We support young men on their path towards becoming men of integrity through two pillars- ongoing mentoring and rites of passage
Journeymen is about mentoring, which means we see ourselves as equals to the boys. And in a relationship of equality we are able to empathize with the boys while modeling authentic manhood. We employ the model of L.A.M.B. (listen, admire, model and bless).
We provide a safe environment in which diverse groups of young men come together in community and relate with their peers and mentors, so that they may allow their true unmasked selves to emerge. Then as they allow their true selves to surface we honor them for exactly who they are and help them to recognize their unique gifts.
In Journeymen, we do not try to fix, or give shoulds or shouldn’ts, and we don’t necessarily give advice unless asked. We are non-therapeutic.
An important focus of our program is to help the boys develop an emotional vocabulary, which is to say that over time they can readily connect with their feelings, put them to words, and share them openly. For many teenage boys this is a giant step toward maturing into authentic men of integrity, as the lack of emotional vocabulary is what lies at the core of so much of our society’s teen drug use, poor school performance, and aggressive antisocial behaviors.
In the now famous quote by Frederick Douglass “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men,” we believe the work of Journeymen is in building strong children for an even stronger sustainable future.
Intentional rites of passage have played an important role in many cultures for thousands of years, as experiences that challenge boys in a safe way to consciously explore the men they wish to be adds a powerful dimension to their development into manhood.
Our program uses a primitive setting to remove participants from the routines and patterns of their lives, so that they can explore who they are away from their normal comforts.
