Sharefest Fireside Chat with Matt Leinart

ladies and gentlemen JB bner oh my God this is amazing look at this turnout thank you so much everybody for being here I look around the room and I see so many faces people that when we emailed and reached out you guys responded so quickly yes I want to be there and it's such a testament to you wanting to give back and learning more about how to help others and so we're so grateful for you all to be here um as said my name is Jamie bner I'm the chief operating officer at a company called Wedgewood and for those of you that don't know what Wedgewood does is we take broken houses and we turn them into Happy homes our purpose is revitalizing communities and the reason why I bring that up is because that is how we found sharefest sharefest is an amazing organization that cares so much about revitalizing communities and helping kids facing significant challenges and helping them get on the right path and finding success in their life life that they would have potentially never dreamed of having um and Wedgewood and Sheriff us have had this partnership for 10 years now and together we've done all sorts of projects to give back to the communities revitalized communities such as um Reb beautifying schools one of the first projects we did that I think about it was a school in Wilmington and we wanted to redo the Teachers Lounge plant trees redo the basketball hoop paint the school and so many times it's hard to you have to jump through a lot of red tape to do those things to help schools like that and Chad and cherest um was they they just made it happen they were just no we can do this and this and this and um you know from there we've we've gone on and done so many other projects together um this year I joined I wanted to get more involved the more and more I've learned about Sher Fest I decided I want to get more involved and they were so kind and asked me to Jo the board and I'm so happy that I was able to um and one of the things that we decided we wanted to do was bring more awareness about this amazing organization to the South Bay and um you know they said well you know we were just brainstorming on ideas and gosh maybe we could have a fireside chat if only we could think of somebody that would really bring a lot of people that would VI a draw someone really amazing like Matt lard and I said I could ask him I I know him and everyone was going away and couldn't believe it um and lo and behold here he is and I know we're all so excited to get to the main event where we're going to hear from Jeremiah an amazing student on sharefest she's going to interview Matt and they're going to talk and Sh a lot about us but before you that I wanted you guys to learn more about sharefest and so I would like K to come up here who's an amazing woman development manager at shest and she can tell you more [Laughter] thank you everyone for being here it's such an incredible time to share like this space everybody and to be here to learn more about sharefest um so I'm the res manager at sharefest a little bit about my job is um I get to fundrais for the incredible students like Jeremiah who's here today uh Jeremiah is just one of our 700 students that we serve um and it's really incredible to be able to give him opportunities like this to be able to share with his story with you all as well as um have this experience with mat so thank you mat for being here so shareff began over 20 years ago as a community service organization leading service projects like Jamie shared over the years we began to understand that the deeper need within our communities was in providing youth with resources and support to take hold of their own realities and to feel empowered and equipped to reach their full potentials Sheriff has now works directly with Los Angeles students and the district labels as underachieving and that require the highest level of intervention we are currently the only local nonprofit to work inside the walls of La schools with this population of students are students space barriers most of us simply can't imagine barriers like living in the foster care system experiencing homelessness being involved with or having parents who are involved with the criminal justice system having to work while going to school in order to help their family make ends meet being caregivers to younger siblings or being teenage parents themselves yet what we find these students is that they are underserved underresourced and underestimated they overflow with creativity compassion resilience and hope our Workforce Development program provides Career Development courses infused with tools to address trauma and manage stress along with personal and professional life skills to help students earn a high school diploma and enter a career along the way we provide one-on-one mentoring educational support and case management we've all encountered barriers in our lives it's a human experience we all share barriers come in many forms from trying to avoid a game altering SE to be fitting to a new career path thank you Matt for taking the time to be here and share your journey you remind us no matter the circumstances we Face we all have what it takes to break through our barriers on our own Pathways to success now I'd like to introduce the young man who's going to leave this conversation tonight Sheriff student and 2024 graduate jeriah CH hello my name is Jeremiah ch uh thank you for being here tonight before we get started here I'd like to share what led me to to Sher Fest it was during the time of Co restrictions what oh around the time when it was loosening uh me and my family found out that I was a bit behind in high school so they signed me up for a continuation school Angel gate and uh during my time at Angel gate is where I uh found out about Sher Fest and and my teacher uh and Mentor Miss P which is an amazing person uh really encouraged me and then helped me through high school and when I whenever I felt overwhelmed she uh she helped me really uh you know get out of there get out of high school and and without her I don't know I would I would have probably still