SONS Book 2017

SONS
SONS was founded in 1992 with a mission to “Disciple urban youth and to positively impact
their families and environment with programs and activities centered in the purpose, power,
and person of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Vision : We are committed to the spiritual growth , academic
excellence and social development of our area’s youth
… because the Father cares!
The Heart of the Matter
In 1991, Tyrone Burrell began
to sense an obvious change in
how young people perceived
life. Many had turned “hard.”
It was now different when he
would approach teens on the
street. There was a palpable
aura of distrust and disconnection.
He was concerned.
It had become evident that a
generation had grown up not
knowing the hope of the same
Savior he had come to love
and trust. Burrell knew that this
generation had to be reached
with the good news of the Savior,
but he just wasn’t sure how.
The Call
Soon after, 1992 saw the nation caught up in a tide of unrest. Racial tensions increased
brought on by events like the Rodney King verdict with rioting in LA and other cities, rampant
drug dealing and the spread of gang influence nationwide, along with a youth culture that
embraced “gangsta” rap and violence.

It was in this period that
SONS was born.
Port Huron was not safe from this
tide. Gangs such as the Cash
Flow Posse, the Black Mafia, and
the Out Cold Gangsters left their
mark across the city.
After waking up from a shift at the Port Huron Fire Department,
Burrell felt an urge from the Lord to go to the local high
school. He was reluctant at first because in his mind he felt
inadequate and unprepared to do such a thing. He thought
about the difference in kids nowadays and felt they
would be resistant to
him because he wasn’t
“down” and was definitely
not part of the
prevailing culture.
In that instant he
felt an impression from the Holy Spirit saying “everyone
understands the language of love.” With
that assurance, he went to Port Huron High school
and struck up conversations and eventually relationships
with a small group of teenage boys. He
discovered the things most of them had in common
was no father to lean on and the fact that they all had been in a little trouble.
As these relationships grew, the students expressed a desire to participate on the school
basketball team. Burrell encouraged them to make sure they got their grades up, stayed out
of trouble and did their best. After the tryouts were held Burrell went to see them, and to a
man, they were all cut the first day of practice. Seeing the disappointment on their faces,
Burrell told them he would get a league for them. With that in mind he began to count the
costs and realized he would need help in raising funds for a quality experience that would
include jerseys, officials, trophies, and equipment.
He met with a friend, banker David O’Connor. O’Connor suggested he form an organization
and give letters of request to businesses for donations.

That night Burrell prayed and thought about
it and the name SONS came to him with
its acronym Save Our Neighborhoods &
Streets. Along with the name also came
two foundational scriptures:
1992
Winning Trust
During its first season, the league was able to
serve 55 students - black, white, and Hispanic.
Coach and Pastor of Colonial Woods Missionary
church, Bill Hossler, included his New Life
Christian Academy high school basketball team
in the league.
Jim (Gush) Jones, the James
R. Leonard Center Director,
provided invaluable leadership,
support, and encouragement
for Burrell’s
new endeavor.

One driving force behind the efforts of those involved was their desire to prevent any young
man from getting into serious trouble and going to prison. However, if any did, they wanted
to ensure that those young men couldn’t use the excuse, “no one reached out to me.”
New Venture
After the first season of basketball
there came a new opportunity. On
the corner of 24th and Cleveland
stood an old motel that had fallen
into disrepair.
The building known as the Serenade Motel, seen as one of the most notorious
places in the city, would be transformed. Under the leadership of new full-time
SONS outreach minister, Allen White, the building became the SONS Oasis,
serving up ice cream and life!
During their second year at the Oasis, the city of Port Huron came through
with the sewer separation project that caused them to have to close.

The Oasis served as an inviting place for youth and families. Beyond the business SONS
would host “Kids Karnivals”, classic car shows and community car washes. The Oasis also
served as a site for staff and friends to meet and pray.
Open Doors
The street closing ended the Oasis
Dairy Bar but opened a new
opportunity for SONS Director
Tyrone Burrell. Pastor William T.
Nichols wanted SONS to look at
purchasing the now vacant New
Hope Tabernacle Church building
located on the corner of 26th and
Vanness Street.

