Why this blog?

We recognize UMA's volunteers come from all sorts of backgrounds and are heading all sorts of places, yet we have all chosen to come together with one common goal - to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a long-term and impactful way in our community! 

Most of you see the kids weekly - some in a group setting and some in a mentor role. You may experience the kids bullying each other or shutting down if they are told "no". You may (naturally) bring in expectations of how you think kids should appropriately act and not know how to adjust those expectations for kids from hard places. Even beyond your time with UMA, some of you plan to hold jobs in positions like teacher, youth pastor, or social work where you will most likely be serving kids with stories similar to those of UMA's youth. 

We want this to be a space where you will find practical, hands-on tips that can be used in your relationship building with UMA youth, and/or in future jobs or life situations! If you ever have any questions of "how should I handle this situation?" or other training you'd like to see more of, please ask me!

-Marissa