Episode 52. Jeff Huth, JP4 Foundation

Reed sits down with Jeff Huth, Executive Director of the JP4 Foundation. They discuss the power of mentoring, community engagement, and the amazing work being done through JP4 to enrich the lives of underserved youth by providing access to healthy meals, healthy activity, and building authentic relationships over an infinite timeline. 

“Everyone needs a mentor” 

For information on JP4, email: jeff.huth@jp4foundation.org or text 763-242-2125. 

Transcript

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Hi again, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries. My guest grew up in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, stayed relatively local, attending various colleges before earning a degree in communications, arts, and literature through Metro State's urban teaching program. In 2020, he returned there to complete his master's in urban education. He currently lives just outside of downtown with his wife, Natice, and their mini sheep a doodle. I want to learn more about that. And when time allows. He is an avid golfer and believes he was put on this earth to be a beacon of light and hopes to leave it more compassionate and equitable than when he arrived. As a result, he is the executive director of the JP four foundation, which enriches the lives of underserved youth by providing access to healthy meals, healthy activity, and more importantly, healthy relationships. Welcome Jeff Hooth. Thank you for having me read. I appreciate it. It's a pleasure having you here today. Now when you were 26, I believe you were asked to start a foundation in memory of Johnny Price, the fourth, who was a Lakeville South student who passed away tragically in a car accident in December of 2015. Will you tell us more about the formation of JP four? Yeah, it was probably the spring of 2016. I got a phone call from Johnny Price's baseball coach at the time, Adam Barta. He said, Jeff, um, we had a passing in our program, I'm wondering if, um, you'd be interested in helping me start a foundation honoring Johnny's legacy. And I kind of, there's a pause on the phone, and I was making sure he was calling the right person because I'm an English teacher teaching right now and have no idea about foundations or anything like that. So. I figured 26, not married, no kids, no wife, no pet, why not, uh, try to do something else and change my career and start this. So, um, met with Adam, learned a little bit more about Johnny's story and once I heard Johnny's story and who he was and what he encompassed, I said, deal. I went into my principal the next week. I said, um, I will be, trying to start a foundation here this summer. If it doesn't work, can I come back? And they said, all right, we'll see you in three months. And then that was it. You tell us a little bit more about Johnny's story and how that came to be. Yeah, so I think the story that really stood out to me was Johnny growing up. He was constantly losing his baseball equipment, glove, bat, cleats, all that kind of stuff. And he would go to mom and dad and say, Hey guys, I lost my brand new baseball glove. Could, could you guys, you know, give me a couple hundred bucks, get a new baseball glove? And they said, um, yep, here you go. Be more responsible. Go get your new baseball glove. And this happened year after year after year. And Johnny passed away in December of 2015, come January of 2016, families started reaching out to the Price family saying, hey, do you know what your son did for my son? And they looked at him and they said, no, we don't. And they said, well, we have kids with special needs at home and we don't have any money for baseball equipment. Your son gave my son his brand new baseball glove. And it would be story after story after story of that. That really said, Hey, this this this kid, even though he was 18 years old, really had the wisdom and knowledge of somebody much, much older. So unbeknownst to mom and dad who assumed their. Young child was just being a typical teenager, losing things all of the time misplacing. He was giving away this baseball equipment to anyone that he knew in need that would that could use it. And then. It's just sheepishly going back to mom and dad saying, Oh, I lost my Yeah And when John and Lisa found out about that, they said. You know if you were just told us who helped these families, but Johnny didn't want to put that burden on the families. He was helping and just said, you know, I can eat this for the family. So quiet giver the giver's heart. Absolutely. So in 2018, your mission took a significant turn based on the words of a 12 year old boy. Who attended your first summer long camp when he shared his reason for attending camp was quote They said you would feed me If I was here today, unquote. So on that day, the foundation changed course. We'd love to hear more of that backstory. Yeah. So when we started the foundation, you know, it just made sense. Johnny was a baseball player. He has this story about giving kids equipment. How do we take Johnny's story and make a foundation that is dedicated to the enriching the lives of youth through baseball? And so we did that, you know, for two years until this camp you're talking about in 2018. I had a teacher from Battle Creek Middle School call me and say, Hey, we haven't won a baseball game in two years. Can you guys