Giving back: Former local students stay engaged at H.I.M.
Some former local students have decided to give back to the Hot Springs community by mentoring young people and helping them stay out of trouble.
The individuals are volunteers at High Impact Movement’s after-school program at the Champion Community Center.
H.I.M. started in 2018 after the Hot Springs Boys & Girls Club closed down. In the summer of 2022, though, a few former students who had just graduated high school decided to start a special sports program to keep local kids busy.
“We had a group of high school boys, some knuckleheads, that we needed to find a way that we could connect to them, really reach out to them, and help them basically find some discipline,” Johnavan Baker said, laughing. “So our way of doing that was for that group to, really, come up here just to play basketball.
“They wanted to shoot the ball all day, all day, all day. So what we did, we were like, ‘Hey, what if we put y’all on a team together and had y’all come up here and y’all do some practices and we do so local tournaments for you-all … just to keep you guys busy and have something for them to look forward to?’”
Baker said one of the things most of the boys they were trying to connect with had in common was they loved basketball.
“Because we know these boys will listen to that,” he said. “We know these boys will be interested in that instead of coming up here, going to school, getting into some trouble. … We needed something to keep their mind off of that. That main thing that we found was basketball.”
Benjamin Herrera was one of those initial students. A graduate of Hot Springs World Class High School, he now coaches a seventh grade team at H.I.M. He said the volunteers are like his big brothers.
“I can call them for anything. I can reach out to them. And they really just
gave me the template on how to be a good coach and better person,” he said.
He says they taught him a lot, and with compassion, showed him that “no matter how hard life gets, you always got somebody in your corner no matter what you’re going through.”
“I was one of those kids,” he said. “I wanted to drop out of school. I hated school. But when he started that team and I started coming up here and then I got the opportunity to start coaching, it kind of made me realize, I can do something. I can be somebody. And now I want to be that same person for these kids.”
Local basketball legend Imani Honey recently graduated college with a computer science degree and noted while she is proud of her accomplishment, she wants to give back and help others who may face some of the same challenges she did growing up.
“Getting that degree made me realize this is nothing … it’s not what I want to do,” she said. “Like, I want to be able to make a difference. Because ever since we lost the Boys & Girls Club, the violence has increased tremendously, because the kids don’t have anything else to do. There’s nothing to do.”
She said while growing up in Mountain Pine, if she could come to the Boys & Girls Club, that is where she would be every day. She became concerned when it later closed down.
“Knowing that there’s kids now that don’t have that, it just breaks my heart.
Because that was the one way you knew a kid would be out of trouble. Like, you knew where they would be. And so to see High Impact giving what they can and making a way for the kids, it’s just like, that’s where I want to be. That’s what I want to be doing,” she said.
She said, since 2016, she has lost seven cousins under the age of 25 to murder. While not being able to help them during that time, knowing she can do something to help better other kids and keep them busy and out of trouble gives her purpose.
Nicolas Haines, a student who plays on the 8-10 grade teams, said the mentorship has given him renewed purpose and energy, which he is able to bring over onto the court.
“I’m just the energy guy,” he said. “I’m the leader. And so in eighth grade, I got to bring the energy and be a leader and on ninth grade and 10th grade, I just bring that energy and play defense. But for the program off the court, I’m looking for opportunities like to get us in tournaments, bigger tournaments, and fundraising, that type of stuff.”
Corliss Brewer, a 2018 graduate of Hot Springs World Class High School, teaches the ninth and 10th grade teams. He said he has been a student of the program since it began.
“I’m kind of just giving back to what I had,” he said. “I’ve witnessed and trying to lead these kids in the right way, in the right direction.”
He said connecting with the students is the most important aspect because the kids need to know they have that person in their corner.
“I feel like my boys, we have that connection that they can call me anytime, when they need me or just need some advice in life. If they don’t agree on something that their parents said, they know they can call me and just talk a little. Honestly, I’m just like a big brother factor to them, so they can just call me anytime that they need me. … just show up whenever they need me,” he said.
The basketball mentorship program has grown since its summer 2022 beginning as more and more students bring their friends along. Baker said just being able to volunteer and show the students they have somewhere safe to go, where they have someone to talk to, makes him want to do more and just keep going.