Alumni Update: Joe Flynn

Update from Joe Flynn at 2008 graduate of SMU
"I am currently in Albany, NY serving as a Lasallian Volunteer (LV) and while I'm here I'm working at the La Salle School for Boys. La Salle School is a large, residential and community based child welfare agency. the school serves court adjudicated youth. Some students live on the premises while others commute from home, the boys are ages 10-21. My job is to help them imporve their self-esteem and coping skills. This population is very challenging, but is also one of the most rewarding group of young men with which to work.
As a volunteer here I live on site and coordinate indoor/outdoor recreation & Campus Ministry programs for the trouble youth who reside at the school. I use Campus Ministry and Recreation as gateways to provide the boys with a wide range of religious, service and recreational services. The boys at La Salle are at the core of St. La Salle's teachings and at the heart of the Christian Brothers' mission. These are the boys 'whom no one heard when they cried.' They are the oucasts whom most of society and sometimes even their parents do not want to work with and would rather discard.
My time spent in Albany has been very eye opening. The boys I work with have never really been given a chance. Few have had any guidance to help them do what is right. These boys need someone thy can rely on and trust. That has been my main goal while serving them, to be a figure of consistent support. I know I have to come back everyday no matter how hard the day before was, these boys have been given up on most of their short lives, so for us to make a difference we need to be there for them.
I am one of 56 volunteers who is serving throughout the United States (from Rhode Island to Oregon). Every volunteer works directly with the poor, using education as their main tool to guide young people to a more promising life.
That is what I am doing!!! For hobbies I am doing a lot of running, seeing as much of the East coast as I can, and showing visitors around when they come to see me."