(ABC 6 News) – Rochester will soon see a new program to help out youth who may be struggling to find positive role models in their life and provide them with support outside the classroom.

Truth 2 Da Youth has been a longtime project for Charles Jackson, more commonly know as Yammy Bear.

He says now is the time to launch this program, as youth crime is already on the uptick in 2024.

It’s taken eight years to get the program up and running, but the idea came to Jackson during one of his lowest moments in life, while in prison 10 years ago.

“I started doing a social group when I was in prison, and the guys that was coming to the meetings, they was crying and they were saying that they wanted to do something different that’s in the community,” said Jackson. “So by working on it for these eight years on and off, this was the year to bring it about because we might see more children involved in criminal activities than they were last year.”

20 people have already reached out to Jackson to volunteer their time as mentors to the kids of this program.

The mentors hope to provide more opportunities and a better outlook in life for kids than they had when they were younger.

“I didn’t have a dad,” said Cecil Bellephant, a mentor with Truth 2 Da Youth. “A man wasn’t in the house to see myself walk through becoming a man, how to have a good character and walk in honor. What I was offered was the streets, whatever you could do from the streets is what I did. I know what those guard rails mean, in other words, mentors in your life.”

Some of the mentors may not have experienced the hardships like these kids, but had a family member who did.

Toni Mangskau’s daughter experienced many hardships that turned into at-risk activities on the streets, so she’s doing her part to ensure what happened with her daughter doesn’t happen to anyone else again.

“When she was going through her teenage years, we didn’t have a lot of that support that would have helped her stay away from gang activity,” said Mangskau. “She became addicted to a lot of different drugs, and I really wish that there would have been a program like this so that I could have had some other adult come in other than a parent. I can say a lot of things, but she needs to hear it from other people.”

Truth 2 Da Youth is not just about getting kids of all ages more support in their lives from adult figures they can trust, but the mentors hope that how they go about living their lives now could open countless doors for the kids.

“What I can bring toward the youth is not just my home and my time, but part of my business,” said Keith Lee, another mentor. “I think that would help give kids a lot of confidence to do what they need to do.”

While Truth 2 Da Youth’s focus is about sharing stories of life experiences with substance abuse and criminal activates, among many other things, it’s also about reassuring them to be okay with how their feeling.

“We all have different people, so learning to give people a person that is understanding of what you’re going through and where you want to go, instead of just kind of just accepting that we’re going to sit in our misery,” said CarolAnn Jackson, co-founder of Truth 2 Da Youth. “It’s okay to feel your feelings. I think there’s a difference between feeling them and feeding them.”

Truth 2 Da Youth will have it’s first in-person program on Tuesday, February 20 for kids to be introduced to their mentors for the program.

To find out more on how to volunteer or help provide additional resources for Truth 2 Da Youth, you can visit their Facebook page for more details.