still been there right now but uh last year I was invited to the to join the Sher summer internship during the summer program they put us through a lot of exercises like I Breakers and uh and presenting in front of the class and like like a public speaking and and at the time I actually had a really big fear of of speaking in public so that was super beneficial for me and and helped me feel prepared for my next chapter after graduation the shist program also helped me find more cautions through speakers who came to tell us about many trade paths they also told us about their own life choices and what got them into their careers this is a huge motivation for me to make the decisions I did and to pursue the career in pursue a career in Pest Control uh thanks to sherff Fest I also get opportunities like this today to have a platform to share my story and to meet legendary people like our special guests today uh now please help me welcome our special guest who needs no introduction Matt [Applause] ler I at first I want to say say um thank you 900 Club this is home away from home for a lot of us obviously being here thanks Dave for having us um and Sheriff Fest what an incredible organization and I'm really grateful for Jamie I known the bers forever since Mac and my oldest son Cole were this big and to be able to be here to support you guys in what you're doing and this is a true Testament and I think you said 700 kids but Jeremiah being here I want to I want everyone to give him a round of applause because [Applause] public speaking and being in front of people even though like I do it for a living it still can be a little nerve-wracking and overwhelming so the fact that you're here and really stepping out of your comfort zone and really taking what sheriffs has has given to you in the impact it's awesome dude so I'm proud of you man all right let's go what do you got all right so one of my earliest challenges was fear of public speaking Chef has really helped me overcome that by putting me in exper experiences that challenged me like the day of the mock interviews where we got to meet and speak with IND industry professionals this this experience empowered me and made me feel confident enough to pursue my goal of getting into youth ministry did you ever have anything that you had to overcome early in your career um yeah a bunch of stuff and it it's funny because I don't know you know my story a lot of people USC and NFL and this and I live in manhatt Beach I'm very grateful uh for for my life but it wasn't always easy so I grew up I grew up in Santa Ana very middle class family both my parents work full-time uh we didn't have a ton of opportunities for sports and camps and all that um but you know a lot of hard work on my parents really had that imp impact on me I was born with strabismus which is an eye disease so I was essentially born cross-eyed my left eye um I had eye surgery at one and a half and then I had eye surgery summer before high school so about 14 15 years old but in between that time the first real challenges for me were I I was always an athlete that was just what I wanted to be I wanted to be a baseball player and we'll get into that in a little bit but um I wanted to be a pitcher Major Leagues that was it that was my dream it was not football by any means and I wore these thick thick bifocal glasses that were like an inch th it was it was terrible um and then when I got into Middle School I became very overweight very true story so I wore I was crosseyed overweight but I played Sports and I was good at sports so that was my outlet um I was bullied a ton in Middle School um I was afraid to take off my shirt in gym class I was very very insecure with myself but the the field the basketball court flag football I play growing up was just my outlet to kind of get away from that so that was the first real adversity that I encountered as a young kid who all I just wanted to do was fit in have friends and play sports that was kind of what we always wanted to do when we were little um I think I'm going to break this into like chapters of my life but then the biggest thing was a big big injury that I had at 15 so I was at modern day high school down in Orange County and I was pitching the summer before I had some discomfort on my shoulder wasn't sure what was going on I ended up playing freshman football that year in the fall no injury everything was fine I ended up getting surgery in January of my freshman year total reconstruction surgery of my shoulder lbum rotator cuff everything and the athletes in here and anyone who plays Sports understand at 15 that's devastating news and the doctor uh Dr PTO love him great doctor down in Orange County but I remember they said like you have the arm of like a 50-year-old pitcher at 14 and I remember started crying my mom was in the in the doctor's office and they said like the chance of you pitching again were probably pretty slim and this was a long time ago you 30 you know 25 28 years ago and then at that time I made the the decision I was like I'm pretty good in football like I could throw I'm tall like kind of gangly but like I was an athlete I made the choice to quit baseball and focus on football I was out a year and a half in high school so I tell my oldest son all the time like I played like I missed almost two years of high school sports because of one injury and in that time period I was told by multiple quarterback coaches that I wasn't good enough I'll never play um and at this point I was just like I'm just trying to play high school sports I didn't even have a dream to go to college and play because again this was baseball for me NFL none of that was even in my vision it was just like I just want to play like I I I think I'm okay at this and then I had one quarterback coach Steve Clarkson who's still my my my guy to this day he believed in me I remember forget he's like you got two left feet but you're I see some Talent I'm work with you and he gave me the shot and that's that that was uh that was my guy forever but that was a big part of adversity and challenges that I faced that was really difficult