Posted April 03, 2025
Every year, millions of people volunteer their time to help organizations serve those who need assistance, and at Catholic Charities, we would like to acknowledge some of our volunteers during April for National Volunteer Month.
Meet Steve Leid, a volunteer who volunteers his time through our STRIVE Mentoring program.
STRIVE links an adult mentor with a young individual (10 – 17) identified by the Wayne County Juvenile Court.
The mentor can serve as a supportive person and help their mentee deal with various life challenges, including but not limited to social/emotional, academic, and personal growth and development.
Steve first learned about STRIVE when his wife saw a yard sign about the program.
"I wanted to be involved in something where I could bring a positive change to the community," Steve said.
Growing up, many people had others to look up to and learn from, but some might not have had the same experience.
"A lot of times when they end up offending the first time, it's not because they really want to be a bad person," Steve said, "I think it's just they don't have positive role models in their lives,"
Being a positive role model to someone, especially the youth, can have a lifetime impact.
"It's a lifetime impact that you can have on these kids' lives, and if they can go on and be a positive influence..." Steve said, "Just one person having that change is worth a lot to our community,"
In the past year and a half, Steve has had two mentees, one of who has graduated from the STRIVE program.
One requirement for the mentors is to spend a minimum of four hours with their mentees per month, which allows them time to do some activities and talk to one another.
During his time with his first mentee, Steve learned that he enjoyed outdoor activities, so that they would go biking and bowling together.
His current mentee likes bugs, so they were able to go to the bug zoo and go bowling.
Although spending time with the mentees is important, it's also necessary to teach them life lessons that will help them stay out of the court system.
"I really want them to learn how to be a good upbuilding citizen - like what kind of ways can they learn to have productive lives," Steve said.
When Steve and his mentees leave each encounter or graduate from the program, he hopes his influence will allow them to keep trying to be better.
According to Steve, he hopes to be the positive influence that inspires his mentee to try, do hard things, and become a better person than before.
The STRIVE program is centered around helping youth work through any life challenges they may have, but it has become something that also affects the mentors.
"It's [STRIVE] an opportunity to be a positive influence in their [mentee] lives... but I think and probably even bigger thing... is the change it brings into our own lives,"
For mentors, STRIVE allows its volunteers a chance to get out of their comfort zones and try to experience things they might not normally do.
"It's always good to stretch yourselves and grow yourselves to become better people," Steve said. "Get a mentee,"
Click the button below to learn more about the STRIVE Mentoring program or to sign up to become a mentor.
Part of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
