#VillageTalks: Tony LoRe & Juliana Wells — Healing Through Connection in South Central LA

Sometimes the most powerful work in youth development is not found in curriculum.

It is found in connection.

That was the heartbeat of this powerful #VillageTalks conversation with Tony LoRe and Juliana Wells of Youth Mentoring Connection.

From the very beginning, one truth kept rising to the surface:

connection is medicine.

For more than 25 years, Tony and Juli have been building a mentoring model in South Central Los Angeles that centers healing, belonging, and the discovery of each young person’s unique gift.

This is not mentoring as advice.

This is mentoring as deep witnessing.

Tony shared a greeting rooted in Zulu tradition: Sawubona — I see you.

And honestly, that phrase may best capture the soul of their work.

Young people today are often watched.

They are monitored.
Assessed.
Judged.

But too often, they are not truly seen.

At Youth Mentoring Connection, the work begins there.

Seeing the person beneath the behavior.

Seeing the gift beneath the wound.

Seeing the resilience that has been forged through pain.

One of the most powerful concepts from this conversation was their gift-centered approach.

As Tony described it, our gifts often sit right next to our wounds.

That idea is profound.

Sometimes what a young person has survived is directly connected to the strength they carry.

Resilience.
Imagination.
Humor.
Leadership.

The work is not simply to “fix” what is broken.

It is to help young people excavate what has always been inside of them.

Juli beautifully reframed the process:

not cultivation…

excavation.

Going beneath the surface.

Creating safety.

Walking with young people through pain instead of trying to rush them past it.

What stood out most to me is how deeply authentic this work is.

Tony and Juli do not ask young people to go places they themselves are unwilling to go.

They share their own stories.

Their own wounds.
Their own healing.
Their own journeys.

That vulnerability builds trust.

It creates the kind of space where transformation becomes possible.

This conversation was also a reminder that mentorship is not about perfection.

It is about presence.

Showing up.

Loving consistently.

Refusing to walk away from pain.

As Juli said so powerfully, we don’t walk away from the pain — we go through the pain with our young people.

That line stayed with me.

Because that is what the village truly looks like.

Not standing at a distance.

Walking alongside.

This episode also gave us a beautiful picture of South Central LA — a community marked by resilience, personality, grit, and an unbreakable spirit.

And it reminded us that when young people are truly seen, healing begins.

This is not just mentorship.

This is community healing.

This is gift discovery.

This is village work.