to overcome and then you know my professional career you know was was a challenge it was it was everyone thinks it might be the high life there were a lot of Downs in my professional career in the NFL um uh it was tough for me at times you a lot of valleys questioning why I'm doing this and all of those things but um all of those things and challenges really led me to where I am today and I am extremely grateful for that so yeah that was some of the [Applause] adversity all right so uh when I was in the shareist program it helped me learn learn things about myself that I never knew uh for instance once I got past the fear I really enjoyed public speaking and that I could feel confident meeting new people and before I would have just kept to myself so what what did football bring out in you and what aspects of your personality or life skills did did it develop for you I think football to me is like the ultimate and the greatest team sport there's a lot of great team sports out there obviously but there's something about a locker room and 80 different personalities from all walks of life you know competing for one common goal right that's to win and win a championship and be the best and I think there's so many parallels really in all sports that you know you take from football to field and you apply to our everyday life you know and and and sports that's the great thing about sports in my opinion football in particular you know you can go down a checklist like like you know physical toughness great but mental toughness is a big thing it football taught me how to be mentally tough and I apply that to being a dad with kids and married and just everything situations come where you got to be mentally tough and talk about work ethic and you talk about being on time and you talk about respect and you talk about drive and determination accountability especially being a quarterback which is a position of leadership preparation organization accountability because I always told myself if I'm not prepared and I don't hold my S accountable first how are my teammates going to trust me when we go on the field that was always the way it didn't always work out that way especially in the NFL but that was how I approached it early on is like I have to be the best I can be because if I'm not you know looking in the mirror of say hey did you do everything you can to be successful today these guys are going to read right through that especially as you get to the highest level so football taught me all of those things and it's crazy because now even in broadcasting and and being on TV it's the same thing I'm a part of a team and we all prepare the same way we all want to be the best show on television we all want to have fun um and I take a lot of that stuff that I learned and apply that to that job and also to waking up and being a dad and being accountable and you know holding my kids accountable and being there for them teaching them all the things that football taught me and um I am so grateful for the game of football it wasn't my first love and maybe still not even now like I still love baseball like I'm a baseball family my dad some people know my dad in here my dad my brother um you know my oldest chose not to but my little ones are playing baseball so it's like but football I'm so grateful for the sport and what it taught me in that in that regard and I truly live my life because of the life lessons that it taught me so there was a point where I had to be honest with myself myself about what I wanted and how to make a tough decision to shift my folks from going to college to W to work with the church and going to going to a trade what was it like for you personally when it came time to choose a new Direction in your career oh that's a good question um I I I want to start by saying this I was very fortunate to have somewhat of an easy transition from football into TV so I'm very very grateful for that but it's still was really really difficult and the reason why is in in sports and in particular football for my case you know starting from high school really is when I first started playing and and going to college and the NFL it is so process driven and routine and like you consume it every day of your life because that's that's what I was getting paid to do that was my job that's what I eventually learned to love and sometimes you lose you have tunnel vision and You Lose Yourself kind of as a as a person as a man for me it's like what what am I doing outside of this I didn't really care at the time I'm like this is what I'm gonna do offseason I'm GNA work I'm gonna train I'm going to throw I'll have fun I'll do all these things in the season it's go time and then you just you keep going at some point it catches up to you and at some point if you don't have a plan b or a plan C I I have a lot of friends that were fantastic athletes and a lot of guys that you hear the you kind of hear the stories that once football is over like they are they they kind of lose sight of who they are as a person because that's just all we knew um so I struggle with that a little bit um again I was very fortunate when I reti and I I didn't have the choice to retire I just when I wasn't good enough at that time I was mentally over it I wanted to be home I was just like I was the grind was very challenging for me at that time so I didn't have the luxury to like oh retire when I feel like it U so I was just kind of like holy crap like football's done what do I do you know and I told I met my some people know my wife in here I met my wife the same year I retired which is the biggest blessing of all time but I probably took like three or four I was like I'm going to take the fall I'm going to just let sleep in every day and like Camp I remember turning on training camp like NFL you know NFL Network and I'm like God thank God I'm not in training camp right now it's just like I was here I was over by Grand View I was like sleeping in I was like this is awesome and then like a couple days go by a couple weeks go by just like oh my God like what do I do now like you just the competitiveness in me was like what