Men of Courage seeks members to bring community together

Lorain County is seeing the development of the faith-based, development series called Men of Courage.

Anthony Jones, founder, president and CEO, said the organization began in Columbus 10 years ago.

“We’ve been going for a while, but I moved back to Lorain five years ago, and I’ve been slowly getting it started again,” Jones said. “We started with the schools first.”

For the past few years, Jones has been active within Lorain local schools such as Lorain High, Southview Middle School and General Johnnie Wilson Middle schools.

The program is geared toward boys, teenagers and men who need a space to grow, both professionally and personally, Jones said. “We want the young men in our community to realize how their choices affect more than just them,” he said.

Their choices affect their families, friends, classmates and more than just themselves, he said.

The group is hosting a community introduction event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sept. 5, at 2009 W. 21st St. in Lorain.

Jones said members will hand out snacks, masks and information about the organization.

He said he’s currently working on expanding the program to adults in the Lorain County area. “In Columbus, we met every Saturday for two hours for seven years,”

Jones said. “We ate and talked about what it’s like to be a man and any issue we had in our lives.”

Men of Courage is about having a growth mindset and encouraging other men to be the best versions of themselves they can be, he said.

Jones said he is looking forward to meeting the boys and men who want to join the organization.

Currently, he said he’s searching for a suitable meeting place for the group once it’s safe to do so.

Right now, the meetings are hosted on Zoom.

Jones said he’s also looking at starting an after-school Men of Courage program to give more young school-age boys the chance to take part in the organization. “When you come to school, you have to work around their schedules and only have so much time to interact with them and build trust,” he said. “We want to do an after-school program and open it up to more young men.”

LYRIC AQUINO — THE MORNING JOURNAL Anthony Jones and other members of Men of Courage to socialize, will pass out masks and introduce themselves to the community Sept. 5 at Shak’s Korner in Lorain.