Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachary Garza.
Zachary, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story truly began the day my father left our home. I went from having a supportive and happy childhood to feeling all alone and confused in what felt like a matter of minutes. My mother did her best to raise me, but it is hard to raise a strong-willed, angry teenager when you are going through hardships yourself.
I believe that every child needs a father in their life to speak affirmation, give attention, and accept them for who they are. When a child does not receive those things from their family, and in particular their father, they will search to find those things elsewhere. I tried to find affirmation in sports, attention in partying, and acceptance from my friends. I would literally do whatever other people wanted me to do if I meant I would be loved and accepted. Also, having no father figure around to affirm me, I felt unqualified, unworthy, and insecure as I ventured into manhood. Also, because of my childhood, I had anger issues, problems dealing with male authority, and a fear of trusting other people. I lived this life until my junior year of college.
It was in college that the Lord started to change my life. He did so by way of a relationship. The first relationship that changed my life was a college professor named Bob Strader. Bob was the first man in my life who I felt like didn’t want to fix me. For three years, Bob built a relationship with me through time and consistency. Once I allowed Bob to speak into my life, he was able to point out how my anger, inability to forgive my father and fear of trusting other people was negatively affecting my life. I wish I could say that Bob’s experience with me put me on the straight and narrow. It didn’t. But I believe the Lord used Bob to change the trajectory of my life. I was headed down a path of poor choices, fear and selfishness and the Lord used Bob to put me on the path of wisdom, freedom, and humility.
Over the next 6 years, the Lord put other men in my life to teach me some aspects of manhood. One man taught me how to lead a wife and a family. Another taught me how to deal with past hurts. Others stepped in and showed me how to shake a hand, deal with conflict, and how to combat negative peer pressure. The Lord used other men to father me during this season of my life. He was using them to help me overcome the obstacles that had been plagued me for my entire life.
My life truly changed through a discipleship training school in Nashville, Tennessee. It was there that I met two men who would forever change my life; Don Finto and Steve Allen. Don love me like a father loves a son and constantly spoke encouragement and affirmation over my identity. Steve taught me about the Lord can use your pain and turn into your life’s purpose. Those two men also encouraged me to contact and forgive my father, a man whom I had not spoken to in years. After the program and after forgiving my father, I felt a call on my life to become what I never had and to be a father to the fatherless. My day job as a teacher and football coach at Lake Highlands Junior High gave me a perfect opportunity to do just that.
One day during football practice, our team was discussing what it looks like to be a successful man. After hearing some of their answers, I asked my team “How many of you are living in a home with no father figure present?” Out of the 60 kids on my football team, 40 of their hands shot up. When I saw this, I felt like the Lord told me to go and do something about it.
That is when I started Forerunner Mentoring Program.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It most definitely has not been a smooth road!
Sometimes, I feel like all I have done over the last 8 years is fail. But a Godly man falls down seven times and gets back up again. When I started, I had no experience in running a 501c3, fundraising or building an organization. Lucky for me, I am surrounded by other amazing non-profits, a fantastic community, and a patient and supportive Board of Directors who have taught me how to lead well.
We have dealt with homelessness, incarceration, and abuse of all different kinds. We have had to adapt with the gentrification of East Dallas as well as with a change in public education leadership. It is easy to get discouraged if you focus on all of the things not going your way. One of our day goes is to focus on the good, stay positive, and to “go with the goers”.
Time and time again, my staff keeps finding better ways to serve our fatherless young men and their mother. This job has taught me to grow in humility and lean heavily on my amazing staff. Often, my way is not the right way and I have to say “Your way is actually a lot better than mine!”
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Forerunner Mentoring Program story. Tell us more about the business.
Forerunner Mentoring Program is a 501c3 non-profit serving the East Dallas community of Lake Highlands. Our vision is to serve those affected by a father-absent home by building relationships founded on Jesus Christ. Our mission is to guide our future husbands, fathers, and leaders into spiritual, relational and emotional wholeness and fulfilling their potential by providing mentoring, quality after-school programming, and by supporting his mother.
We specialize in relationships because we believe relationships change lives. Whether it be through mentoring, quality after-school programming or serving our single mothers, we want relationships to be the foundation of all that we do. While books and curriculum are really helpful tools, they don’t change lives. People change people.
I am most proud of our single mothers. They have been dealt a tough hand in life, but they are doing their best to provide for and lead their families. And they are doing a great job raising their boys into successful men! I have two kids of my own and if I look after them for more than an hour, I have to take a nap! But not our moms, our moms do it and do it well 24/7. We believe them is a direct correlation between a child’s success and the mother’s involvement in his life. We believe our moms are the reason why our boys are having success.
One thing that sets us apart is our intentionality. We serve between 32-40 families in our program. Currently, our goal is not to serve 500 families, but to serve however many families we can serve well. We go deep with our families. We spend over 1,000 hours a year investing in our families spiritually, relationally, and educationally. We don’t want to be just a blip in the life of our boys, but we want them to look back and say “God used Forerunner Mentoring to change my life and the life of my kids.”
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
We believe everything happens for a reason! We have had some really good things happen and some things that have caused us to throw our hands up in the air and say “What is going on?” I believe I have been extremely fortunate to have so many men invest in me personally. I simply would not be here if it wasn’t for intentional men investing into a hurting kid. I also believe I have been fortunate to be placed in the Lake Highlands community. This community has supported me, my family, and this organization in a number of ways. They simply take care of our every need. Whether it’s the people or organizations like the Exchange Club of Women’s League, I can count on this community has our back no matter what.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.forerunnermentoring.com
- Email: hello@forerunnermentoring.com
- Instagram: forerunnermentoring
- Facebook: ForerunnerMentoring
Image Credit:
Adam Fish Photography, Stephen Murray Photography
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