MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Pursuit of God Transformation Center in Frayser is helping boys between 6 and 17 years old become leaders in their community and at home through The Husband Institute.
Monday night at 6:30, they'll be hosting their annual Christmas dinner and toy giveaway. They'll also be having an open house for young men who liked to join the program.
Pastor Ricky Floyd, who leads the program, hopes this can help end poverty, domestic violence, and teen pregnancy among other things.
"We're providing preventative medicine which is the best form of medicine," Floyd said. "You can't expect a young man to do right when he doesn't know right, so we're providing them with strong, positive male models many of who are giving back what we didn't have."
Many of the boys in the program are being raised by single mothers in primarily impoverished neighborhoods.
"We've decided to gather boys at an early age and teach them responsibility, righteous lifestyle, financial literacy, self-defense classes, and self-esteem building curriculums," Floyd said.
Floyd said many of these young men who are growing up without a father figure want direction.
"You’ll find the boys want to be disciplined, they want to be corrected," Floyd said. 'They just want it to be done in love."
The mentors want to give these boys the tools for prosperous lives for generations to come.
"We give affection, protection, direction, correction and we train our boys to leave a collection inheritance for their children’s children," Floyd said.
The Husband Institute is still accepting toy donations for its members. Donations can be dropped off at The Pursuit of God Transformation Center at 3759 N. Watkins St.