The Journeymen Program Model

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.

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.

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.