am I going to do like I am people only know me as a football player and in my in my mind that's all I was too um which was like it was a bummer you know and I USC and I tell kids all this and I tell you two right now meeting people networking in college I half my bosses are from USC at Fox and it honestly it's probably the reason why I got a job and I don't care I was grateful for that but that kind of gave me a foot in the door um to sort of transition into that next career so the long story short is I was very fortunate I did have a time where even in the first couple years of fox I was still trying to figure out like gosh like is this what I want to do do I like this like I don't know um and I learned to really love it I love my job I feel like I have the best job in the world um but it wasn't hard and I it wasn't easy and I've seen a lot of people really struggle with that and it's unfortunate so you know I I'm lucky that I had great people around me at that time to kind of help me and just keep not let me kind of go in the tank and go in a hole you know be like oh football's over this sucks you know who am I um people picked me up my wife my girlriend EXC my girlfriend at the time picked me up like hey you gota you're there's so much more than this and um you know here we are I've been at Fox like 12 years now it's been the best ride ever so didn't do a kickoff coming to you on Saturdays three weeks tune in when I decided when I decided to go into church ministry there was important people in my life who were disappointed they had other ideas of what they thought I should do my question for you is how did you deal with other people's opinions of you and what would you say to the student when faced with other with what other people think they should do do with their life and look at you now man look at you now um uh the first part of the question is it was really tough for me early on so I I played so my in the NFL my first year was ' 06 that was kind of the the beginning of of social not social media but um like the websites and that was kind of what happened and then it trickled into what we know now as social media um and I used to you know again my NFL career didn't go as I the way I thought and and hoped but perception and kind of perception is reality is what I always said and there was a perception about me and it was maybe partly unfair maybe partly fair but I used to hate the the hate that I got it used to really really get to me because one I was like trying to like no trying to ditch that I'm a professional athlete I'm playing all these things it was really really hard and and I'll tell this story so um because I you know I don't care it's out there like the the whole like jacuzzi picture thing if you guys know what I'm talking about we don't need to you know we don't need to get into it but no I'm dead serious about this like I don't even want to get into that because it was nothing it was complete BS but it literally painted me in a way that ruined my career and I remember for like three months I'm not kiding you I was like hiding I was I didn't come out of my house I was gosh my second year in the NFL just living this high life and I was like I was devastated I was like embarrassed um I was my teammate my teammates liked me like they knew like it was just you know one of those things but it was just this perception of this big world like liner is this way and liner is that way and it and it crushed me it really crushed me so my whole career I was always afraid to say anything I never voiced my opinion I kind of just like I always tell people I kind of had like a muzzle and I just did my job and I you know whatever and um so the first part of your question it took me years and years and years and years to really just say I don't care anymore I don't give a about what people say about me even to this day I don't care like you know like social media and like I've done a lot of that stuff and you know I I just I really I really just in secure in who I am and I I love my family and I'm having a lot of fun doing a lot of different things and kind of like you like stepping out of your comfort zone and people told you you couldn't do anything but you're here and you're doing it cuz stuck to your guns and you stuck to the belief in yourself that's kind of that took me by the way kudos to you cuz that took me up until like 37 years old to figure out out and Jeremiah is 17 years old so there wasn't like an aha moment for me like ah wow I woke up today feeling like I don't care what people say about me but and I still get it all time I just I think it's funny my wife is different my wife is like how could like gosh that's like that hurts like like no it doesn't because these people don't know me so for you I don't know I I just feel like one you're on the right path already like you're crushing it dude and like proud of you I I pulled Jeremiah side because I just wanted to like like he's in San Pedro he's going to get a job soon he's he's heavily involved in his ministry the church um and now you're public speaking in front of like incredible people here which is really awesome um surround yourself with people who believe in you which you'll just know you'll feel it obviously people are Sheri Fest believe in you which is incredible and you surrounded yourself with them um family friends the people at the church and just do your best to just put the blinders and just block out the noise because these people don't know you anywhere they don't they don't know you they don't know what is inside um and and frankly it doesn't matter because it's all about what you want and it's all about what passions you have and what and who you want to be as a man and what you want to do in your life and you are on the right path which is really exciting and you have this big old beautiful life ahead of you and so many different opportunities are going to come your way so stick to stick to your gut and what you believe in man and you're going to be great one thing one of the things that made the biggest impact for for my time with sherz was the mentoring and the people who