come out and teach my kids baseball? And I thought best decision ever. Finally we've made it. People are calling me. So I get all the best baseball coaches around the state of Minnesota. We get there, eight kids show up and we were so excited. We said, Hey, how many of you guys are here because you love baseball knowing that these people haven't won a game in two years and not one kid raised their hand. So we kind of looked around and said, Why'd you guys show up? And one kid in the back raises his hand and said, why only came here? Cause you said you're going to feed us and read at that moment at, you know, I guess I was 28. I've learned my first ever business lesson of shame on me for going into communities and saying, this is what you need. Uh, what I learned is why don't I go into communities and ask them, what do you need? And then see how that I can be of service. So, we were lucky that kid showed up that day and kind of, um, rebranded and reshaped who we are and what we're doing. Because now you have been providing kids and young people with a mix, physical fun, life skill development. This is enabling them to enjoy just being kids, it sounds like. And you're combining that academic and social emotional learning. It's just positive social interactions happening with peers and mentors from the community. And this is in a safe and truly supportive environment. I have to admit, when I heard that story of the young young person in the back just saying we thought you were going to feed us today, it was suddenly it wasn't just about baseball anymore, right? So we have completely scrapped all things baseball and really focused on how do we reimagine and a lot of non profits are trying to stop things or end things, and for us, as a non profit, it's how do we provide more and give what we think that, and that we've been told that kids in these communities need. And most importantly, that is, um, people that look like them, sound like them, care about them, come from their community, and truly have their best interests in mind. Now, is this something that's across the metro? Are you located in a specific pocket of the state or how, how far reaching is this right now with JP4? Currently, uh, we're kind of planted in East St. Paul, North Minneapolis, and South Minneapolis, most of our work being in that East St. Paul area. Uh, there's a study that came out a few years ago, a research study that said kids living in Ramsey County have the highest percentage of ACEs out of any other county in Minnesota. And ACEs, we know are adverse childhood experiences. So things as, is there neglect at home, abuse at home, do you have a parent incarcerated, have you had any of these things going on? And what research says is once these kids get to four ACEs in their life, their life expectancy actually decreases. And I think more importantly, their life expectancy decreases, but their overall quality of life decreases as well. So what we've learned in our research is, think of those as like boulders on a seesaw. Those ACEs are not moving. Those ACEs are always going to be there. However If we can provide enough pieces, positive childhood experiences, eventually those ACEs are kind of going to offset. So, that's why we're cemented for sure in Ramsey County and East St. Paul and looking to grow into North and South Minneapolis a little bit more. Thanks for sharing the aspect of the, the aces and that's some very, those are some very sobering statistics. How do these young people find you? How do you find them? How, what's the engaging and getting this rolling process look like? Yeah. So for the young people in our program, um, and we're serving kids from first grade to eighth grade, uh, we just expanded a program into sixth, seventh and eighth grade. and we are partnering with, uh, already. So, we're looking to partner with those organizations, and one of those, that one of the reasons was we didn't necessarily want to take kids away from where they already were, so how do we meet the kids and make it a little bit more equitable, take that transportation piece out and say, you stay where you're at, we'll come find you. So it sounds like you have many layers in play at all times with this. How do people get involved in this? Or what level of need is there for volunteers to participate to some extent, to some capacity, be engaging JP4, either with their time, their resources? What does that look like for you? For us, uh, we are a, a small fish in a very big pond. I mean, I, I call Minnesota the land of 10, 000 nonprofits. So anytime that people can share story, just have us in the back of, um, their head, is going to be super beneficial for us. Uh, another way that's beneficial is we are in growth mode and I am looking for people, the business minded people to maybe look at, do you want to join a board? Do you want to join a committee? How can we take your expertise that you've had 35 years, you know, in the corporate field and bring it into the nonprofit? I think it's important, as an ED, as an executive director is that we look at our nonprofit. As a small business, we still need to make sure more money is coming in than is going out. And so it takes like minded people and business minded people, Knowing that, that means that we can make more impact. How would someone get in touch with you to become involved in some capacity? Because