Houston: reVision Forms Radical Relationships with Kids on the Edge

The recipient of a $25,000 TMF grant, Houston reVision is transforming both kids and mentors, as clearly conveyed in the video above. “Houston: reVision is thrilled to join with TMF in stirring the United Methodist Church’s passion to make a long-lasting, hope-filled difference in our world by helping us raise up hundreds of mentors for kids who have no one,” said Charles Rotramel, CEO of Houston: reVision.

Created in 2011 through a partnership between St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, and the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department, reVision connects gang-affected and adjudicated youth throughout Harris County with mentors, positive peers and life-changing resources. Using existing churches located in and out of the affected areas to recruit volunteers and provide safe locations for services, reVision offers invaluable support to youth in their difficult, daily lives. During the past two years, mentors have played a role in 32 young men successfully completing the terms of their probation to face promising futures.

In addition to their rigorous in-house evaluation, Houston: reVision is the focus of a three-year study by Baylor College of Medicine, funded by the US Department of Justice, entitled “Environmental and Personal Factors in Mentor-Based Juvenile Offender Intervention.” Baylor has developed the first “Pro-Social Change Scale” which will scientifically measure the program’s impact on participants’ relational abilities.

“Baylor’s study of Houston: reVision shows enormous promise for this model. And it is already empowering youth who are facing seemingly insurmountable odds. TMF is proud to support such an innovative organization working to bring about sustainable change,” observed Jacki Lammert, TMF Director of Grants.

“As we learn, evolve, and partner in ministry, TMF seeks to find common ground where we can stand in awe at what the disenfranchised have to carry – rather than in judgment of how they do so. Investing in the work of organizations like Houston: reVision allows TMF to partner in something different, something we believe more greatly resembles God’s dream for our world,” Lammert continued.

Rotramel added, “Because of our partnership with TMF, Houston: reVision is able to expand our work with gang affected youth, partnering with churches to mobilize hundreds of volunteer mentors to become caring adults for the kids on the edge to whom we are deeply connected and committed.”