportive environment for our men. Promptly at 6 pm, Cisco Davila starts the class and begins digging into that week’s topic/value. This class is the primary avenue for Jobs of Hope to work with each client in helping them learn the attitudes, habits, and values needed to find success in their re-entry plans.
Some time ago, our dear friend Rick Hartman brought a new discussion framework to Jobs of Hope called the Roundtable, produced by Global Priority Solutions in Ohio. Roundtable quickly took off as a great guide for group therapy, discussion, and values education. Equally as important as the bookwork are the personal testimonies and encouragement from the facilitators. Coordinator Cisco Davila, Jerry Gomez, board member Pres Montoya, and peer counselor Jason Bingham lead the discussions. Each of these facilitators is able to enhance the group work and discussion by drawing on examples from their own lives. Cisco is our overall coordinator for the Men of Valor class and oversees the training and topics for the class. At the time we went to press, the men were studying the value of healthy confrontation. From a practical standpoint, as well as a scriptural standpoint, the men have been studying what it means to face confrontation in healthy ways and how to avoid unhealthy methods of dealing with confrontation. The team even brought in a guest speaker, Nico Moeller. Nico is a graduate of Jobs of Hope and has a wonderful testimony of how he learned to forgive people in his past, how to make amends with people he hurt, and how he was able to heal the animosity that had been brewing for years with a neighborhood rival. Rather than violence, Nico chose love and was able to turn this enemy into a close friend.
For 2024, Cisco and his team will be working on new teaching methods for each value. By stretching the teaching time over 4-6 weeks, the team will be able to use a variety of teaching methods to reinforce the value being studied. The team will use a combination of bookwork, guest speakers, video presentations, small group scenarios, community service projects, and spiritual discussions for each unit in the Roundtable discussion guide. The goal is that each client will learn these Roundtable values from a variety of angles and will have a longer time to track results and participate in self-reflection. Cisco Davila recently had this to say about the Men of Valor class, “My main focus is to have the men share how they interpret what they are reading and then have them share an experience where they felt like they had hope or felt hopeless; engagement from everyone around the table.” In the end, that is what the team is imparting - Hope.
The Men of Valor team cares for each client and works to ensure that they begin to see life through a new framework or lens. As each client begins to see that they are loved and valued, there is a change that happens in their self-image, confidence, and attitude. That change is Hope: hope for the future and hope for a new life! Jobs of Hope wishes to thank each of our donors. Your financial support makes it possible to feed our men on Tuesday night, provide class materials, and teach the class. We also wish to thank Mr. Lee Yoder for his generous donation of the classroom materials.
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