Liberty for Youth changes Rudy’s image of police
At 14, Rudy Sanchez-Medina didn’t think much of Hamilton police after a family member was arrested and jailed.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what to think — is it the police or these people who are the bad ones?” says Rudy, now 24.
But as fate would have it, his love of playing basketball led him to Liberty for Youth, a non-profit organization that mentors youth 12 to 25 away from criminal behaviour.
Rudy’s basketball interest later led to participation in other Liberty programs where Hamilton police were helping out.
“Now I see police in a positive way,” says Rudy. So much so that he hopes to be a police officer himself one day — he graduated from the Police Foundations program at Mohawk College last spring, thanks to scholarship help from Liberty for Youth.
Key to Rudy’s desire to become a police officer was his Liberty mentor, Sgt. Rod Allison. Their twice-amonth dinner at East Side Mario’s that Liberty paid for, gave them a chance to really talk.
“It (the mentorship) meant a lot to me because it made me realize what I wanted to do in the future — and that was policing … I just want to do what policing, what the badge stands for — to serve and protect. I just want to help people.”
Allison also helped him with his school work, inspired him, and taught him to pursue his dreams.
“The last couple of times we were hanging out, he told me ‘You can do it. Nothing is impossible.’ He gave me a lot of encouragement.”
Rudy will be among the youth sharing their stories at the Liberty for Youth’s annual gala in November.
Executive-director Frederick Dryden says Liberty for Youth has helped 500 youth since starting in 2004, and has grown to help 100 kids a year.