do you have needs for mentors, for people to be helping? about. One on one with the activities. You're also sounds like you would be open to having a conversation with someone of the business Yeah. I think our greatest need right now is just that, uh, awareness and just, uh, having people know about us and getting this out. I think what was our greatest need was we were always looking for these young adults to come in and be these mentors. Um, but we've established some great partnerships with the Alan Page Education Foundation, with World Youth Connect, with local colleges where we can get these 18 to 25 year olds coming in and and being mentors for, um, our kids we're serving. And the unique thing about our mentors is every single one of them is coming from the communities we're actually working in, and our mentors are getting paid too. So, it's not a volunteer opportunity, this is a paid position, and what also we're serving is, uh, these mentors are getting personal and professional development as well as mentoring these kids. So, it's We've really looked at ourselves as being a dual track program. Yep. We're here to serve these first to eighth graders, but almost, we're almost seeing even more impact with these 18 to 25 year olds we're hiring. We're having them for one to two to three years, and then we get to kind of push them up to their next career spot. that's outstanding to hear. What's an example of some of the programs that the. What does it look like in that mentoring? Is it sports? Is it help with homework? What does that look like? I feel like the area of mentoring could be so wide ranging. Yeah, so we're a little bit special. And whether it's your mentoring in our summer camp or mentoring in our after school program, we're following the same kind of cadence. So every single day the kids will meet with all the mentors will gather around. Um, and we'll start every day with a greeting. Uh, whether that's us teaching you our hen's handshake, so a high I name shake, so how to properly introduce yourself. Or it's something more fun. You know, I think there's a, it's purposeful that we start with a greeting every day to build this community so that people can have this interaction, so they can know how to introduce themselves. after that, we always go into a share, whether it's a group share, whether we work with public speaking, uh, whether it's a popcorn share, but it's another way to kind of build this community. But the next thing is really where the impact is made, and this is our walk and talk sessions. So this is where, uh, one mentor will take one to two kids, and 15 minutes, talk about life, talk about the good things, the bad things, check in on the weekend, and this is where the relationships are established. From there, uh, we'll go into our actual program, where every single activity we are running, um, has some sort of social emotional learning component, whether it's teamwork or communication or, de escalation, so we're always trying to sprinkle these things on, uh, the program. And then we always, uh, follow up with kind of a checkout with that same original mentor. So the kids get probably about 30 minutes just at one on one mentoring time every single week. I'd have to imagine that's incredibly impactful for them to have that relationship where someone is taking an interest in just as simple as it might be. How are you? What's new in your life? What's, what are we celebrating? What are we struggling with right now? Yeah. And I'll tell you, read, um, last year, we had some transportation issues, so we had to take the schools. It was a really fun experience because as we were pulling up to these houses, dropping off the kids, you know, we would ask them, who do you live with? You know, tell me about your house. How many people are there? And some kids are saying like, Oh, I live with 10 or 11 other people. And I said, well, who do you live with? And they would name off every single person they lived with. And they said, you know what? The reason I like, J. P. Ford Diamond Club is because it's the one time that someone's actually going to look at me, know my name, and listen to me. And I think that's super powerful, to have that one person. How can you be the one for one? sometimes we overlook the power of mentoring, even as adults. author I read recently that talked a lot about mentoring could be either intentional or sometimes unintentional. And that could be in a work setting or a neighbor or just that that more random encounter. But when I first met you and we talked about JP4 and you're aware of what we are doing as the Minnesota Freemasons, It struck me that even our new members, adults, are seeking that opportunity. Looking for that authentic friendship, but a life mentor. Someone said that to me again recently. I'd really like to meet somebody, not just a friend, but someone who listens and who understands what I'm battling or going through in life. Well, we'll I think as far as mentoring goes, it's not something that we age out or lose the desire to have even when we're adults. Yeah. And I agree with that. I think everybody at some point in their life. Needs a mentor, and I actually think you're right. I think for your whole entire life, you could have a mentor. And I think mentors always don't have to be someone that's older than you. I think it mentors could be a whole range