Savannah’s Xcel mentoring program guides boys to find success as men
If you ask Jay Thompson, founder and CEO of Xcel Strategies, about the most important lesson he has learned during his last 20 years of mentoring young men, he won’t hesitate to tell you. “It’s definitely consistency that rules the day. We need consistency in all aspects of our relationships.”
Xcel is a nonprofit mentoring program for young men ages 15 to 23. When Thompson and his team of other professional men are working with these young men, they are sure to be consistent in their contact and communication.
“You can see it — we all need consistency in our lives, in our families. It’s the inconsistencies that trip you up. If we are not consistent in what we say and do, then it’s this emotional roller coaster.
“Every day we are getting up and going to work and extending love and care to each other. As young men, we are learning these characteristics and how to care for each other. Being consistent with young men is very important.”
Network of support
Thompson grew up in Savannah and graduated from Calvary Day School in 1994. He eventually found his way to student ministry in churches after college. He then spent the next 20 years working with middle school, high school and college students.
“When I was doing college ministry at Southside Baptist, students would say, ‘Hey, I need a job’ or ‘I’m trying to figure out life,’ so I would send them to my friends and create a network of support. I realized I’ve got a knack for mentoring and building a network with my friends from growing up here.
“Then, I started thinking about my own story. Where would I be without a dad? He was the provider and protector of our family, and I want to model that.”
Thompson says his father and mother adopted Thompson and his sister. “He gave me opportunities. And I thought, where would I be without my father, who put his shoes on every day and went to work for us?”
So, Thompson started Xcel Strategies. The team became a nonprofit in 2012, and in six years, they’ve built a network of 100 people in the community. Xcel graduated 16 men from the program last year and hopes to expand to 30 or more in the coming years.
“I started Xcel to provide opportunities for these young men in the community who have lost parents to divorce, death, incarceration. … A majority of them are being raised by single-parent families or low-income families.”
His overall goal? “Fuel them with purpose.”
“Our boys, when they are fueled with purpose, can do awesome things. But when they are not fueled with purpose, they can become destructive. … We are going after this epidemic of fatherlessness in the community.
“Our prayer for these young men is that when they are fueled with purpose, they’ll find success in their dreams.”
Train, advise, employ
“We train, we advise, we place them in jobs,” Thompson says.
The initial training period lasts about six weeks and the young men are expected to meet with the team for two hours each week. While it would seem Thompson would have a waiting list of young men trying to get into the program, he says most guys won’t show up for that first six weeks on a consistent basis.
During that time, they’re given a “field manual” that focuses on six areas: how to set goals, time management, health and fitness, financial stewardship, relationships and relational intelligence.
“For financial stewardship, we teach an 80-10-10 principle (spending, saving, giving). In relationships, we teach these young men how to value family, friends and females in their life, because a lot of these young men have never been taught how to value the women in their lives … to commit to a loving relationship,” Thompson says.
The next step is the advisement portion, which lasts 12 months and helps get these young men ready to work. They are taught how to work with and respect people in the workplace.
“This is where employers love what we do. We teach them to build a resume, we teach them interview training. We help with starting a bank account and getting a driver’s license.
“Then we move them into an entry-level job because they don’t have access to jobs and they don’t know where to go.”
Rewarded for work
And this is where Thompson’s network comes into play the most.
“We have friends in the community who own businesses with entry-level and minimum-wage type jobs. We teach our guys it’s all about getting out there and working. We tell them to work hard, stay drug-free and get the job done. And they are rewarded for it,” Thompson says.
“They (open) bank accounts and they start putting money away. They’re starting to put food on the table and … taking responsibility for their family.”
But the overall mission of Xcel is to get these young men moving beyond minimum-wage jobs and on to college or next-level jobs. Thompson focuses on trade jobs that are in high demand, such as plumbers, electricians, welders, auto diesel mechanics, logistics, carpentry, IT and hospitality. Xcel partners with companies that want to train them on the job.
“This is a game-changer for the young men we work with. Many of them have dropped out of school, but that doesn’t scare us. We just try to direct them back into the workforce.
“A lot of guys who don’t have a healthy framework in life, they are going to drop out of school and then just sit on the front porch and try to figure out what’s next — and the first thing that comes along is what they are going to attach themselves to.
“We have these guys who may not have support of a family or are doing badly in school or have dropped out altogether — and schools are like, what do we do with these guys? Now we become an option. We aren’t scared of these guys.”
Xcel’s partners don’t just help get these young men jobs; they also provide valuable services to help give them the confidence to go out into the workforce and ask for a job.
For example, once the young men finish their initial training, Thompson takes them down to J Parker Ltd. men’s apparel on Broughton Street, where they are fitted for a suit to wear for job interviews.
Thompson also tells a story about a partner who offered free dental services. “One of our guys came through in the summer and we were preparing him for a job. We sent him over to one of our partners, and Russ took care of his teeth.
“He really helped him with his image — it was huge. Huge! He was a different guy. He always wanted to smile, but he was ashamed of his teeth. After that, he really lit up like a lightbulb.”
Learning to give
While these young men are getting the benefits of the network, they are also learning to give back. They take part in a major service project through Xcel, the Joy Prom, which was created by Thompson and benefits special-needs teens.
“This is how we teach our young men service to the community. My guys are shining shoes and dancing on the dance floor. They make sure to give them a night they won’t forget,” Thompson says.
Xcel also sponsors the Gridiron Gauntlet fitness program for young men in fourth to eighth grade.
“This is a great way for our guys to teach these guys how to stay active during the week and to stay competitive. It also serves as a feeder system to the Xcel program.”
This year, Thompson’s group added a new event to their roster, a welding competition.
“Welding is one of our trades, so we decided to do a competition to expose our guys who want to be welders to trade schools that are training welders. It also exposes those companies that need to hire welders. We had professional teams and trade school teams. Now the companies can see the talent that is available. … It’s almost like a big job fair.
“It’s also a fundraiser for us and allows us to keep doing what we are doing. It gives us exposure and shows the community what we are doing. Now I’m taking one of my young men to one of these businesses to interview for a welding position.”
Being strategic
“It’s a strategy,” Thompson says. “Everything we do is intentional because nobody is the same. It’s not a cookie-cutter organization where we can say, you’re done. It’s a lifelong process where we are building a network.”
Thompson knows Xcel isn’t just helping the young men in the program; it’s also helping their families.
“We believe that it trickles down to the other siblings. Here he is making more money than he’s ever made and now he’s modeling the hard-work ethic and the commitment to the employer.
“A lot of young men don’t have a commitment to their employer. They think they can just jump from job to job and one day land that million-dollar job, and it just doesn’t work like that. We teach our men they don’t quit a job until they have a job. They don’t learn that on the streets.
“There is room for mistakes. We’ve all made mistakes. We need to give grace to those who may trip up a little along the way.”
Thompson says they are always looking for partners.
“We need financial support and we need jobs for our young men. We need individuals who want to care for young men as mentors. … We just want to build friends into the lives of these young men.”
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