Burrell was reluctant simply because SONS had no money, but he finally agreed to meet
out of respect for Elder Nichols. When they met at the church, the visit made out of courtesy
gradually became a visit of calling. Elder Nichols insisted that SONS was supposed to make
this their headquarters, not knowing that the SONS savings account was not in agreement.
God was opening a door of hope.
With help from the Community Foundation and a gift from a retired businessman, a down
payment was secured and SONS had a new home!
A Place to Grow
SONS now had a home and headquarters for its growing ministry. The doors were opened
for kids to come in after school and during the summer. Volunteers were attracted and began
to help out.
Fans of the performing arts saw the creation and production of outstanding original plays
including: Color Blind, The SONS Story, and Back to the Future. The combination of drama,
dance, rap, stepping, and singing proved to be a natural element in recruiting, inspiring, and
retaining the minds and hearts of the young.

Dream Camp
Targets Elementary age children, a four to
five week summer day camp with activities
including: arts & crafts, reading, field trips,
recreation and devotion. Program design has
adult staff supported by select high school
student mentors along with senior citizen
volunteers from the St. Clair County council
on Aging. High light of camp includes an end
of summer student performance and celebration.
Manhood
Group mentoring for middle school
students held in conjunction with the
YMCA’s Homework Food & Fun. Relationship
development with positive
role models espousing the Manhood
creed, a real man : Rejects passivity,
Accepts responsibility, Leads courageously
and Expects a greater reward.

The SONS Center provided hospitality and shelter to Habitat for Humanity
workers in the neighborhood. For two summers the staff of SONS was infused
with over 60 teens from around the country who had signed up for urban outreach.
Rachel Rivers Johnson directed the SONS Day Care Center. The SONS
Center facilitated youth rallies with teens even coming from Canada to participate.
Richie Murphy’s “God Folk” crew would find its home at the center. The
building was the venue for their annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner and so many
other food-focused fellowships!
The programs of SONS continued to grow. Original Basketball league 1992-93
participant, Mondale McClarty, eventually returned as the League Coordinator.
In other areas of recreation and sports, Buddy Sutherland, the long time
Cleveland School coach, became the Director of the SONS/Kiwanis flag football
league. The league was a great value, giving kids from 3rd to 7th grade a
wonderful experience with games, sportsmanship, and the traditional end of
the season field trip to a Wayne State University football game.
In 2007, the 5000 sq ft SONS Outreach Center was sold to the Great Commission
Church. Tyrone Burrell and the board of directors had agreed that this
facility could not hold the future vision and programs of SONS. The sale of the
building had been in the works for a year, and in preparation the board and
Burrell had found favor with the Port Huron Housing Department. In February
of 2008, SONS moved its headquarters to a four-bedroom apartment in the
Dulhut Housing Community.

Staff &
Friends
“In order to have friends, one must
show himself friendly. In the multitude
of counselors there is safety.
Two are better than one, because
they have a good reward for their
labor, for if they fall, one will lift up
his companion.”
In 1998, Burrell’s mentor and friend, Chris Kurzweil would make an offer to cover
his salary for two years if he would leave the fire department. Burrell and his wife
prayed about it and were led to accept the offer. The Lord provided!

Reaching Outside the Walls
SONS would extend its’ reach in the community delivering After-school Life skill programs
to two city high schools, two middle schools, nine elementary schools, and into the St. Clair
County Juvenile Detention Center through grants from the United Way, the 21st Century
Horizon, and the Michigan Office of Drug Control Policy. JD Jowett and the kind folks at Golf
Country would sponsor the “Hook a Kid on Golf” program. JD would also be the catalyst for
the important annual Golf Country Classic.
Sister Circle
Group mentoring for middle school girls
held in conjunction with the YMCA’s Homework,
Food and Fun. Recreational and team
building activities along with cooking, crafts
and devotional studies.
Camp Beechpoint
Week long adventure for students age
8 – 14 at camp in Allegan Michigan.
Christian camp with activities including:
water sports, horseback riding, hiking,
go carts, fishing, and much more. Camp
cost $300 per student, Beechpoint
provides a $200 scholarship for each
camper.

