Mentors In Action establishes connections with youths at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany

This is the eighth installment in an occasional series highlighting the individuals and entities at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

MCLB-ALBANY — A part of ensuring the mission of Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany is building connections with those on the other side of the installation’s perimeter.

Mentors In Action does that, specifically by empowering youths.

The program, otherwise known as MIA, was started in 2014 by a parent attached to MCLB-Albany who had a child in one of the Albany area schools and recognized there was an opportunity for Marines to take on more of a mentorship role.

“(The founder) was helping there as a parent, but saw there was a need for other kids,” Master Sgt. Deidra Harris, one of the coordinators of the MIA program, said.

MIA came from the understanding that not every child has a solid structure at home. Harris said Marines, like many others in the armed forces, have an obligation to protect and support the community they are in.

For MIA volunteers, that obligation includes going into schools and counseling prospective military members, participating in field days and other sporting events, coaching JROTC groups or personal training courses, or simply giving a child someone to talk to.

Guest speakers are also brought in, including someone from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to discuss forensic science, and officials from the University of Georgia to talk about recreation resources. There have also been opportunities for MIA to participate in a tour of the UGA campus.

Much of the outreach effort is getting to the root of what the youngsters want to accomplish, what is going on in their lives and what can be done to help them meet their goals.

“We try to produce that platform,” Harris said.

First Sgt. John Horsley, another one of the MIA coordinators, said as much outreach as possible is sought. One example he said he encountered was female Marines giving young girls advice about boys.

“One of them expressed she didn’t have a sister at home,” he said. “There are other people coming on board that are helping out (with outreach).”

Harris said there is practically an entire extended family helping Albany-area youths. The outreach is available at all times with parental consent, including after hours and weekends.

“Anyone who wants to volunteer (can volunteer),” she said.

Dougherty Comprehensive High School, Albany Middle School and International Studies Elementary Charter School are the schools MIA actively works with. The school liaison officer at MCLB, Latreesa Perryman, works hand-in-hand to establish connections with other schools.

Some of the principals in Worth County have been among those Harris said base officials have been talking with.

Harris and Horsley said feedback from the children they have interacted with has been positive.

“It gives them a sense of hope that someone cares,” Harris said. “That is the feeling we want to give to them, that they matter. We are looking to be influential in someone’s life. If we can strive to (reach out) to make a difference, it warms everyone’s heart.”

The mentorship windows typically take place over one hour a week, but some cases may take closer to four or five hours a week. Marines are known for their eagerness to volunteer, which those with MIA saw in the recent yard sale at MCLB hosted on Sept. 30 by the Marine Corps Ball Committee.

“(At the yard sale) there were 30 Marines saying they are ready to get out to schools,” Harris said.

When a new school year starts, time is taken to settle in and get a better idea of what the needs are, and the time and efforts of MIA volunteers are focused based on that. When the youth and mentor relationships have been established, the mentors will begin to “dress down” and check in either on a weekly basis or as needed.

“Some just want to be a part,” Harris said. “You don’t have to have issues, you can just be a part of it because it is a good thing.”

Horsley is a native of Detroit and has now been in the Corps for 20 years. He said he did not come up with a focused direction for his life until someone took an interest in him, so knowing he is paying that impact forward is rewarding for him.

“The satisfaction comes from knowing we are helping the youth,” he said.

Harris came from a single-parent home. She has committed to the mission to “protect and serve” and has risen from the mindset that the impact of a military uniform — which she has worn for 23 years — does not stop with the person wearing it, and that coming together “for a good cause moves mountains.”

“(With my background), I was still able to accomplish so many things in the Marine Corps,” she said. “You don’t have to have a perfect picture to be successful.”

The growth in MIA will come in reaching out to more schools and recruiting more mentors, and the expectation is that expansion will continue.

“I would like to see it go further, maybe get all of Albany involved if we can get that big,” Horsley said.

Those interested in becoming a mentor are expected to fill out paperwork and undergo a background check.

For more information on MIA, contact Horsley at (229) 639-6642 or [email protected]; Harris at (229) 639-8034 or [email protected], or Perryman at (229) 639-7497 or [email protected].