Andre Harris – Speaker
ANDRE’S OBJECTIVE:
To help children develop healthy strong relationships that allows them to reach their full potential. To ensure that every young person has the supportive relations they need to grow and develop into thriving, productive & engaged adults.
ANDRE’S MISSION:
Between 1 and 3 young people grow up without having a positive role model or mentor. My goal is to close the mentoring gap by building quality support to help youth grapple with life’s toughest questions. To educate and inform today’s youth about the seriousness of the consequences of their actions. I have tremendous understanding of the many challenges of life, empathy for people in all situations and the strength to make life better for others, especially youth. Through my many trials and tribulations, i have come to realize that life is filled with endless possibilities that challenge us each day to see something different and new. It’s through these special moments that we learn to change and grow in order to explore the precious gift of who we are and what we know.
ANDRE’S STORY:
As a young teen growing up in Raleigh north apartments in Raleigh, N.C. I was raised without a father figure. Sometimes when we are going through a difficult time in our lives as a youth, we don’t reach out for help because we may feel as though no one has ever experienced what we are going through before and we are afraid to show our fears and feelings. Often there were times of isolations and loneliness because I didn’t fully understand life or my role for existence. I had no one to teach me about basketball, football, or baseball and became a slow learner in doing so. My mother instilled in me the love of God, family & friends, morals, and ethics, however it is extremely difficult to teach her son how to be a man. As I grew older, I developed a very belligerent attitude towards life and Authority. I didn’t graduate from high school and started a life of crime in breaking, entering, and safecracking.
Eventually, I was sent to prison in April of 1991 with a sentence of 69 years 2 months and 23 days for a non-violent habitual felon sentence. I was released on July 27th 2015 after serving 24 years and 3 months.
Presently, I am involved with several different organizations that I volunteer my services to for needed assistance. The local NAACP, the Choices program, NC Works, KCSSU (KEMETIC CULUTAL SCIENCE & SYSTEM OF UNITY) The Think Smart program, and many churches statewide.
