Aaron Hayes of Catalyst Mentoring

“Aaron has what we call a charismatic personality,” says Gil Moegerle, who met Aaron Hayes in 2015, after moving to Redding, CA. “Even if you have a heart of stone, when Aaron stands up and speaks, you believe in your potential to help these kids.”

“These kids” are the youth of Redding, who face above-average adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including exposure to neglect or emotional, physical, sexual, or substance abuse. Children who experience such trauma frequently battle depression, anxiety, physical illness, tendencies toward health-risk behaviors, and even early death. Aaron founded and directs Catalyst Mentoring out of a commitment to helping youth overcome these challenges.

Aaron credits his wife, Sarah for opening his eyes to his calling. “Sarah and I started dating when she was 13, and I was 14,” Aaron says. “I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself, but she believed in me and encouraged me to take bigger risks.” Sarah recognized Aaron’s heart for coaching and encouraged him to become a teacher. After school budget cuts eliminated Aaron’s job in 2010, he became a youth pastor.

While pastoring, Aaron established a mentoring program at Pioneer High School, where he saw the life-changing power mentors can have on kids. Experience taught him people repeat observed behaviors, so kids acting inappropriately or destructively probably lack exposure to healthy ways of responding to life. “Kids want to do what is right,” Aarons says, “But if we tell kids who have never seen the color red to paint with red, they can’t do it.” Mentorship allows kids to “see the color red” through witnessing how healthy adults respond to life. Caring, one-on-one relationships empower them to make healthy choices in their own lives.

Aaron founded Catalyst Mentoring in 2016, and today the non-profit partners with many schools in Redding. Catalyst’s main purpose is to provide initial and ongoing training, so adult mentors can feel confident engaging with kids from first grade to early twenties, as well as connecting kids with mentors. “A lot of people feel like they don’t know enough to be a mentor,” Aaron says, “but kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. You don’t have to know anything; you just have to show up.”

Sometimes, even showing up seems impossible. In the wake of the Carr Fire in 2018, Redding teachers have faced increased emotional burnout as they grapple with students’ trauma and their own losses. In response to teacher burnout, Aaron is building a business called Reignite, a program to refresh teachers and other professionals, re-equipping them as healthy influences on kids. Although Reignite focuses on adults, it truly complements Catalyst. “For our society to be healthy, our teachers need to keep the passion burning,” says Aaron. “Catalyst helps kids discover what’s possible; Reignite helps adults keep what is possible alive.”

Melanie Huggard, a Catalyst employee, describes Aaron’s courage to invent and try creative community-building solutions. When asked to help with a school’s bullying problem, for example, Aaron gained teacher and parent permission to blindfold the entire eighth grade. Freed from the pressure of their peers’ eyes as they listened to Aaron, students raised their hands to answer questions about isolation, loneliness and bullying with surprising honesty. The unusual assembly launched rich classroom conversations; teachers reported that even very quiet students participated in the discussion for schoolwide change.

When he’s not building social solutions, Aaron enjoys other types of creative construction, including painting and woodworking. He also prioritizes his family, starting with his daily morning walk with Sarah. The couple have two adopted and three biological children between the ages of eight and 25. Together, the family enjoys canoeing, fishing and opening their lives to others, like Ali Michelle, who became an honorary family member during her freshman year of high school. Over their eight years of friendship, Ali has seen Aaron “always give 110 percent” and “connect everybody in Redding to work together for the greater good.”

“Aaron is an agent for awakening,” says Gil, explaining how mentoring with Catalyst opened his eyes to needs he never knew existed for youth. From his front door to out into the community, Aaron’s passion fosters intergenerational relational health and brightens the future for kids and adults in the North State.

The mission of our be the change column is to feature community members from the North State who are actively making a difference in community life. If you would like to nominate someone who is making a difference, please write to pn@northstateparent.com.