DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Cutting the ribbon on what is no doubt a trend-setting organization dignitaries and supporters gathered in Daytona Beach on Thursday, March 30 to officially open the doors of the Returning Youth Initiative, Inc.
Southeast regional director Gary Scarano welcomed the organization’s founder, Dr. Surajit Khanna, in from New York, and general manager Valli Anderson in from Montana, for the ribbon cutting, surrounded by retired Brigadier General Ernie Audino, representing U.S. Congressman Michael Waltz, Volusia County Council Chairman Jeff Brower, and ambassadors from the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Members of the recovery and justice landscape were also in attendance including Department of Juvenile Justice Circuit 7, Juvenile Probation Officer Supervisor Bridget Orey, and many others dedicated to supporting the effort to rehabilitate those who have entered the justice system and provide them with meaningful opportunities to become productive citizens.
“I think we need additional resources, but I think working with this program will be a benefit,” said Orey.
“We have kids who will turn 18 in their commitment programs and once they’re released, if they’re direct release, they need additional services, so Returning Youth Initiative will fit right into what we need. They came right on time,” she said.
Scarano, who has taken on the responsibility of Southeast Regional Director for the organization, has been working closely with Dr. Khanna for about four years, getting involved in the beginning, and helping fine-tune the mission.
“We’ve really honed it down to something very specific which is really good because we have to be exact, and the exact is, post-incarcerated, at-risk youth 18 to 30. What we’re going to do is get them housing, get them jobs, but we’re going beyond the steps of just a job. We want to get them a career, but we also want to get them ownership in a company,” explained Scarano, a Columbia University MBA, whose professional background includes serving as the national senior product manager for Verizon before his retirement.
“What we’re going to do is establish companies or establish franchises and give the post-incarcerated, at-risk youth a job, they have to work toward ownership, we’re not just going to give it away,” he said.
“This is a little bit different because it’s a nationwide endeavor. It’s incredible.”
Listening, Providing a Voice for the Voiceless
The self-funded, self-sustaining program was founded several years ago by Dr. Surajit Khanna, a career attorney in New York. His very first mentorship was the result of a family friend’s son needing an opportunity after making his way through the justice system. During this time period, Khanna learned there were a number of people incarcerated in similar situations, that needed a second chance.
“I started the initiative to give an opportunity to all the young adults both high risk and post-incarcerated, and I emphasize, young adult. We do both the preventive side and the corrective side,” said Khanna.
“Kids are the backbone, the future of our country. We are not giving these people the opportunity.”
After seeing the positive impact the opportunity provides to those who genuinely looking to turn their lives around, Khanna hopes to have offices in every county in the United States across six major regions of the U.S.
“My goal is to take this initiative to all the 3,142 counties in the United States so that every young adult doesn’t feel that they’ve been neglected or they didn’t get an opportunity to get something. What I find today, the young adult’s challenge is that nobody is there to listen to them. They don’t want to tell anybody because they think nobody cares about them. We are the voice of the voiceless.”
From the Ground, Up
Serving in a leadership role at the national level and as a mentor, Valli Anderson is inspired to help others in her age group – the program serves 18-to-30-year-olds, and those 16-17 with parental permission, earn a new lease on life. Participants are screened to ensure sincerity, she said.
“I actually first found him on social media like most of our people through one of his podcasts ‘Sunrise’, and I started there hosting his shows. Then we started another show for me to host as well, ‘Inspire Your Best Life’ and then it took off in Montana where I just grass-rooted the whole thing and set up the facility, gathered my team, and onboarded the candidates.”
“We go through a very rigorous process, so we’re going to meet you a few times before we’re ready to commit and a lot of times they don’t make it those few times as they fall off on their own or we can see they’re not passionate to put their selves forward. They’re just wanting that handout or having to be there because it’s a requirement and that’s not going to work for us, because they won’t get anything out of it,” said Anderson, currently mentoring two candidates.
“I get a lot of positive feedback, especially from one of them. She’s constantly thanking us for all that we do. We helped her a lot legally and then she came with us and is starting her entrepreneurial track,” she said, sharing a personal story of her own.
“I live and stive to help others and when I found this initiative it hit close to home because I have a sister who is incarcerated. I just knew I needed to take the chance, the opportunity to set up something basically up for her and it just keeps going. I love traveling and talking to and inspiring more people, then getting younger people my age to get involved in this and volunteering.”
Second Chances, Living with a Purpose
Congressional District Director Ernie Audino, who spoke about purpose during his remarks, supports the program’s entrée into the community and what it can do for those looking to turn their life around, a sentiment echoed by Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower.
“I’m here to talk about purpose. To congratulate these youngsters on setting foot in the right direction to find purpose in their lives, turning it around,” said Audino. “This couldn’t possibly be more important because a life without purpose is life without meaning.”
A father of nine, Brower welcomed the hope and opportunity the Returning Youth Initiative is bringing to the community’s young adults.
“There is not a person in this room, not a man or a woman, who hasn’t ever needed a second chance. It’s part of the human experience,” he said.
“Now maybe it didn’t rise to the level of being incarcerated. Some of us didn’t get caught, but all of us at one time or another, probably multiple times, have needed a second chance and that’s what you are doing. That’s what you are offering, love, hope, meaningful work, and a pathway forward to enjoy this tremendous American experience, it’s benefits and it’s prosperity. Giving hope to young people. I just honor that,” said Brower, encouraging those not yet involved to step up and volunteer.
“They’re all of our kids. We need to help one another.”
For more information on the Returning Youth Initiative, visit www.returningyouth.com.