EXPERT
MACHINE
& TOOL
Drs.
Peter Grain
& Annette
Barnes-Grain

Another Level
In 2008, Anthony Jones joined the SONS team and
played an important role in taking SONS to the next
level. Under his leadership, SONS was able to win
a grant of over $420,000 that would put over 130
young people to work in the SONS Summer Works
Program.
When the Summer Works Program concluded, Burrell
and Jones determined that this type of training
needed to continue for young people and should be part of the fabric and DNA of SONS.
The result of their thinking became the Talented TENTH Leadership Development Program
or TTP. With funds again secured from Michigan Works, the program launched in the fall
of 2009. Jones and his staff of Intern Relationship Managers, along with volunteer Yvonne
Williams, would give 30 high potential but challenged youth the opportunity to have their
aspirations raised to a new level.
The Talented TENTH program
continues to impact students, and
its results include hundreds of students
understanding their path
to success and the choices they
have. That which drives the staff’s
commitment to the students in the
Talented TENTH program is similar
to the driving force in the original
SONS basketball league, “We
want to see young people develop
their full potential and let none
say, ‘I could have accomplished so
much but no one was there to help
show me the way.’”
The program gave the interns the vision and opportunity to be more
than they ever thought they could be and provided new tools to prepare
them for success. Core elements of the program included all the soft-skill
development of the summer program along with a solid exposure to primary
areas and opportunities in business, industry, health and medicine,
government, technology, and the non-profit sector. Business professionals
and leaders provided workshops and opportunities for students to
network and job shadow. A college tour exposed many “first generation
students” to a new world.

The River
Church
pilgrim
baptist
church

The Gift
In 2015, SONS was gifted a nine and a half acre piece of beautiful
property from an anonymous donor. That is an incredible story in itself.
Prior to the gift, Executive Director Tyrone Burrell had begun to feel that
the Lord desired to have SONS build a center on the site of the old
Grant School land. He would walk his dog on the property, sensing
that something was possible. He even practiced a personal sense of
stewardship by counting the number of trees on the property. He had
begun to share with his staff how that property would make a beautiful
campus for SONS.
Shortly after that disclosure, an article appeared in the Times Herald.
The article announced that someone had purchased the property from
the school district. Burrell’s heart sank. He had a conversation with the
Lord, saying “Lord, I thought you wanted us to be on this property. But
if you have other plans I’m good with it, after all you have given us
great favor. We have an office in the local high school along with our
office in the Dulhut village and we are reaching kids.”
As a sign to the Lord that he was still trusting in him, Burrell held up
the news article and gently tore it into four pieces, letting the Lord
know that, “I’m fine with whatever you want.” Two days later Burrell
received a phone call from a person inviting him to come visit. He
gave Burrell the address, and Burrell showed up. The gentleman invited
him in and told him he was the anonymous buyer of the property
($140,000) and that he had bought it for SONS. The Lord continues to
write an awesome story.

The Hope
It has been a fantastic first 25 years. The Lord has been the author
of this story. The lives of thousands of children and teens have been
touched as well as the lives of adults and volunteers delivering programs.
SONS has become family and a unified community. We are all
SONS. The vision has proven true. We are yet totally committed to His
plan to touch and lead, and the best is yet to come!
“He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory…”
A Director’s Dream
“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who
reads it”
I am grateful for this place to call home. People now know who we are
and where we are. This location is accessible and visible. A unique feature
of this place is the continuity a young person can experience being
nurtured from being a recipient of services to becoming a contributing
and valuable member of our society. It allows for spaces to train, serve,
and celebrate. It is a place for established and effective programs and
activities; yet also serves as an incubator for new and relevant creative
expression.
This place is a second home to many and a place where they can always
come back. They’re pictures are on the walls. For young people
who are most in need, this is a place to breathe! It is safe. It is clean. It
is organized. It is open. The building and grounds themselves are also
amazing and inspiring. People of all distinctions attest to the importance
of this place and the warmth of its atmosphere. It is attractive to all.
Other organizations of similar callings have found a home alongside

us. There is a feel of community. Together our outreaches have become
more effective. This Center has become an epicenter of activity and
support and a beacon of light. It captures the gist of what holistic ministry
should look like. The programs such as : Elementary Life Skills, The
Apple Club, Basketball and Flag Football Leagues, Sister Circle, Manhood,
the Talented TENTH, Dream Camp & Middle School BLAST, Scouting
and the Performing Arts have continued to blossom and grow. This
hub and headquarters has also actually allowed us to raise up more
satellite programs and expand our reach across the county because of
our increased ability to attract and train youth and adult volunteers with
workshops and consistent on-site service opportunities.
It has become a model for other cities and communities: to the extent
that we have visitors from all over the region who travel here to experience
and learn from our best practice models. Many of our program
graduates serve in outreaches across the nation. They came here as diamonds
in the rough but left as young adults with the brilliance of character,
competency and calling. From here, many launch into life with a
foundation necessary for personal significance and community service.
They will impact their generation.
This is the story He is writing.
“Because the Father cares”.
SONS

“Let us unselfishly love and seek the best for one
another, for love is from God; and everyone who
loves others is born of God and knows God.”
1John 1:4