{"id":2254,"date":"2011-10-08T16:14:38","date_gmt":"2011-10-08T23:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=2254"},"modified":"2011-10-24T13:28:05","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T20:28:05","slug":"change-lanes-celebrates-six-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2011\/10\/08\/change-lanes-celebrates-six-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Change Lanes celebrates six years!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cynthia<\/a>
Cynthia Spears congratulates a Change Lanes member on completing the program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
More than two hundred came out to the six year anniversary of Change Lanes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 More than two hundred came out Saturday morning to celebrate the six year anniversary of Change Lanes, a court approved\u00a0agency that provides support for at-risk children, teens and young adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought we\u2019d celebrate by allowing the youths to give back to the community,\u201d said Change Lanes Founder Cynthia Spears. \u201cWe let them develop the program, facilitate the program, and just be in charge of the whole show, because it\u2019s about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-hour event kicked off with a continental breakfast and open house walk through of the Change Lanes facility. The celebration then moved next door to Saving Grace Christian Ministries to accommodate the hundreds of people that showed up for the feature presentation.<\/p>\n

The program included musical performances by Change Lane youths, a short play entitled \u201cWhy Momma Why,\u201d and inspirational messages from featured guest speakers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Live Coach Steve Medina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Life Coach Steve Medina told the audience that as a teenager, he\u2019d spent time in prison for dealing drugs; but since then, he\u2019d worked hard to turn his life around. He encouraged youths going through similar circumstances to make a commitment to change negative behaviors today.<\/p>\n

\u201cFind out why you\u2019re making those decisions and fix it, because once you do, your records can be sealed,\u201d Medina said. \u201cBut once you cross that bridge and become an adult and make a crime, your life is going to be very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

For 15-year-old Brandy Jones, the commitment to change came about two months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to change my life around,\u201d said Jones. \u201cI wanted to get help, because I was stealing and fighting in school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones said through Change Lanes, she learned anger management and a new perspective regarding school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey helped me to change the way I felt about school, so I was able to stop fighting,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Brandy Jones (far right) says Change Lanes has positively affected her life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like Jones, Spears said many youths come to Change Lanes with problems, but usually leave with a new perspective. She estimates the program has helped more than 1,000 teens to turn their lives around in its six years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe help them get out of the criminal justice system, get off probation and move forward,\u201d said Spears. \u201cOur goal is to uplift, motivate and empower them so they can be productive members in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spears says she is living proof that remarkable change is possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time I was 19, I had two kids, grew up in an alcoholic family, and went through the drug scene,\u201d said Spears. \u201cI now have 22 years clean and sober, went back to school, got my bachelor\u2019s degree, and I\u2019m currently working on my master\u2019s degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spears is encouraging members of the community to help support the\u00a0lifesaving mission of Change Lanes Youth Support Services. Residents may donate items such as snacks, canned goods, or clothing by dropping items off at the Change Lanes facility: 1122 West Avenue L-12, Suite 102, Lancaster, CA.<\/p>\n

Monetary donations are also welcome.\u00a0 All\u00a0donations are\u00a0tax deductible. For more information about donations or to learn more about Change Lanes, contact 661-948-2555 or visit www.changelanes.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 More than two hundred came out Saturday morning to celebrate the six year anniversary of Change Lanes, a court approved\u00a0agency that provides support for at-risk children, teens and young adults. \u201cWe thought we\u2019d celebrate by allowing the youths to give back to the community,\u201d said Change Lanes Founder Cynthia Spears. \u201cWe let them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}