GCU TODAY • 2 3
Granado, 47, met Wynn, who like him
has three children, and they were married
last June. On the job, he delegated to his
program directors to give himself time to do
the course work, which varies from five to 20
hours a week, and on his dissertation, “The
Influence of Spirituality in a Human Service
Agency and its Influence on Organizational
Citizenship Behaviors.”
Watching Granado interact with a group of
boys in one of New Horizon’s five Chandler,
Ariz., homes is like a behavioral study — of
both him and his young protégés. He is such a
natural leader, asking pertinent questions with
a warm, fatherly tone, and the boys are open
and talkative.
Clinical Director AMee Vermeire
remembers being struck by Granado’s
confidence the first time she saw him in that
environment, talking with the boys as easily as
he played flag football with them.
“The way he speaks to people, it’s not
arrogant, it’s just a level of confidence,” she
said. “I thought, ‘How can I get to that?’”
Granado said New Horizon’s success rate,
which is defined by a client graduating or
making a transition to a home or a lower level
of care, is about 60 percent, and he estimates
that his agency has helped 1,500 clients. One of
them is 19-year-old Jose Mendiola, who came to
NHYH three years ago. He considers Granado
“one of the coolest dudes ever” and said the
agency has meant “everything” to him.
“Before New Horizon, I had nothing,” he
said. “I didn’t feel like I had a father. I didn’t feel
like I had a family. I didn’t have an education.
They gave me a set of tools that I can utilize to
solve problems. They understood me.”
Old-fashioned values
Granado’s rules are what he calls a “direct
approach with old-fashioned values”
— no piercings or clothing related to
alcohol, drugs or gangs, and a focus on
accomplishments, rewarding positive
behavior and correcting negative actions.
But within the care and discipline there is
room for improvement and growth.
TomGranado is the founder and CEO of Tempe-
based NewHorizon Youth Homes, which
provides residential and outpatient services to
at-risk children, teens and adults.
photo by darryl webb
“We don’t bring in kids who don’t want
to come,” Granado said. “We’re not over-
controlling. We want them to be willing
to change.”
Said Kindred, “What we’re really big on
is we let the kids make choices because we
expect them to make mistakes.”
Mendiola said he made his share when he
first got to the home, but now he’s working at
Home Depot and considers himself one of his
home’s leaders.
“The program works,” he said. “I feel like
I’m a testimonial to that. I don’t have any
negative impulses anymore. That’s gone.”
Mendiola hopes to go into the Marines,
and his career goal is to work in behavioral
health, preferably at New Horizon. He would
be following in the footsteps of Granado, who
joined the Marines when he was 17 because he
wanted to escape his friends’ party lifestyle.
SOURCE:
As a corporal who taught good habits to young
Marines, he realized that he wanted to teach
boys and men those same skills.
“Everybody is going to encounter
difficulties,” Granado said. “God has a purpose
for each one of us, and He has blessed us with
the ability to achieve that purpose. We need
to lean on Him when we’re feeling down or
overwhelmed. We’re not doing what He wants
if we don’t keep trying.”
His work ethic certainly is a testament to
that as he perseveres through his doctorate
with a goal of finishing up by next year.
But being part of GCU has given him
satisfaction, too.
“It makes me feel at home even though I’m
not a 21-year-old bachelor’s student living on
campus,” Granado said. “I still feel connected.”
This is one rocket ship that has its mission
very much in control.
BY THE NUMBERS
NEWHORIZON YOUTH HOMES
clients served
and discharged
1,500
175 outpatient clients
60 residential clients
120 employees
2 adult residential facilities coming soon
6
homes
for boys
2
homes
for girls
3
outpatient
care
locations
1
number of clients
when New Horizon
was started in 2001
