Christie
Mentor
When I moved to DC in fall 2017, I began the valuable but often lengthy process of building a community in a new city. Above all, I sought authenticity, intention, kinship, dedication, and passion, with the hope that I would find all of these things while contributing to a cause I cared about. Rather than having to build this community on my own, however, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon DCFYI, an organization whose members—teens and adults alike—embody each of these characteristics and more.
I cannot overstate the value of this program or the respect I have for the teens and adults who contribute to it. Each day, I am grateful for the opportunity to meet individuals who are at once resilient, compassionate, and willing to find a reason to laugh, and to be a mentor to a teen who teaches me something new every time we are together. If nothing else, I leave each event humbled from having lost yet another game to a competitive teen and enlightened from having learned some new slang that the “kids these days” are using. It’s been a brick (did I use that right?!) since I found this much joy in one place, and I am so glad to be a part of it.