MENTORING
Research confirms what previously we had known only anecdotally or intuitively. That is, that mentoring works. A recent Research Brief published by Child Trends and titled, “Mentoring: A Promising Strategy for Youth Development,” found that youth who participate in mentoring relationships experience a number of positive benefits. In terms of educational achievement, mentored youth have better attendance; a better chance of going on to higher education; and better attitudes towards school. In terms of health and safety, mentoring appears to help prevent substance abuse and reduce some negative youth behaviors. On the social and emotional development front, taking part in mentoring promotes positive social attitudes and relationships. Mentored youth tend to trust their parents more and communicate better with them. They also feel they get more emotional support from their friends than do youth who are not mentored.
Who Needs Mentors?
35.2 million young people ages 10-18 in US today
- 1 out of 4 lives with only one parent
- 1 out of 10 was born to teen parents
- 1 out of 5 lives in poverty
- 1 out of 10 will not finish high school
About half of young Americans - 17.6 million young people - want or need caring adult mentors to help them succeed in life. Of those 17.6 million young people, 2.5 are currently in formal mentoring relationships.
That leaves 15.1 million youth still in need of formal mentoring relationships. We call this our nation’s “mentoring gap.”
Who Is Willing to Mentor?
The AOL Time Warner Foundation recently sponsored a National Mentoring Poll of 2,000 adults. The poll found that:
- 57 million adults would seriously consider mentoring;
- 99 percent of all mentors already in a formal mentoring relationship would recommend mentoring to others;
- Potential mentors tend to:
- be between the ages of 18 to 44;
- have household incomes of $50,000 or more;
- have some college education or more;
- have access to the Internet; and
- have a child in their household.
- Of these potential mentors:
- 88% would like to have a choice among mentoring options (depending on their schedule and interests);
- 84% want access to expert help;
- 84% want orientation and training before mentoring;
- 67% would like their employer to provide time off; and
- 47% would be willing to mentor a youth online.
information taken from www.mentoring.org
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Here at APX Mentoring we are committed to providing our community with quality mentors in the lives of our young people. The immediate target demographic for our mentoring are for students in the Lawndale and Hawthorne area…however, that does not limit our services just within this area code. We currently have students from neighboring cities such as long beach, los angeles, and bellflower. The south bay community of los angeles is our wider target. Our mentoring will consist of:
- One on one mentoring (10 hours a month)
- Group mentoring activities (monthly and/or every other month)
- Job shadowing mentoring (once a month)
- Community mentoring
Centinela Bible Church has become a major supporter in what we do and our organization process. We are privileged to have a partner that has opened up their hearts and lives to walk alongside us in attempting to reach this community. We all recognize the importance of being a postive role model in a young person’s life, and their partnership has proved to be a major one.
Thanks for stopping by and checking us out. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to make a difference in our community!