believed in me and saw my and saw my potential but I was lucky I also had mentors in my community and my church who wanted to see me succeed uh were the mentors in your life that helped you redefine yourself or see yourself differently I I've been really looking back um I've been really fortunate to have kind of like a great mentor in every kind of big chapter of My Life um I I thought about this the other day like not because of this but just like gosh like people that have really like looking back have had that impact and I would say my my parents definitely just growing up my dad my mom um just the house that I was I was raised in the values and the work ethic and everything like they they my mom passed away seven years ago but my dad is still around but they just what they taught me right um I I would say the first real Mentor was my high school football coach uh Bruce rollinson at modern day he's legendary he retired a couple years ago he really not just on the football field really because High School is about developing and whether you're a young woman or young man it is those years where you develop into a young adult and you get ready for the next chapter in life which is college and um you're really starting to figure out who you are as a person and he really helped me to see that looking back um and then in college in in USC a lot of people don't know this but I was there five years I reged my first year I almost transferred my second year and now the transfer portal is like gosh hell like everybody's leaving but like back then it really wasn't you just stuck it out right right you committed to a school you competed and and you stuck it out it was fairly close but it never really materialized but it was he was the one that really sort of like dude you're Matt ler you can play you got like he just instilled the confidence and I I kind of my confidence was broken at a time and then in the NFL I had an incredible quarterback coach Greg naap he passed away tragically two years ago um he was the Jets quarterback coach I don't know if you know the story but it was it was just it was an awful and it really it still affects me today but he was my quarterback coach in Houston for two years in my fifth and sixth year and then he was my coordinator he brought me to Oakland Raiders for my last year and in Arizona I was like this and then I was like this and it was those four years I was really trying to figure out like like I know I can do this I know I have the talent I know I can do this I know I can do this I was trying to find myself again and and and as we all know if you lose confidence in something it's tough to get a back especially a quarterback at that level I found that because of him in Houston he believed in me it was genuine I loved him he helped me see the game differently um and I really felt like I was my be the best I ever was as a player even though I didn't play a lot than at that time in my life I was like I was ready to play I was like dude if sha goes down I'm freaking going I'm ready to do this and and he did go down and then I broke my collar going that game I started which is awful but um I was the best I felt was because of him and then he brought me to Oakland which was great he was a big big part of helping me just build the confidence I needed in myself for whatever was next in my life and then and I and I'm not saying this just because but my wife Josie who some of you know I met her the year that I retired and she is just an absolute badass like she really is she was an actress forever she's a full-time lawyer now she's a mom like she's just really one of those women that can she just whatever she wants to do she's just she can do it and it's really and she's highly highly motivated in everything she does and that was a part where I was just like struggling with motivation she has been the best teacher Mentor uh partner that I've had in these 10 years 11 years that we've been together and she has really helped me to just kind of like you just go out of my comfort zone try new things over this period of time dive into different business Ventures do this do that and um so she has been my number one Mentor especially in the yeah hell yeah she's she's she's honestly she's incredible um so again I I've been really fortunate that just just been gosh people at the right time have kind of stepped up and had that impact in different times of my life I'm extremely grateful they all know uh coach nap is not not here anymore but but R knows I talk to him all the time he knows how much he helped me and obviously my wife does as well [Applause] so I once learned that Alfred Nobel the person whom the Nobel Peace Prize was named was an inventor scientist and a pacifist while he was the inventor of dynamite and other forms of explosives um he actually hated war and was shocked when the obituary called him a merchant of death he vowed that he would not be remembered that way and decided to leave his fortune to promote science literature and peace he rewrote his own legacy when I'm gone I want to be known for something great to be known as a good person that changed at least somebody at least one person's life for the better what does legacy mean to you and what are you hoping to leave behind um God that's great I you know Legacy is obviously the impact that you leave behind right the impact that you leave for others and future generation my kids you know whoever and for me it's funny because I know I'm looked at as an athlete in a lot of people's eyes and I and I I appreciate that you know Sports is my life and it it gave me the opportunities I have and it got me here today and so I always say this and kids and camps and just that like like if I have that impact on on a young kid or anybody like I I love that you know I'm not like I live for my family but I just I I I I hope that the sports and maybe my story today and whoever like maybe it does have some impact and that to me is what it's all about I think for me the most important Legacy is not like USC quarterback and all this it's just it's being a husband and a father and that's like you know