MENTORING
Becoming a mentor is
a chance to connect, inspire, and grow. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Instead, commit to possibilities
over perfection.
At the core of Our House is our Mentoring Program, which consists of 1:1 and team mentoring.
One-to-one mentoring matches trained, screened volunteer mentors with Our House young adults. Mentors commit to a multi-year relationship with the youth and provide one-on-one guidance to leverage educational,
employment, economic, housing, and community resources.
Team mentoring activities with mentors and youth are fun, social events which also demonstrate or teach important life skills.
1:1 MENTORING
TEAM MENTORING
Imagine
what your life would
have been like without
the support of someone
to help guide you during
critical decision-making
moments growing up.
Our Mentors are instrumental in fulfilling Our House’s goal of propelling youth to reach their full potential and equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to function independently and contribute to society. They must possess a sincere desire to be personally involved with another person to help him or her achieve personal and career goals. Mentors will develop supportive relationships with foster care youth participating in the Our House programs and aid them through emotional support and social and recreational development. The Mentor provides caring companionship to supplement the work of parents, teachers, counselors,
social workers and other social services and education professionals.
Each Mentor will be provided with initial training
before working with youth and ongoing support
throughout the program. The average Mentor
will put in approximately 6 to 12 hours each
month in service to our youth. This
commitment may come in larger or smaller
doses, but the Mentor must be consistent. While
Mentors may serve longer than one year, the
minimum expectation of any Mentor will be one year.
Right now, 9 million young people are growing-up without a mentor of any kind, yet we know that when they have a mentor they are much more likely to:
-
Participate in after-school activities
-
Be leaders in clubs and teams
-
Volunteer
-
Go on to college
Our mentoring model includes a "team" component to complement our 1:1 mentoring. On the 2nd Saturday of each month, we get the youth and mentors together to do something fun (hang out, bowling, movie, go carts) and we're beginning to shift to include a more defined life skills training component. This provides our youth a chance to learn important skills they'll need -- like riding a bus, interviewing for a job, etc... - as well as an opportunity to connect
with additional supportive adults and peers who may offer guidance and an "extra ear."
ONE CARING ADULT
