All Things Made New turns T E N!

A decade of memories. A decade of new opportunities and new obstacles. We are humbled. We are honored. We are blessed.

On Saturday, September 10th we had a Brunch Celebration and Open House. Our Executive Director had the following words to share:

All I can think to say is that I am joyful! Our hearts are filled with thankfulness, gratitude, and joy for each person that supports, cheerleads, advocates, invests, prays for, and shows up for All Things Made New and our youth and families! Today was absolutely lovely! Seeing so many beautiful faces come together to celebrate a decade of ATMN was heartwarming. To each person that came, THANK YOU. Some of our alumni came by to say hi, current families, volunteers, community members and friends. Wow! What an honor to share time with each of them today.

Thank you to those who continue to share their time, hugs, love, and support. It means more than I can articulate. Knowing who is in our corner and who we can count on as we navigate new territories, new opportunities, and new growth is priceless. The journey isn’t always easy and true community is what brings strength and resilience.

We were able to honor one of our Founding Board Members, friend, and confidant, Patty Bustamante as well, it was wonderful and a humble honor to recognize her leadership in the success of All Things Made New.

So many countless things to name and more words to come as we get closer and closer to September 21st, the first day we had a gathering in 2012! (More pictures too, as most of them are not on my phone )

Thank you to our Board Chair, Cherrelle Dawes and Board Secretary, Shanecka Logan-Hartfield for planning a sweet time together. So thankful for you all!

Love,

Michelle Flores

Mentor of the Quarter: Guy Rodgers

Mentor of the Quarter: Guy Rodgers

Guy Rodgers has been a delightful addition to the ATMN team and family. He has graciously committed each of his Thursday evenings to leading one of our Project Based Activities on site. Each week, a group of youth join him for his fun and engaging workout group. After he leads them in some running, exercise, and other activities then they hang out and talk about life, he instills life skills into them and they are able to talk and share things that are going on.

Volunteers of the Quarter: Thalia and Armando Ramirez

Volunteers of the Quarter: Thalia and Armando Ramirez

All Things Made New’s Birthday Card Club was created in August of 2020. By September of 2020 Armando and his mom Thalia were sending in beautiful, thoughtful, handmade birthday cards for ATMN youth participants feeling disconnected from their friends during the height of the pandemic.

Mentee Of The Quarter: Jacqueline

Mentee Of The Quarter: Jacqueline

Message from Devin Rodriguez, ATMN Programs Coordinator:

It is our pleasure to select Jacqueline as ATMN's Mentee of the Quarter! Jacqueline has soared through the many challenges that the pandemic has presented, with determination and persistence.

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Mentor Of The Quarter: Zach Evetts

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Mentor Of The Quarter: Zach Evetts

For almost two years Zach has been such an amazing force of love and support to ATMN’s youth participants. Zach is both an individual and small group mentor for the Iron Roots program at ATMN. Through consistency and good listening, he has become a role model and sounding board for the youth he works with. He’s fun, laid back, open minded, encouraging. Zach is willing to "get in on the fun" with the boys and play games, sports, and teach them new skills.

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Mentor Of The Quarter: Shani Thomas

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Mentor Of The Quarter: Shani Thomas

What can we say about a mentor who brings such a shining light to all the youth she works with? Well, quite a bit actually.

Mentee Of The Quarter: Cherish

Mentee Of The Quarter: Cherish

For the past 3 years, ATMN has been blessed to be a part of Cherish’s journey into a confident, kind leader in our mentoring program. As a youth participant in our middle school girls small group mentoring program, Cherish works hard to do the right thing, makes good choices, and creates an inclusive atmosphere for her mentoring group.

Volunteer Of the Quarter: Lisa Johnson

“A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.” - Salvador Dali

Lisa Johnson is a true artist in every sense of the word. She not only creates beautiful art, she also inspires and guides other in their own creations. With kindness and patience, Lisa has been a mentor and invaluable supporter at All Things Made New. She leads our very popular art activities, mentors teen moms or teen moms-to-be in our G.R.A.C.E program, delivers packages of joy for our Birthday Card Club, and so much more. She even painted our beautiful ATMN family tree in the entryway of our campus!

ATMN wouldn’t be what it is without Lisa, and that is why she is our Volunteer of the Quarter.

Congratulations Lisa! Thank you for all you do!

All Things Made New Mentor of the Quarter: Nick Labo

All Things Made New Mentor of the Quarter: Nick Labo

Sometimes beautiful things come from times of crisis. Back in April 2020, All Things Made New sent out a call looking for more mentors to assist the youth participants who were suddenly grappling not only with the trials of middle school and high school, but also the uncertainty and isolation of a pandemic. One person who answered this call was Nick.

2020 Keep Irving Beautiful Awards

All Things Made new was incredibly honored to receive the 2020 Keep Irving Beautiful Nonprofit Organization award. We know just how many wonderful nonprofit organizations there are in Irving and are so humbled to be the recipient of this award.

Though our programs are expanding to other cities and states, we are so deeply proud to be an Irving, Texas based organization. We strive to create a strong and beautiful community for all Irving residents. In our Serve The City program, the ATMN youth participants worked on service projects such as community clean up days.

Click on the video below o watch the online awards ceremony and learn about all the amazing awards recipients.


I Believe I am...

I Believe I am...

We asked the youth participants at ATMN to trace their hands, write "I believe I am" in the palm, and write a positive word to describe themselves on each finger.

We so often forget to speak kindly to ourselves. By simply changing how we speak about ourselves, we can radically change how we feel and act. We set higher goals for ourselves, make better choices, and are better able to uplift others!

Trust And Mentoring

Trust And Mentoring

We asked to middle and high schoolers what makes someone trustworthy. As they began to list all the attributes of a trustworthy person, we made sure we paid attention. Because in the end, weren’t we, as mentors, asking these young people to find us trustworthy? Didn’t we want them to see us as someone they could confide in and be themselves around? Their lists were blueprints to how we can best mentor them.

Our Vision For 2020

During the first program of 2020, we asked our participants to create vision boards for their hopes, dreams, and goals of 2020. As usual, these bright, kind, and funny kids got creative and put together some really incredible pieces that will help guide them through the next year.

It also got us thinking about our goals for 2020. If All Things Made New (ATMN) had a vision board, what would be on it?

The first thing we would probably put on our vision board would be the word “GROWTH” is big bold letters, underlined. ATMN is looking to be bigger, better, and shine brighter in 2020 so that we can better help these incredibly deserving kids.

This includes expanding our program to multiple nights of the week. It also includes providing more Friends and Fun Days for our participants and mentors. We can’t wait to give them opportunities to experience amazing activities in DFW and continue to bond and grow their mentor/mentee relationships.

We want to grow our group of amazing volunteers and supporters and continue to build this community of some of the loving and big-hearted people.

And as always, we want to continue to serve more kids in need. There are so many more at-risk youth that could use a safe place to relax, learn, and be seen for the amazing kids they are and for all the potential they hold. We want to help as many as we possibly can.

If you want to help us grow in 2020, click here to find out all the ways you can support All Things Made New.