we're all you know a lot of us are parents in here and really um you know being the best husband that I can be when I'm gone one day I just I hope she tells her friend like man that was that was you know he he was everything that I dreamt of of of my man being you know that that's what I live for that's every day like trying to do everything I can to even though my wife can take care of herself and she does but like just take care of my family that's what I want to do and then my boys I have three boys um my teen and then my I have a four and a half and a three-year-old and it's just being the best dad that I can be and being present for them and instilling in them what my dad and and my mom instilled in me and uh that's treating people with kindness with respect uh working hard and doing all of those things and that's that's what I just feel like I want my legacy to be um I know it is involved with sports and that's great and and I'm and I know that my story with injuries and we all deal with injuries and I was told I would never make it by a lot of different people and I kind of told them like haha Look at me now at a point where I was like you know what like screw that I use it as motivation but that's the most important thing you know just uh leing you know at some point gosh I feel like I'm talking about dying and like leaving my kids but uh just just that that's important being the man that my wife wants me to be and then the being the dad that my kids and being that example for them out of all the interviews you have done what do you wish you were asked that you that you were never asked what do you want people to know about you wow um feel like I've done a thousand interviews you know what I I feel like I feel like I wish I was asked more about my parents and maybe it's because I lost my mom and just like obviously I don't know if anyone here's lost a parent or a loved one but you know I was gosh 34 when she passed and so like that just put things in perspective especially when you have little kids um and then my dad is still trucking he's 78 but you know like you just you start to see you start to see it happening you're like oh man like this is like things are slowing down a little bit so I just I I probably wish like I I was able to talk about them more um and that's why this is this has been awesome just being able to bring up my mom is great because I I feel like I do a terrible job of my wife lost her dad and she does a really really great job of making sure that he is still present in our family with our boys um and I and I'm just it's hard for me to do that it's hard for me to just I I keep all of that inside um so this is very helpful thank you but also yeah just maybe you know it' be nice to talk about her more um and then was the second part of your question what do you want people to know about you oh to know about me um I don't that's a good question I feel like I'm pretty much an open book like what you see especially like on social media and stuff I'm just like this is you know um MB Dad yeah ask your kids that's pretty good right MB dads we like M dads you know um just shout out to manh beach in this out um I don't know um I'm pretty like I I think you know what's funny a lot of comments I get like on posts and all that a lot of it's like oh thought you were this way or I thought you were that way and it's actually it's nice to read I thought you were again I get a lot of bad ones too but there's a lot that are like oh I hated you in college a lot of sports stuff which was fine or like I thought you were you know I'm trying not to use bad words but this way that way and then they're like dude but you seem like a pretty cool dude like and and I'm like I feel like I am I'm just like a like I'm just like a South Bay like I love my kids I love playing sports and hanging out and um you know seeing these kids all grow up here that I've known since since I was since they were little like that's just kind of my life you know and I feel like people maybe paint this bigger picture and it's just really it's just a really it's really simple and just awesome like swee hang you know I [Applause] know what advice would you give to youth who have big dreams I would say I would say be we always say like oh you know if you work hard you can achieve everything but like you know be resilient be I say this to a lot of people be versatile in chasing your dream um or your goals uh work and dedicate yourself to being the best you can be and then the most important thing and I think my story is probably a perfect example is is be adaptable and it's okay for change right like my whole my my 14 years before my injury I was baseball this like that was my dream literally was to pitch in the big leagues and it got taken away from me like that and in that moment it's hard right it's hard to see the big picture like this you just I just shifted I played football and I got lucky like I did but I worked really hard to get there like once I realized so I would just say like change is good like my my my path was like this like all over the place all over the place it a path never goes this way way it just never does there's not a perfect life there's not a perfect process there's not a perfect journey and I think that's what makes it really cool and um Kobe Bryant was like my favorite athlete of all time and we always talk like you know the journey and the process is just far better than like the destination right the destination is when you when you fulfill that dream and I think he said that in his last game um where he just basically said it's not about the destination it's about the grind the journey and the process to get there because that's where you just learn so much and that's where all the challenges are it's not easy but like if life was if if those were easy everybody would do it and um that's just how now at 41 looking back I was like gosh like the journey wasn't always easy like everyone thinks I grew up this way like no it was like it was tough when I was younger uh there were a lot of injuries there were a lot of like times in my life where I thought it was