The 19-year-old youth worker makes himself available at any hour to the younger guys he meets through the Thurgoona Community Centre.

"You might get a kid message you at night and some of them are really on the edge," he said. "To be the person to calm them down ... that's really rewarding.

"They could have done something really bad that night, and then the next week you see them doing something really good.

"That's the best feeling."

It might be the hint of an American upbringing in the way Kodi talks, or maybe his big smile that makes him so approachable at first glance.

But on a deeper level, it's common ground that connects him so strongly to many of the community centre's kids.

"They might feel they're having this crazy life and everyone else is normal and put together, so it's good to be a role model, but also show them I went through the same thing," Kodi said.

"I moved over here five years ago with my brother and my dad after he met a girl, and he got married and they had kids.

"About a year before the move, a lot of bad stuff happened in the family.

"I was already not in a good head space and then didn't get to go to school straight away because of the different systems, so I didn't really have many friends.

"We'd moved to a pretty bad spot in Glenroy and everyone around me was bad.

"I'd been expecting a big change and it was just more of the same."

A turning point came thee years ago when Kodi was at a skate park event and met Dan Leeworthy, who was part of the then-North Gate Church.

"He told me to come along to their youth group, and I was like, 'Nah, that doesn't sound fun'," Kodi said.

"He noticed I had a basketball and said, 'If I beat you at basketball, will you come?' and I said 'yes', thinking I wouldn't lose, but he was six feet tall and he beat me.

"So I came to youth group. I loved it."

Through the church, Kodi came to be good friends with Mitchell Hayes, who took up the youth worker position at Thurgoona Community Centre in 2016.

"I first came to the centre with Mitch; he asked me to come along and help," Kodi said.

"I was volunteering for a year and then Mitch stepped down, so I've been doing the role for the last few years."

Kodi spends every Tuesday at the centre but from term three, he'll be running a 'Friday Night Live' program too.

"It's targeting the older kids who are getting to the age where all their mates are drinking, and Friday nights come around and they are looking for something to do," he said.

"We'll have night games and be doing basketball and other sports just to get them in, and have them tell their stories.

"I want to show them you can be not drinking or partying and still be cool.

"I'm only 19 now, but I'll be talking about the struggles you go through during that time and tell them my story.

"I think the boys need someone to talk to; there can be some toxic stuff in their lives

No matter what, young men will take risks - often with drugs and alcohol in the mix - and Kodi knows this.

It's something that became clear to a doctor called Arne Rubinstein early in his career.

He recalls in his book The Making of Men the night a "well-dressed young man" with no obvious injuries was wheeled in to the emergency department.

The 16-year-old had taken his dad's car for a joyride with two of his mates and crashed it into a telephone pole.

The two friends were in bad shape, and with booze obvious on the teen's breath, he was facing some serious time in jail.

Tamara Nelson was reading about this night and The Making of Men one summer holiday.

As the mum of a teenage boy, and having tried and failed to help many at-risk teenagers as the co-ordinator of Glenecho Neighbourhood Centre, the book struck a cord.

She decided if anyone could get through to the boys she was concerned about, it would be this doctor.

Tamara suggested Albury Council could run a mentoring program in partnership with Dr Rubinstein's foundation The Rites of Passage Institute.

"Every school holidays I can refer families to programs for adolescent girls, but I just wasn't able to do that for the boys," she said.

"Dr Arne says boys will go out and take risks, and will go through a rites of passage themselves, it just won't be safe and often doesn't result in healthy outcomes."

After three years and multiple knock-backs for funding, Albury Council community development officer Elizabeth Sayers was able to break the news in February that Tamara's idea would become reality.

"The NSW Department of Justice had funding available and we were successful in our application," Elizabeth said.

"We're recruiting mentors for the program and the intent is the boys will come to Glenecho each week and spend a few hours with them.

"Some weeks they'll go and do activities, and that might be going to an ED and seeing what happens when an emergency occurs and the effects of alcohol and drug consumption, to give that real-life experience.

"Perhaps they'll work with some police to give them an understanding of their role."

The 'Future Legends' 18-week program starting in August will also feature a camp at the end of the year, which Dr Rubinstein said would include a 'rites of passage' exercise to test their limits.

"We've been creating Rites of Passage for 25 years now, and it's all about creating a healthy transition as boys become young men," he said.

"We're not telling them how to live their lives; we are having healthy discussions with them and giving them an opportunity to work out who they want to be.

"Getting them to explore different aspects of what it means to be a man today, and what the stereotypes are.

"The biggest change we see is a shift in the way they see themselves; I often find with these kids they have all sorts of different talents, but don't recognise them."

Tamara hopes the program will be a fork in the road that changes the life path for some of the young men she knows.

"The suicide rate for men is getting bigger and bigger," she said.

"It's great to be able to do something to show these boys that someone does care.

IN OTHER NEWS

"They feel alone and the majority are from single mum families, so it's natural as they become teenagers they want to hang out with the boys - and they end up hanging out with the older boys on the street.

"I've had the honour of going to the Koori Men's Shed to see the tutoring they do with boys who have just got out of juvenile prison.

"It costs $1800 a day to incarcerate a teenage boy, and the outcomes aren't good."

At Glenecho last Thursday, the men who expressed interest in being mentors for Future Legends ranged in age from from 19 to 80 years old.

There were teachers and tradies, a martial artist, a mechanic, and men who work in policing and justice who have seen too many boys end up in jail cells, or worse.

Kodi was at the meeting and hopes his story and skills can make a difference.

While he'll only be a couple of years' senior to the mentees, Sherylyne Moran - co-ordinator of Thurgoona Community Centre - thinks her popular youth worker has what it takes.

"He has to not only be their friend, but have some control and almost be a parenting-type and set boundaries," she said.

"Kodi is good at that; he's inclusive and the boys at the centre feel valued by him."

In considering his approach to mentoring, Kodi said caring was the most important thing.

"Growing up, I saw a lot of counsellors at school and it felt like it was a job for them, but with Dan from the church I felt he treated me like a normal person and he was just a good mate," Kodi said.

"It's in your actions; they speak louder than words.

"I guess I want to be the 'Dan', and be that person that gets kids going in the right direction."

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