of people in your life. How much have you seen after the fact? Maybe there's the mentor mentee relationship that might go on for a while. Is that. Yeah. Something that, that relationship just continues to blossom or to be a, a solid connection between two people, a group of people that you've, what kind of timeline have you seen that start out at maybe that initial awkward interaction to these, this is, it was a connection for life there. Yeah, and you see the first day of programming when you're trying to tell these kids that showed up for your programming What's gonna happen what to expect and you're like, all right now We're gonna get into groups and you see them very standoffish and not wanting to be there But Reed, you know You fast forward three weeks and the kids are sprinting down the hallways, embracing their mentor, giving them hugs and saying, Oh my gosh, I can't wait to tell you what happened in my week. And that's just over three weeks. You know, what we're trying to build is, programs that can go from first grade to eighth grade and talk about the change and talk about the, um, the impact that you can make. If you saw Your mentor every single week from 1st grade to 8th grade. I mean, that's pretty remarkable. How great is the need right now for more mentors for people to fulfill that, specifically that role to be that first point of contact? I think the need is huge and I think the need is always going to be there. Uh, I've never heard anyone say, Oh, I have too many mentors in my life, right? It's true. I think the most successful people have people that care for them and that have mentors that they've always kind of had. so the need is great. my hope is, and this sounds crazy and far fetched, but my hope is that we can conduct this longitudinal study that we can go to the Minnesota Department of Education and say, we've been collecting data, look at these kids from first grade to eighth grade that have had a mentor in their life and look at their attendance, look at their school scores, look at their behavioral referrals. At some point, maybe it's time that we start focusing on. these ancillary things in school, math is important, reading is important, social studies is important. I get that, but there's got to be other things that we could be providing kids that make them as successful as possible. And I think mentoring is one of them. I would imagine that the leadership in any situation like that with education, with leader, we get pretty occupied with the administrative side of it. great way of. Checking the boxes and maybe underestimating the power of the human connection of what you're doing at JP four and how that has a ripple effect into especially young people's lives at home. At school. Confidence in this digital world. We have this conversation on this podcast on a regular basis of the. Difficulty it is to imagine being a young person in the world today. Surrounded by everything digital, the apps. the constant stimuli of all things of TikTok and Instagram and all, I don't even have to list all of them. It's a very different world to be growing up in right now. Absolutely. And there is a, I know there's studies out there to say that, uh, the dopamine It's getting ruined in all of these kids because everything is so, instant and there's no extended gratitude, I think it's called. Like there's nothing to wait for. And so they're seeing issues with attention spans and they're seeing issues with, going out and riding your bike to get to the park because you know that's the payoff, whereas I don't want to do that because there's, there's so much in between to that payoff that, uh, my dopamine doesn't work that way. it's just a different mindset and it makes sense completely. You and I have talked also about community engagement and specifically with the documentary that we're hosting. A community screening of if anyone's listening to this in real time on Monday, November 11th at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center, we are hosting a community screening of a documentary called Join or Die. And that is based on the work of Professor Robert Putnam, who was a Harvard professor and he conducted a lot of studies in communities and towns, some in Italy, across Europe and in the United States, and determined that joining a group, a civic group, a fraternal organization, a house of worship, whatever that group was, places in which more people were engaged in the community had a more happy, harmonious, safer neighborhood and safer town and community in which they lived. the call to action in this is a phones down heads up mentality and it's not about joining our organization specifically but that said we will have many groups on site that night for anyone who wants to have more information about whatever it is they're passionate about. have the Humane Society Meals on Wheels. You will be on site with JP4. My team and I will be on site with the Minnesota Freemasons and Minnesota Masonic Charities. Big picture. The goal is to get out of the house, get involved in something in which you are taking an active role, in being part of the change, and part of the community. Um, and I think it's a great solution to bringing people together in the community and in our our cities in our states and beyond. Yeah, and I think it's a great event. We are looking forward to being out there, and