On a warm July morning, Christopher Colón of Liberty graduated from the Raymond John Wean Foundation’s inaugural Nonprofit Leadership Cohort in Warren while making a career transition.
“I love pivoting,” said Colón, the new executive director of the Mahoning County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program at Juvenile Court. “I enjoy the challenge of seeing change through.”
As the former Northeast Ohio regional director at the Ohio Environmental Council, Colón became an advocate for healthy air, land and water. As a co-founder of Thrive Mahoning Valley, Colón and Justin Mondok created a network of information and support for international students, retirees, returning citizens and other newcomers.
CASA may be the most difficult job of Colón’s career so far, but “this work is personal for me. If I can help one child, then I am where I need to be,” he said.
Colón earned his bachelor’s degree in social work from Youngstown State University in 2004. He is a licensed social worker in Ohio and has been a counselor in Youngstown City Schools and at the Red Zone, where community-based behavioral health services are offered. After pivoting to OEC and Thrive MV, he discussed returning to his professional roots with his wife, Jessica. She spotted the Mahoning CASA listing on a global hiring platform.
Special advocates and guardians ad litem (GAL) are court-appointed, trained volunteers and attorneys. They represent abused or neglected children and those in custody disputes. The volunteers interview children and other knowledgeable parties. Interviews become “a vital component of evidence” in these cases, Colón said. “It takes a special person to see and hear these matters and not take it home.”
CASAs and GALs commit to seeing each case through, whether it takes a few months or years. Securing volunteers is not easy under these conditions, “and I need to find more,” Colón said. At present, the Mahoning County program has 15 volunteers, seven of whom are active. “I could have 30 [volunteers] now,” he added.
His prior work with children in trauma “made me realize I hadn’t helped myself,” Colón said. He was abused and neglected by his parents, who struggled with addiction. At age 9, “I was forced to learn a lot” about independence, he said. At 14, he ran away from home and worked at an auto body shop, where he also learned how to drive. His mother had lived on her own when she was 14. She died at age 42.
Other relatives have been lost to addiction. Colón credits his Puerto Rican grandmother and St. Patrick Church on Oak Hill Avenue with his survival. He is thankful for the support system he now has in Jessica, his sons, friends and advisers.
Also, he appreciates the value of a good pivot.
“Nonprofits, activism, diversity – I’ve learned about all of it,” he said. “I want to see the community grow and thrive. I want to fix things.”
When the Covid-19 pandemic curtailed in-person counseling with children, Colón addressed his own trauma through nature, by visiting national parks. Collaborating with the Environmental Council was “the most amazing journey I’ve had in my life,” he said. But it was taking him away from the Mahoning Valley. “I want to be here,” he said.
Colón’s work with Thrive continues, now as a grant writer and in media relations. He is proud of its evolution from a resource website in 2018 to an active organization with three paid employees.
Thrive’s bicycle program has increased the mobility of 100 people, 60% of whom are international students at YSU, he said. It has translated employee orientation materials and other communications to overcome language barriers and improve employee retention at Schwebel’s Bakery. It participates in a newcomers network with members of the local Arab League, Jewish Federation, English Center, Catholic Charities, Goodwill Industries and Organizacion Civica Y Cultural Hispana Americana Inc. to identify gaps as people settle here.
Immigration is not solely about refugees. “It’s cost of living that brings some here, who are here legally,” he said.
Colón sees community members pivoting, as well, in efforts to retain college-age students, the Wean Foundation’s support of new leadership styles and new organizations emerging.
Disenfranchisement in the Mahoning Valley also is palpable, especially on social media. The nothing-will-change mindset simply doesn’t resonate with a man who was navigating survival skills as a third grader. If he is going to be the change he wants to see in the world, then he will measure it by “children with good outcomes and people welcomed here,” he said.