ROCHESTER, N.Y. —  Community organizations play a vital role in uplifting their neighborhoods by addressing various needs and challenges. They do everything from providing essential services like food assistance to offering educational programs and mentorship. 

Organizations helping youth are nothing new, but it's the story of the founder of one local group that is making all the difference.

What You Need To Know

  • Community organizations are crucial in addressing the needs and challenges of neighborhoods. They provide essential services, educational programs, and mentorship, serving as pillars of support

  • Black Men Achieve of Greater Rochester is a local nonprofit organization  provides life skills, financial education, leadership development, and guidance for making the right decisions

  • The program offers a secure and supportive environment for boys and young men to learn, socialize, and connect with others in the community

"Black Men Achieve of Greater Rochester is a local nonprofit organization that serves young boys of color from age nine up to age 21. The purpose of our organization is to provide our young men with life skills, financial education leadership development and to help them make the right decisions," said Jermayne Myers, the founder of Black Men Achieve of Greater Rochester. 

Myers founded Black Men Achieve after his father's murder during his childhood, which not only created an emotional void but also impacted his family's financial stability.

"We ended up losing a lot of his businesses, a lot of my dad's assets," Myers added. 

Teaching young men about life insurance is a critical pillar of Black Men Achieve of Greater Rochester.

"We have a lot of young people who are dying at young ages and whose families don't have insurance and they don't have insurance. So we want to make sure that our kids understand the importance, no matter their age," Myers expressed.

Myers says that the program offers a secure and supportive setting for boys and young men to learn, socialize and connect with other youth and accomplished men in the community.

"It's actually kind of fun being here, making new friends and learning how to make beds and clean your room, basically, life lessons, said student Ricky Stubbs.

"My mom realized how boring it got for me. Like, coming straight home after school, for a few hours and doing it all over again. She had something new for me, and I tried it out. I like it," said student Jayvion Owens.

The ultimate goal of the program is to break the school-to-prison pipeline and prevent young African American males from being recruited by gangs during the school year.

"I feel like no matter what's on my back, I got to make them feel like a star today because the teacher probably didn't, the bus driver, sometimes mom and dad didn't," said youth development specialist Toshman Powell. 

"To get through life without having somebody who you can lean on for advice, guidance, support, discipline, structure or love, many of those youth are lacking all of those, so I see myself in them," Myers added.