over and I just I think that all shaped me and it all made me stronger more like callous and just like this is what it's about so uh all that but be passionate be patient you know like don't think you have it figured out you know tomorrow because you don't and that's okay that's the part of the great part about life and the journey that you were on uh especially so um have fun man enjoy enjoy the ride because it can be tough and especially nowadays and like our society God it's just the crazy world we live in um but just try try and if you have that dream man do everything you can to chase it but it's okay if you Veer off right it's okay because that might lead you to something even better and that's what happened for me and that's what my advice would be for you Matt thank you for for so much for allowing me to be a part of this conversation tonight I've been very inspired by your story and I've learned a lot from me thanks I wanted to also thank the sheriff team for including me this has been really amazing experience for me I'd like to welcome up Chad mayor the the sheriff is executive director let's give it up for Jeremiah one more [Applause] time unbelievable Jeremiah we're so proud of you man I'm I'm nervous and uh just uh it's resilience and um all that you've learned is it's just been amazing and please give it up for Matt liner oh my gosh what a gift thank you so much for being transparent vulnerable and um sharing your story with us um this evening Jeremiah is one of 700 students that will serve this school year we serve students that find themselves in continuation of high schools we'll be in 10 schools this upcoming school year and um we also serve students that face significant barriers like Doris and when we met Doris Doris Doris was completely down on her luck just beside herself and when we asked her hey Doris what do you want to do when you graduate from high school she said I just don't want to be homeless and I don't want to live on the streets I have two te two teenage um a son and a daughter and I can IM I cannot imagine those words coming out of my kids's life but why did Dora say that how did she get to this certain point in her in her journey well when she started um high school she lost her mom she comes from a single mom she then moves in with her grandmother who's sick so she now has she's grieving her mom she's now taking care of her her grandmother and she finds herself uh ending up in a continuation high school and the students that we serve are academically behind there sometimes four grades behind uh four classes behind their current grade level and so but that's where they meet sharefest we have an amazing staff of instructors and mentors that are in these continuation in high schools we a lot of nonprofits do not even touch we're the only nonprofit that invests so much since 2009 inside these continuation high schools Doris gets mentored she gets back on track academically she graduates now she's got two degrees at La Harbor College she now works for an organization that helps um children with autism and she's this close away from finishing um her college degree becoming a nurse so literally from I don't want to I don't want to be homeless to getting back on track and graduating from high school with when you're that far back um behind academically is like climbing M Everest for these students we also serve students like Natalie who got in a physical Al altercation and she was this close away from going to jail and so she gets kicked out of her her high school at ban High School in Wilmington she gets placed in Avalon continuation high school but that's where she met she meets our team of mentors who uh love on her believe in her um show her uh we uh we do Career Development classes right we get them starting to think about their future and now she graduated a year um early um and she's going to be a freshman at Ellie Harbor College which is remarkable she worked for the Salvation and now she wants to get into healthc care so again this Clos from being homeless this closed from being um put in jail to to to now being in college and on the right u career trajectory which is amazing and I get the joy year after year hearing these remarkable stories seeing people like Jeremiah Step Up step step out of their fears have a conversation with M with Matt liner give me a break step it step out of their fears and do some great great things and this does not happen without a resilient board an amazing board so thank you shout out to K uh Mark uh Vince Eric in the back thank you Jamie for putting this all together it takes fuel and energy to run an organization um and I just have one request one request so if you were moved if you were inspired by this evening myself and kanana would love to take you out to lunch or coffee so that we can learn a little bit more about you talk about if you have any uh philanthropic goals or ways that you would like to invest in the Next Generation we love that right we don't want this to be transactional we're looking for partners that believe in this work that believe in this call we'd love to get to know you a little bit more ask questions look at our financials come visit our Center come to one of our continuation schools and meet some of our students we would love that opportunity so I know a lot of you were invited by board members so please um uh check in with them and we would love to set that um that lunch up with you as well I also get that some of you might have be compell any want to give tonight and there's also an opportunity for that as well so there's just different um posters with a QR code so if you feeling generous and you want to invest and start thinking about Legacy that would be amazing so on behalf of our students our staff our board thank you so much for carving out time tonight to hear Matt Matt thank you for being so generous with your time time again I know you should be in a million different places you chose to be here and um just so grateful for you so that's all I have the evening's over uh feel free to to hang out ask questions Network and grab a drink thank you guys so much