RICHMOND, Va. — Inside the Richmond Police Academy Thursday night, cheers and applause filled the room to honor the newest graduates of the Broken Men Foundation.
Sixty-three young men completed the mentorship program, which has spent more than a decade helping young men overcome challenges while teaching accountability, leadership, and life skills.
Ellery Lundy, president of the Broken Men Foundation, said the milestone reflects the program's ongoing growth.
"Every year as we evolve, as we move forward, we have this saying: start what you finish, finish what you stop, and it's just one of those things to see these young men right here at the end, you know, to celebrate them," Lundy said.
Foundation leaders say this year's graduating class is one of their largest in recent years. They believe it's due to more families feeling comfortable turning to the program for support.
Watch: How the Broken Men Foundation hopes to help men heal
Among those celebrated was 17-year-old Enlil Olds, who says the Broken Men Foundation helped him grow from a shy teenager searching for guidance into someone ready for his next chapter.
"I didn't necessarily have a father figure in my life, so I think that being in this program definitely helped me that way. So it gave me guidance," Olds said.
He admits joining the program with his peers wasn't easy, but as his confidence grew, so did the lessons he learned.
"I think that it's guided me in the right direction. It's gave me like principles to be able to be successful," Olds said.
Those principles are exactly what leaders at the foundation hope every graduate takes with them. Olds' next step is pursuing a career as an electrician — a goal he says would have never crossed his mind without the foundation's mentorship.
"They helped me with my education, and they were able to talk me through some personal issues that I had going on, and they allowed me to see life differently," Olds said.
Foundation leaders say their work is far from over. The Broken Men Foundation is expanding its reach with a new program for young adults ages 18 to 35. In partnership with VCU, the initiative will focus on life skills, social-emotional learning, and career readiness, helping participants navigate adulthood and build successful futures.
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