A Ministry House to Reach Inner City Kids

Remember when you were young and you had a bad day?  You couldn’t wait to get home and the safe confines of the four walls that surrounded you!  That’s a feeling that we should all have, but Joe Eriquez of Heart for the City knows a lot of mentoring kids that never get to experience that feeling.  That’s why he diligently sought a house that he could make safe for the youth in the Inner City of Glendale, Arizona.  That’s why he now diligently seeks YOUR help in making that house all that it can be.

“We have a vision,” Joe explained, “where   this house will not only be a center for socializing, but, and more   importantly, a place where learning can take place.  Our greatest need   in this realm is computers.  With an extensive computer lab we can help   kids with their homework, and help them go online and search for Grants   so they can realize their dream of getting a higher education.  We can   give them an opportunity to learn, and improve, their computer skills – -   a marketable skill that is quickly becoming a requirement when seeking   gainful employment.”

What he needs the most,   however, is volunteers.  People who will dedicate themselves to being   trained to minister to young people and train them – - to be part of the   21st Century, to improve family life for their   children, and to become part of the Kingdom of God!  Don’t delay -   -don’t even hesitate, contact Heart for the City to see how you   can help make this truly a Ministry House!

HEART FOR THE CITY provides after school activities that will allow young people to participate in organized activities that will provide them at least temporary escape from the streets of the inner city. More than just produce athletes – Heart for the City uses sports as the tool to accomplish their greater goals. The coaches that volunteer are trained at mentoring kids as well as coaching.

Fielding a team of inner city kids takes a tremendous amount of dedication, however. Raising the funds to field the team is important,” Eriquez said, “but finding the people to volunteer as coaches/mentors is, perhaps, even more important. Our whole purpose for being in existence is to minister to the people who participate in all of our programs and, ultimately, to lead them to Christ.”

Don’t wait or hesitate! Be a part of the team by helping to sponsor this program right now – - when you do, everyone will be a winner!!! Support the team!

Easter Fun

HFC-Photo-group

Now that Thanksgiving and Christmas are over and we helped about 200 families for Christmas, we are revving up for Easter. We will be holding Easter Egg hunts for kids in the Inner-city of Glendale and we are in need of plastic Easter eggs and jelly beans. If you want to be part of putting a huge smile on a child’s face please contact us by calling 602-499-5059. We will need about 10,000 eggs. Thank you in advance for supporting this outreach.

Here’s what a teacher at Sunset Vista is saying about our mentors mentoring kids after visiting the school…

I noticed today there were a few boys (men?-not sure how old they were), that were outside playing football and basketball with the kids. My kids were so excited that someone older was there playing with them and they could not stop talking about it. I am not sure if they will be there everyday, but I think that was a great idea putting older boys that they could look up to at recess. My kids said that they wished they would come back everyday. They all felt included and “cool” that these older boys wanted to play with them. Also, the boys helped the teachers get the kids in line. So i just wanted to let you both know that it was a great idea for managing the kids and also they have someone to look up to.

Heart for the City is providing “Mentors” mentoring kids for Sunset Vista school during the recess hours. The mentors organize recess events to help teachers keep the children busy playing. So far the kids ask regularly “Are you coming back tomorrow?”. This is a great thing showing that the mentors are doing their job and that the kids love the mentors.

Mentoring Kids

There are no soccer moms in the inner city – just kids who need all of the positive aspects of organized sports. You know, adults who care about them and are available to answer questions and give advice; a venue to let out their aggression; an opportunity to be part of a group that won’t lead them down the path to jail or, worse yet, death.

This is one of the challenges that HEART FOR THE CITY faces – to provide after school activities that will allow young people to participate in organized activities that will provide them at least temporary escape from the situation they are in.

“The kids we deal with,” Joe Eriquez recently shared, “are of junior high age – thirteen or fourteen. This is the point in time when they make the decision to pursue street life as a survival mode, or look for a way into mainstream society. Many of these kids are fatherless, or live in a dysfunctional family, and they are looking for role models to emulate. The reality is, either we provide those role models or the street will.”

Heart for the City does far more than produce athletes – they just use sports as the tool to accomplish their greater goals. The coaches that volunteer are trained to be mentors as well as coaches. Fielding a team of inner city kids takes a tremendous amount of dedication, however.

“We have to transport these kids both ways,” Eriquez explained, “as there is no one who can drop them off at practice or a game. After each practice and game we have to gather up all of the equipment, for if we don’t they wouldn’t have it next time they came.”

As well as everything else, there is a major financial charge involved. Eriquez shared that for football it costs basically $400.00 per individual to buy the necessary equipment, uniforms and pay the league expenses to have them participate. Their goal is to field a team from each Junior High School in the Glendale inner city area, of which there are eight.

“Raising the funds to field the team is important,” Eriquez said, “but finding the people to volunteer as coaches/mentors is, perhaps, even more important. Our whole purpose for being in existence is to minister to the people who participate in all of our programs and, ultimately, to lead them to Christ.”

As well as football, Eriquez hopes to create Volleyball teams for girls to participate in at first, and, eventually, maybe for boys as well.

“We are also hoping to create eight Volleyball teams,” Eriquez said. “Again, one for each Junior High school in the areas we serve. The expense factor is considerably less for Volleyball, but it still takes over $600.00 per team to take the court,” he added.

Eriquez hopes that people will rise up and come along side HEART FOR THE CITY in this venture. He would love for businessmen to sponsor his teams, and then encourage their employees to volunteer and work with the team members.

He would like for local churches to send college-age volunteers, who not only could help with the coaching but also could exhibit a life style that would be a positive example to these young athletes. He would love to have individuals come out and cheer for the kids on a regular basis, to allow them to see that someone cares about them and their success – both on the field and off. He would love for you to pray diligently, and seek God’s will as to how you can be part of a program that is larger than sports – that is the very essence of life itself – - both temporal and eternal!

Mentoring Kids