Tramain Rayford has empathy for every youth he meets through the nonprofit he founded. “I see myself in every kid we serve,” he said. “This is what I needed when I was a young man.”
Rayford referred to The Program, Inc., a nonprofit mentoring organization for boys ages 8-18 years in absent-father homes. Rayford came from just such a home, so he knows the challenges those youths face.
That’s why in 2015 he began a crusade of sorts to help youths like he was. He started reaching out to those youths through The Program, Inc., which in 2018 became a 501( c )(3) nonprofit. Since then, it not only has been mentoring youths in Lucas County and much of Northwest Ohio, but also has become a model for potential organizations nationwide.
“We provide opportunities for them to develop social and life skills,” said Rayford, who also is the organization’s CEO and its only paid staffer. Through the help of the nonprofit’s 40 or so adult mentors, The Program provides activities in two tiers.
One is community development events where young boys are instructed in such things as tying a necktie, changing a car tire or learning about finances through a game of dodgeball. “Everything we do is fun,” Rayford said. “We like to get them moving.”
Drawing about 30 to 50 youths, these are free and open to the public; a schedule is available through the nonprofit’s website (programinc.org).
The second is A-List Mentoring, in which youths enter an interview process to be part of the activities.
The age breakdown and some of what they do: 8-9, laser tag or roller skating; 10-12, fishing, kayaking, go-karting; 13 and up, career exploration, mock interviews, compiling a resume. About 60 to 70 youths take part.
The Program has no brick-and-mortar offices, but partners with schools, churches, local businesses and other nonprofits to provide space for events, Rayford said.
Another event is called First Date, where mentors explain “how to treat, respect, and honor women,” Rayford said. The goal is for when those youths get older “to emulate what they’ve learned in the First Date event.”
There’s a component for mothers. “We have clinical psychologists who work with moms, offer financial literacy classes, and fun stuff like candle making and networking,” Rayford said. “We bring in external resources. You can’t just invest in the boys and then they return to broken homes. We service the boy and the mom.”
Rayford cited a statistic that more than 46 percent of households in Toledo/Lucas County are fatherless; he said the national average is 40 percent. “There’s a rise in the number of homes without dads,” he said.
Rayford had been part of that kind of statistic. Born to a single mother, he saw how she struggled to provide for him and his two older brothers and maintain their home, all while attending the University of Toledo. According to his biography on The Program website, he struggled without having the moral compass a father provides. When he grew into adulthood, he realized the negative impact of not having a father, and eventually founded The Program.
Rayford, who lives with his wife and three daughters in Maumee, two years ago retired as a truck driver to devote more time to The Program and its potential to be emulated elsewhere.
“We’ve had cities reach out—Columbus, Colorado Springs—but we weren’t ready. The goal is to have chapters in different cities. That’s why I went full time.”
In the meantime, he continues to recognize that those fatherless boys remind him of his youth. “This was what I needed when I was growing up.”
As for the future of those he and the mentors help: “There’s hope. We’re changing statistics to successes.”
