The founder of the program, Rev. Malachi Walker, teaches boys to make better choices through life skills workshops and military-style discipline.
INDIANAPOLIS — Young Men Inc. has operated a summer camp program for boys out of Great Commission Church of God on the east side of Indianapolis for nearly three decades.
The founder of the program, Rev. Malachi Walker, teaches boys to make better choices through life skills workshops and military-style discipline.
“I don’t think there’s a better way for a young man between the ages of 8 and 16 to spend the summer season than right here at this church,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who speaks to the boys at the camp every year.
Young Men Inc. announced Friday that about half of the 80 spots in this summer’s camp are still open. You can learn more and register online. Orientation sessions will be held at the church at 3302 N. Arsenal Ave. on May 11 and 18 at 6:30 p.m. for new campers and people wanting more information.
The camp runs June 6 through Aug. 6. The cost for the camp is $75. Open slots are expected to fill quickly.
“This is great,” said IMPD Capt. Kimberly Young, who has also spoken at the camp. “I think it’s inspiring. I think it keeps them busy. And I think the military structure that he has for them gives them a different mindset and gets them ready for the world, instead of all the violence and the different things that are going on out in the street that they see every day.”
Sixteen-year-old Majestic Sconiers has participated in the program for five years and is now a counselor to younger boys. He worries about the gun violence that so often involves his peers as victims or perpetrators.
“I think about it as if, ‘What if I’m next?’” said Sconiers. “What if I’m in the gas station and I get killed or something? I feel as if it’s hard, but then I do feel as if we could change. We always could change.”
Walker said parents tell him all the time they see the change the program makes in the lives of their sons.
“My son is doing better in school,” said Walker, touting the success stories he hears. “My son is passing all his grades. My son has a total different perspective on life.”
Walker held Friday’s news conference in an empty field across the street from his church, because his congregation has a dream to build a multipurpose building on the property that would allow Young Men Inc. to double the number of boys they are serving.
“We need you right now,” Walker said, hoping financial supporters will come forward. “We have the land but we just need help to get it built. This is the answer to getting a lot of young men off the street.”
Young Men Inc. alumni held a rendering of the proposed new building. Others stood behind Walker. Several testified to how the program helped them mature into men leading successful lives with families of their own.
“Working alongside with my parents on building that solid foundation that it took to mold me into the man that I became today, to be able to take care of a family, have a fiancé, and just pour into all the young men that come through our program,” said James Williams, an alumnus and now Young Men Inc. assistant director. “All the love, the discipline, respect – all that stuff that we teach into our young men.”
