Your gifts, Viontae’s story: ‘There’s no better feeling than seeing him happy.’

Walking up to the porch to meet Viontae for the first time, I remember being uncharacteristically nervous. It didn’t help that it was summer time, and his entire family was out on the front porch waiting to meet me.

After meeting his mother, three brothers, grandma, and numerous cousins, I headed out on my first excursion with Viontae. The conversation was mostly one-sided as you can imagine, but over time he warmed up to me.

That was the pattern for the first few months of our relationship – slow-starting but strong finishing. Each visit ended with discussion of the next time we would get together and have fun. As a big brother, that’s a good sign that things are going well.

Brad, Viontae, Brad's wife and Boomer enjoying a recent Pacers game

Viontae and I were great together, but what wasn’t great was the stability of his home and school life. In the two years that I have been his big brother, Viontae has lived in six different homes and attended five different schools.

Within those moves, communication between us has been a major issue. On multiple occasions, I have shown up to an empty home where Viontae had recently moved from without telling me.

Without a consistent working phone or internet source, our communication was sporadic at best. Out of the blue, I would receive a phone call from a mystery number with Viontae on the other end telling me his new address. This was obviously not his fault, but it was affecting his grades and behavior in school.

With all of this unpredictability in his life during such a critical growth period for a middle-school boy, I knew that I had to stick with him and try to bring some consistency to his life. As challenging as it was at times, I made sure that I got to hang out with him a few times each month. If I couldn’t reach him on the phone, I drove to his house. If he wasn’t home, I drove to wherever he was just to say hi and plan our next day out.

Over the past six months, Viontae and his family have been living in the same home and he has attended the same school. He is continuously showing signs of maturity and growth both in and out of school.

It would be impossible to know how much impact I have had, but I can tell you that there is no better feeling than seeing him happy. Progress is not seen overnight, but being a steady presence over the past two years has improved both of our lives.

With the new year here, I encourage anyone that really wants to make a difference in a child’s life to become a mentor. Having a consistent, positive role model can make differences beyond what you may expect.

--Brad Shupe, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana mentor, and clinic director, ATI Physical Therapy

Editor's note: Through agencies like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana and others, your undesignated gifts to United Way helps match mentors like Brad with young people to help them become the next generation of caring, confident and competent adults.

Your gifts, Cheryl’s story: we helped her through a crisis, now she’s paying it forward

Emma, an experienced financial and housing counselor at Families First, a United Way agency, recently celebrated her 11th anniversary at the agency. Out of the blue, she received a telephone call that made her already special day even better.

Cheryl, one of her first clients, called to thank Emma for playing a pivotal role in helping her find a path to self-sufficiency.

Cheryl's husband died and she was worried about losing her home. She turned to Emma at Families First for help sorting out her financial troubles. They met several times to review Cheryl's income and expenses, develop a manageable monthly budget and make a plan to achieve Cheryl's financial goals.

During their talks, Emma learned Cheryl had some college but had never completed the work to earn her degree. They talked about the connection between education and financial stability, and Emma encouraged Cheryl to find a way to finish her schooling.

Now, 11 years later, Cheryl called Emma to let her know she had taken that advice. Cheryl earned a degree in social work and is now working as a family advocate at The Julian Center, also a United Way agency.

Families First financial counselor Emma Sullivan (left) catches up with Cheryl Parham 11 years after having helped her work through financial troubles. Now Cheryl is a family advocate at another United Way agency where she’s helping others overcome their own challenges.

In her work, Cheryl is paying it forward by helping other women overcome difficult challenges and get back on their feet.

It's likely she'll be answering a similar phone call someday too, thanks in part to your contribution to United Way.

Gail Rothrock, Senior Vice President, Families First

Editor's note: Undesignated gifts to United Way's campaign help people like Cheryl get through a crisis and on a path to financial stability. This year, annual campaign contributions are being invested in 45 agencies that help individuals with basics like food, rent and utilities, as well as giving them hope and support to move up the economic ladder. For example, an undesignated gift of $1,000 will help pay the monthly salary of an outreach coordinator to help families in overcoming barriers to stability.

Since 1921, UWCI has invested more than $44.5 million in Families First as it has evolved from providing charity relief to its present day mission which offers family-focused counseling and support to help troubled families and individuals overcome marital or family conflicts, domestic violence and chemical dependency. Services also include parent education, family preservation, home-based services for older and challenged adults, Employee Assistance and financial literacy programs. The agency’s current year allocation is $1,123,656.

United Way’s funding includes more than $1 million in grants for capital, technology and other targeted purposes (funded apart from the annual campaign).