I think you hit the nail on the head there. There's something about being something being a part of something bigger than you. think everybody needs. I think that's important. Sometimes the big challenge seems to be this recurring. Well, If I just align myself with what I know needs to be done out in the world, then that's enough, right? If I, if I post the right thing on my social media and say that this is, these are the things that I believe in, but that's really not doing the work. We can feel good about saying we align ourselves with that, but it's time to get out of the digital bubble we've been in in the last few years. And I, I don't like to keep going back to, well, it was because of COVID, but we're still feeling the ripple effect of that. people don't know their neighbors anymore. They don't know who lives next to them we've regressed a little bit in the human connection and there were the relationship factor is just so important right now, There's so many things happening out there that I can't stop thinking about the importance of us not giving up on each other, that we have a lot more in common with one another than, say, the bloggers or the influencers or the columnists would like us to believe. the more we can do to focus on relationships, how we can be a positive influence to someone, whether that's through mentoring at JP4 or getting involved in some organization where we focus on the human to human connection Yeah, and, and, and communicating and building relationships and building that community. Um, I just spoke at a local high school about effective communication and, you know, I raised, I had them raise their hand in their, in their head and say, Hey, how many of you guys have a 3. 0 GPA? How many of you guys have a 3. 5 GPA? How many of you guys have a 4. 0 GPA? Above a 4. 0. And I said, that's all great. And that's going to open some doors. But what's going to get you in places and is going to get you successful in making the money you want to is going to be this communication side. So I think you hit the nail on the head when you talk about COVID and missing our neighbors and not being good neighbors is, I think these human interactions and relationships have, maybe taken a backseat, uh, but hopefully, there's a trend where we can kind of kick this up a little bit. how easy it became for everyone, especially when, well, we couldn't go out very much. We couldn't do that interaction, but then I feel like our digital citizenship suffered a little bit too, because it was so much easier to post something inflammatory or say something on a group chat, social media That maybe wouldn't have been the best idea in terms of possibly alienating 50 percent of your friends, your family, the people you're connected to out there. How about less social media is going to be better as we say digital citizenship and getting out there and getting involved in something in which we can see positive momentum, even if it's very small or slow and steady at the beginning. something, but to be part of something that is helping bring people together out there and make a positive impact. And in your case, especially on young people that the work you guys are doing is just tremendous. Yeah, it's been. Um it's been a pleasure to be the executive director from day one. It's been a pleasure to kind of grow this thing. and I think we've finally have hit our stride with this dual track program of Yep. We're taking care of these first to eighth graders, but we're also taking care of these 18 to 25 year olds were hiring. that when I interview, I asked them, Why do you want to work for us? And they say I grew up on the east side of ST Paul. I didn't have anybody in my life that told me that I could do all these things. So I want to be that for these kids. I mean, how do you not hire somebody after they kind of give you that answer? Well, they want to be the change. Absolutely. And it's going to start with their youth. And you know, it just, um, it needs. I think that youth youth can motivate everybody above them as well. If somebody listening wants to get involved with JP4, learn some more information about the many options in which they could be part of this, what's the best way to reach you? I tell everybody there's nowhere I won't go, there's nowhere I won't drive to have a cup of coffee with you and just talk. Uh, whether it's about JP4, whether it's about life, whether it's about any other issues. the best way to reach out to me, via email, jeff. hooth, H U T H, at jp4foundation. org. Otherwise, shoot me a text, give me a call, 763 242 2125. anytime that works for them works for me. Perfect. I really appreciate that. And really look forward to working with you in the future between the Minnesota Freemasons, Masonic Charities, teaming up with JP4 out there. You're doing tremendous work and really thank you for the time and coming over to the studio today. I appreciate it. I've been blessed. I have plenty of time. Good people around me. I have a great team around me. I have many, many mentors around me too, that I would accredit to, this success of this foundation too. You are a true servant leader, and it's really inspiring to hear of all of the tremendous things happening at JP4. Jeff Huth, thanks for being our guest today. This has been another episode of Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries.