Mike and Tammy Johnson
Encouraging Teens to Drive Toward Success
story by ROBIN COKER photos by LILY ALAYNE OWEN
Each year in South Carolina, approximately 600 of our youth will age out of foster care — an average of more than 20,000 youth nationwide. Within the first few years of aging out of the program, twenty-five percent of these children will find themselves incarcerated, forty percent will be homeless, and about forty-six percent will not have had the opportunity to finish high school. Our unadopted teens are left to spread their wings into a world without adequate education and very minimal life skills to carry them into a stable future.
While attending worship at their church, Praise Assembly in Beaufort, Mike and Tammy Johnson learned of a program making strides and shifting the outcome for these teens. Allen and Hashmareen Griffin visited Praise Assembly to share the fruit of this program that has spread across multiple cities to better the lives of these children. This program called Excellerate is truly making a difference — shedding hope and light into an otherwise potentially bleak future while equipping foster children with life skills.
Exellerate was born out of identifying a gap in the system, a small drop in the bucket to equip these teens with the tools they never had access to or long enough exposure to be successful. Allen Griffin founded Exellerate in 2012, creating a partnership with government state agencies that are consistently overwhelmed with the excessive number of cases they are attempting to handle daily. Allen and Hashmareen saw an opportunity and calling to lift the burden being carried by these agencies and offer a hand in setting up these teens to be leaders: to step into their newfound freedom with the required confidence and tools that otherwise would never be an option. In formulating a plan that executes a program that would precisely do this, Allen added a factor that would be the catalyst to motivate these kids to show up and do the work. After completing the sixteen-week course, they would receive a car as a gift. A car would be the literal and metaphorical vehicle toward the ability to provide for themselves, and get them to work and school. This vehicle would drive them forward toward success. Excellerate first launched in 2012 and has been giving biannual classes ever since.
On the heels of that presentation at Praise Assembly, Tammy and Mike were invited to an annual Christmas party, hosted for all of the children aging out of foster care who were also a part of the Excellerate program. Arriving to set up and serve at this party turned into an evening they would never forget. Spending time alongside these incredible kids, hearing their hearts, and learning their stories of resilience of how they were able to get through the Excellerate program, changed their lives. Tammy and Mike could not ignore the pull to serve when asked.
Returning home, they prayed about starting up the program here in the Lowcountry. At first, the program’s cost seemed hard to grasp, but through a strong mix of faith and action, Tammy and Mike shared these inspiring stories. As a result, they persuaded the hearts of the community to contribute enough donations to achieve this goal. Mike shares the story of when he first stepped out into our community to introduce the program. He was tasked to visit a few local restaurants and request a donated dinner for the class. When he visited the first restaurant and explained the program, the response was overwhelmingly positive: “Where were you when I aged out?”
The world around us has a tendency to remind us when we are in alignment. Since pulling the trigger on the program in January 2020, five children have successfully completed the program. The next class will be kicking off in January 2022. Classes are held twice a week for sixteen weeks, and volunteers present various topics that cover a multitude of life skills — otherwise unknown to these teens due to circumstances outside of their control.
Tammy and Mike keep a straightforward and realistic approach with the program coordination in the Lowcountry, but when it comes to what they are doing for the kids, “You would think we are giving them a gift. No. They are giving us a gift. The difference in the kids from when they first come into the program, to the same kids that graduate, is like watching the light being flipped on inside of them.” The magic is more than gifting them a car upon completion. It’s in the trust and bond formed over the sixteen weeks. It’s weeks of seeing and feeling a consistent love they are unfamiliar with from people who continue to show up just for them. They feel important. This program wouldn’t be possible without the volunteers who continue to serve alongside these kids. This is a group effort. It’s all in the volunteers. Those showing up with dinner, the ones giving donations, the ones putting in the effort to show the kids relationships. The volunteers are allowing them to jump-start their lives. This program is open to any child who is aging out of foster care. The program works closely with DSS and other local organizations, such as CAPA, to identify those who could benefit from the Excellerate program.
Any church or local community operation can start up an Exellerate in their city. There remains a great need for programs such as this one to come alongside the state’s efforts to create a more individualized and personal approach to aiding the next generation for a positive change.
