Dwight and Amanda were both students in CfY and are now CfY Staff! Read more about their time in the program below.
Dwight Walton:
I was involved with CFY for all 4 years of my High School Experience. Without a doubt I remember going out for 1:1s with my mentor the most. The first time I ever went out to a restaurant was with my mentor, and in turn, I went on my first date to that same restaurant.
CFY influenced me by making me a more confident public speaker – I had the opportunity to speak at CFY’s biggest fundraiser not once, but twice. Some of the things that I learned from CfY that have helped me when going into adulthood are public speaking, networking, and confidence. Going into college with confidence and knowing how to network was a great help because I don’t think I could have made as many friends and met people to help me without those skills.
I work with CFY now and I’m always down to help CfY in whatever way that I can. I decided to stay involved because I’ve always had a sense of community with CFY so I’ve always been willing to go the extra mile for the organization.
A goal I have is to create my own non-profit to help with at-risk youth and juveniles and do the same thing for them that Community for Youth did for me.
Amanda Alvarado:
I was involved with CfY for 2 years during my junior and senior year. Through CfY, I got positive adult relationships, a sense of community, paid opportunities, recommendation letters, advice from a caring adult, a confidence boost, and I got to attend different things such as college tours and going to meetings in career fields I was interested in. Now, in my adult years, I really value community, positive adult relationships, and giving back to young people because it impacted me greatly when I was a student to feel listened to, cared about, and valued. I’ve stayed connected and involved with CfY because I value our young people and the impact mentoring can have on youth who might not have a positive support system.
Currently, as you know, I am involved in Community for Youth as a staff member and I am refocusing a lot on my health, mental health, and fitness journey. Something I love to do in my spare time is dance. I love aerial arts and I hope to keep training and compete or do shows in the future.
My biggest future goal is becoming a homeowner, I want this so bad for my family. To me, this can mean not only financial freedom, but I know it’s difficult to try and be successful when you don’t have a stable home. So this goal is mostly for me and my younger brothers. As far as a future career (life after CFY), I am going to follow wherever my heart and passion takes me. I will probably always consider myself a youth worker or community advocate for young people despite my occupation. I always wanted to try working in the health or fitness field because that was one of my many passions and interests.