This fall we bid a fond farewell to our Residential Director, Shannon Damery, who was given the incredible opportunity to take part in a PhD program in Belgium. Her passion for our scholars and thoughtful presence will be dearly missed, and we wish her all the best. Shannon joins the ranks of Alumni Scholars Justice (Mizzou) and Arecia (UAPB), whom we are proud to be sending off to college this semester!

Name:  Joshua M. Walehwa

Education: The University of Iowa, BA/MA in Art Education and MA in Student Development in Postsecondary Education

Born: Uganda
Hometown: Garden Grove, CA
Children: Harold, 9th grade
Fun Fact: Josh has a twin brother, who works in law enforcement  

The Boys Hope Girls Hope St. Louis family is also thrilled to be welcoming Joshua Walehwa as our new Program Director! Prior to his time at BHGH, Josh served as Director of Housing and Residence Life at Saint Louis University. He brings over 10 years of experience in residential settings through his career in higher education, and he has continued to teach in the k-12 arena in leadership development and studio art.

Josh believes in the transformative power of education. He experienced being a first generation college student while at the University of Iowa where earned BA and MA degrees in Art Education and an MA in Student Development in Postsecondary Education. It is these and other experiences he had growing up that fueled his passion for helping students succeed.

His experience in curriculum development, management, student support, and teaching will be essential as he transitions to overseeing our residential and Hope Prep staff. Josh is excited about the opportunity to contribute to a strong staff at Boys Hope Girls Hope.

In addition to Josh, we are excited to be able to introduce our two new board members!

Catherine Behnen 

Senior Director of Global Internal Audit

Sun Edison (formerly MEMC)

Everett Johnson

Senior Director & Principal of Business Solutions Development 

Edward Jones

Boys Hope Girls Hope is a community of families who all converge around the idea that sometimes we have to stretch beyond our smaller communities (just us and ours) and embrace a larger one, where we can gain more support to fulfill our dreams. 

At our recent back-to-school parent's meeting, we experienced our vision in action. Parents of established scholars sat down with new parents and shared encouragement and joy about how BHGH has impacted the lives of their children and their families.  One of our parents summed up her experience saying:

"I can't wait to get my other kids out here to the [Boys Hope] house just to hang out.  Just being here has a positive effect on their attitudes.  And every time I see my son who lives here, I can always see areas where he has grown and changed since the last time.  That means I don't have to worry about his well-being.  He has a future." 

 As we dive into the new school year, the Boys Hope Girls Hope St. Louis community has many things to celebrate:

• Over the summer, we welcomed 5 new scholars into our family and look forward to all that Nautica, Shaun, Tylisha, Javon, and Reana have in front of them!

• Hope Prep has taken on its third class and is now serving 41 Non-Residential Scholars. This marks the first year that Hope Prep can be taken as a for-credit class at McCluer South-Berkeley High School and now has its own classroom!

• New AmeriCorps members Patrick Noonan and Victoria Ravenelle will be serving in the houses this year as Academic Success Corps members. We are so excited to have them both with us, and they are off to a fabulous start.