ORLANDO, Fla. — “Lifting and impacting futures through education” is the goal of an Orlando nonprofit that helps teach high school-age students leadership essentials. This week’s Everyday Hero, Dontrell Richardson, and the founder of the L.I.F.E. program are guiding young men in building better futures.

What You Need To Know

Dontrell Richardson and his brother, Christian, are changing lives one student at a time by way of a nonprofit mentoring group that Christian started while teaching in North Carolina

The group focuses on helping to guide high school students, equipping them with the necessary skills to succeed

Dontrell Richardson now serves as executive director of L.I.F.E. Orlando and has led the group for a decade

Mentors and advisers work with helping students get into college and also become immersed in the community where they live through fundraiser fashion shows and other similar events

The creed and the students are all part of something special, and its called L.I.F.E., a mentoring group with a mission to guide teenage men in building better futures.

“It’s like a brotherhood and a family,” L.I.F.E. President and Oak Ridge High senior Geevalen Hive said.

“We like to joke around. We like to talk. We like to have fun, and we like to have a good time, and I learned to distinguish between the serious moments and the playful moments and create a good balance with myself and within the organization,” said Hive, who has been part of L.I.F.E. since he was a freshman.

It’s an organization that started hundreds of miles away in North Carolina, thanks to educator Christian Richardson.

“As I was serving in schools in Charlotte, what I recognized is there was an absence of Black male educators serving in our schools, and in particular, being able to support our young men of color,” Richardson said. “And as a classroom teacher, what I wanted to do was establish a program where we could support the academic and social emotional needs of some of the young males that were in my classroom.”

While it started with Richardson’s classroom, it grew into the community, and his brother Dontrell launched the program in Orlando 10 years ago. 

“Our goal is to provide our boys with the life development and management skills they need to be successful in their post-grad careers, whatever it may be,” said Dontrelle Richardson, the L.I.F.E. executive director and an Orange County Public Schools teacher.

L.I.F.E. adviser and mentor Dominic Clark said, “Opening that door and giving them that space and opportunity to talk to us in a way where they may not be able to talk to someone else. Just being that voice for them, that listening ear that they need, I truly believe is what makes the time worthwhile as being an adviser.” 

The group and mentors are forging ahead. Throughout the year, they take college tour trips, have guest speakers and even put on a fashion show, helping to build confidence and raise funds for the organization. Richardson said he is proud of the youths’ success over the years. 

“We’ve had tons of boys graduate, go on to college, start their own businesses,” Dontrell Richardson said. “Coming back and helping volunteers and seeing that makes me be like, ‘I love what I’m doing’.”

And they are all changing lives — one student at a time.

Just ask Hive, who said he is grateful for the support and everyday role models. 

“Mr. Richardson, I often look at him leading the mentors. I often take note and see that’s like the person I want to be in life,” Hive said.

This year’s L.I.F.E. Fashion show, Once Upon a Nine, will take place at Evans High School at 6:30 p.m. April 23.