Listen to thisMentoring gives a child the gift
of hope
January is National Mentoring Month, and Jan. 16 is Thank Your Mentor Day, a day when we think about young people we mentor and about those people who have mentored us.
I grew up on a farm in south-central Virginia where many of my mentors were family, neighbors, teachers and coaches. While we had little in the way of financial means, there were plenty of people in my life to give me advice and offer stories to learn by – stories of successes and failures, of resilience and tenacity, and of faith and forgiveness. These lessons imparted by my mentors have stood the test of time and offered me the gift of hope throughout my life.
The gift of hope is critical for all children to succeed. We are all born with the potential – but unfortunately, not every child’s potential is fulfilled. A child’s hopes might be dashed by circumstances in his or her environment, a lack of support to learn or grow as a student or athlete, or by family members who lost the gift of hope in their own lives somewhere along the way. Every day in Virginia, young people face situations that make it hard to live up to their potential.
In 2012, more than 280,000 Virginia children ages 0-17 lived in poverty; 225,000 of Virginia’s children experienced food insecurity between 2010-2012;
More than 10,000 children started school in 2013 with scores below kindergarten readiness; More than 5,000 Virginia young people resided in foster care in 2012;
More than 42,000 Virginia teens reported abusing alcohol or drugs in 2011;
5,681 Virginia high school students dropped out of school in 2013;
In 2010 there were more than 54,000 juvenile intake cases in Virginia.
Fortunately, positive and supportive relationships with caring adults can reduce the negative impact of growing up in challenging circumstances. According to the Big Brothers Big Sisters 2013 Youth Outcome report, mentored youth made positive gains across several youth outcomes including scholastic competence, attitudes toward risky behaviors and feeling they have a special adult in their lives. In school-based matches, 84 percent of youth improved or maintained grades. These youths benefited because someone cared enough to get involved in the life of a child as a mentor.
Across Virginia, hundreds of mentoring and youth development programs serve thousands of children, matching them with volunteer mentors for a period of nine to 12 months or more. Virginia Mentoring Partnership provides training and support to the staff and volunteers of these programs so they can create high-quality mentoring relationships with youths. Mentoring programs in Virginia serve families from varied racial and economic backgrounds, children as young as 7 and as old as 24, and provide mentoring both in schools and in the community. On shoestring budgets, mentoring programs recruit, screen, match and support volunteers who take time out of their busy lives to spend an hour a week with a young person.
We know that mentors – especially those who are supported and positively nurtured through their experience – reap tremendous benefits from mentoring as well. Studies have confirmed that they feel personally enriched, committed to their community and as if they are making a difference in the world. We often hear that mentors receive much more than they give and are fulfilled in the most meaningful ways. Mentoring gives the gift of hope to both mentees and mentors.
Despite the great work of many Virginia volunteers and professionals, mentoring programs report that more children in their communities need mentoring services than they can provide. We call this the “mentoring gap.” Won’t you consider becoming a mentor during this National Mentoring Month? You’ll be glad that you did.
Tammy Cummings, a principal at Mercer Consulting, chairs
the Board of Directors for the Virginia Mentoring Partnership
16 January 2014
