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When asked what it means to support our community, Derric Thompson said, \u201cJust being available. I\u2019m sharing resources, staying involved, volunteering, and making myself an essential worker.\u201d Derric co-founded a youth mentorship program, Leaders Become Legends, that supports young Black men as they secure employment, get into stable housing, pursue education, heal their self-esteem, and work through experiences of trauma and relationship patterns that no longer serve them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derric is on the front lines of our community, supporting people both inside and outside the program. What keeps him going? \u201cKnowing that people like myself can change. Situations are not forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are inspired by Derric\u2019s dedication as he spends many early mornings and late nights working to ensure the community is supported while weaving mental health awareness and healing into Black culture. He is passionate about lifting up those who have been left behind by our mental health system and other networks of support. Since mid-2019, Derric has worked alongside Lines for Life as a Cultural Community Advocate. Whether he\u2019s delivering food and diapers to families in need, connecting with young mentees, or leading community organizations, we are proud to work with Derric and share the stories of his incredible impact on the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What now? \u201cI wish people knew more about the systems in place. Whether it\u2019s housing, healthcare, or education.\u201d Derric wants the White allies in his community to get involved and educate themselves on the obstacles facing communities of color. \u201cWe, as Black people, always connect with White people. We go to their events. We go into their community. We learn about their culture in our schools. There\u2019s probably not too much we don\u2019t know about White people, but can they say the same about us?\u201d This Black History Month we hope you take the time to heed Derric\u2019s call to action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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When asked what it means to support our community, Derric Thompson said, \u201cJust being available. I\u2019m sharing resources, staying involved, volunteering, and making myself an essential worker.\u201d Derric co-founded a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-history-month","category-equity"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"\u00a1Buen juego!","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}