Jul 9, 2008 8:02 pm US/Pacific
Mentors Help Teens Build Brighter Futures
Jefferson Award Winner: Daniel Weinstein
Barbara Rodgers
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
Seventeen-year-old Joshua Mauldin had to be taken away from his parents because they weren't able to care for him. These days, the praise he gets for his accomplishments comes from Daniel Weinstein.
"When you read about so many people and how they made it, it was maybe their grandmother of maybe their Uncle Mort or Aunt Lily who did it for them," Daniel explains. "So we try to provide their Uncle Morts and Aunt Lilys by recruiting them from around the city, people who wanted to mentor these kids."
That mentoring has paid off for Joshua.
"I think if I didn't come here, I'd be on the streets doing a whole lot of bad things, negative things," he says honestly. "I came here as a negative person and i think I'm leaving as a positive person."
The program that made such a difference for Joshua and hundreds of other children is
Seven Tepees. Daniel co-founded it 13 years ago. He was a retired judge and says what he saw in the juvenile courts made him want to try something new.
Daniel says, "In the juvenile justice system, of course we saw a lot kids who were very damaged, who didn't have all the opportunities other kids have at home and who needed a full-service, comprehensive, long-term program that would really stick to their ribs."
At Seven Tepees, kids learn about good nutrition, do their homework, get college and career counseling, life guidance, go on field trips... and even learn how to cook. At the organization's San Francisco headquarters, a huge mural lets the building stand out in the community as a place they can call home.
And at Seven Tepees, where children spend at least four hours each day, the feeling of home is not only because of the building.
"It's a nice program," says 13-year-old Joel Gomez. "Here, this program, they're your family. They can help you, whatever you need help, like with a problem. You tell them you have this problem and they help you solve it."
Weinstein wants to provide even more. He's now planning a rooftop renovation that includes a basketball court and a vegetable garden. For giving the youth of Seven Tepees and the community surrounding it so much of his time, money, energy and wisdom, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Daniel Weinstein.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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