VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION

Tim Fields:
There’s a lot of kids who want positive influences in their life who were desperate for positive influences in their life.

Joyce Osland:
I chose to volunteer because we came to Shepherd on our weekend of service that our church had, and I was just really moved by what Shepherd was doing.

Tim Fields:
The impetus was wanting to get more involved in the inner city as well as have a mentoring relationship with a young man. I’ve been mentoring Matt for about a little over six years.

Joyce Osland:
I met Deida in the third grade. As we got to know one another, she just had such an eagerness to learn and just became a good friend.

Tim Fields:
For Matt and I, it’s fairly simple: he loves sports. I love sports. So I typically pick him up at 5, 5:30. So we play basketball for a couple hours.

Joyce Osland:
I did have some apprehension. I think what really helped me to overcome that anxiety was being at Shepherd, and it felt like it was an oasis in the middle of a lot of hard things.

Tim Fields:
On the first day, you’re nervous. It’s difficult, anytime you meet a new person, especially a young man, and you don’t know how he’s going to react to you.

Joyce Osland:
I think I would say to someone who’s in my life situation that if you are thinking about it at all, at least give it a try.

Tim Fields:
I mean, any stage of life is good. But particularly, when you’re an “empty-nester,” you have more time on your hands to kind of give back, as long as you come in with palms up, open arms, willing to just be led to do whatever you need to do. It’ll all work out.

Joyce Osland:
This program allows me to come alongside, to encourage them to do well in school, and I still believe that education is the answer.

Tim Fields:
From the beginning, Shepherd’s always been there to provide resources and encouragement or guidance. One of the hard things is to come up with things to do every week, and so Shepherd’s always come along with suggesting activities and planning activities.

Joyce Osland:
As we’ve gone through the mentoring program, we’ve just had a lot of fun things that we’ve done together. I kind of think of her as my fourth daughter

Tim Fields:
To me, relationships are the most important thing in life.

Joyce Osland:
It just brings me joy to be with her.

Tim Fields:
It’s been an awesome experience for me, just building a bond with a young man and knowing that in some small way, I’m able to influence his life in a positive way. It’s fulfilling.