Save Our Sons (SOS)
MISSION
The mission of Save Our Sons (S.O.S.) is to help fill the void created by fatherless ness, by imparting to our boys their identity and their destiny.
VISION
Our vision for S.O.S. is to provide a positive environment for boys to grow in character and develop their personality. S.O.S. will support our boys on their journey of faith, to become dynamic servant leaders in their world.
OUR VALUES
Our values are far reaching. They include accountability, responsibility, integrity, good work ethics, relational values, teen leadership, quality, safety and character development as the core guiding values.
THE DILEMMA
There is an ALARMING EPIDEMIC sweeping through urban America at a frightening pace. This epidemic has been attributed to high crime and incarceration rates, and poor high school graduation trends sky-rocketing. To the young male, this epidemic is more dangerous than cancer, and is a catalyst to alcohol and drug abuse. What is this epidemic? FATHERLESSNESS.
The devastating impact of family disintegration on children is indisputable. A special U. S. commission consisting of authorities on child development was convened in the 90's to examine the general health of adolescents. This report, called "code blue", concluded: "Never before has one generation of American teenagers been less healthy, less cared for, or less prepared for life." Seventy percent of black babies and 19 percent of white babies in the U.S. are born out of wedlock. Most will never know their fathers or experience what it means to be loved by them. Seventy-two percent of mothers with children under eighteen currently hold jobs. The combination of the busyness of mothers and the noninvolvement of fathers means that too often, there is nobody home! No wonder boys are in such a mess today.
That is why it is imperative for the church to take an active role in the lives of boys who, for whatever reason (death, incarceration, and abandonment) will never see their fathers. The church must help -- SAVE OUR SONS!
ABOUT S.O.S.
The S.O.S. personal development programme is a Youth Project that has been working with young men in Pittsburgh and England since 2002 in schools, community and church groups and one-to-one sessions to help raise the educational achievement of young people, especially boys.
Our activities to date include one-to-one mentoring sessions, group motivational talks, attendance at high profile events, weekend youth camps and week-long summer activities.
The aim of the week-long youth camp is to promote positive values, self-discipline, maturity and responsibility in all areas of their life, the program is aimed at 12-17 year old male students.
A Rites of Passage aims to create a line in time over which a boy crosses from his childhood to young manhood. Many boys grow physically, but they lack the certainty that they have become young men. An individual has an inherent need to know that they have grown up and a Rites of Passage provides an opportunity for such certainty.