Read this invitation/summary of the report the CCMRT Program members put together profiling mentoring in Clark County. The CCMRT is seeking to showcase the positive impact of mentoring programs on our community in terms of resources and services. It is also a call out to others that have access to publicize this information with the goal of increasing awareness about mentoring and the need for mentors.
An Invitation to Support and Promote Mentoring in Clark County.
Mentoring is alive and well in Clark County and we, the Clark County Mentoring RoundTable (CCMRT), would like you to know about it and help us share this story. We think it will inspire community members to help meet the critical need for mentors in our community.
The CCMRT is a coalition of mentoring programs from throughout Clark County that has worked together since 1998 to support and promote quality mentoring in our community; to ensure that all youth that need a mentor have access to this resource. The CCMRT programs are diverse and quite remarkable, successfully serving a variety and large number of youth in a range of settings with often limited staffing and budget.
The positive outcomes of mentoring for youth are significant. What is also significant is the power of local mentoring programs to draw in resources from outside our community and to tap into the volunteer spirit of community members. These results strengthen and benefit our community and youth.
What you need to know.
Here is a snapshot of what mentoring looks like in Clark County (2004); a more detailed report is available by contacting Sallee R. Kallenbach at 360-891-8382 or . Also available are are individual statements from each mentoring program about how their program positively impacts the community.
These are important findings as they underpin the individual stories of commitment by a caring adult to help a young person in need of consistent support, guidance and concrete help. They also speak to a community enriched by the efforts of an often overlooked sector of the community, small non-profit agencies and programs.
• 15 mentoring programs served 1517 youth in one to one and group mentoring relationships.
• 28 individuals were employed full time by the 15 mentoring programs represented in this report; of these programs 7 had only 1 (one) employee.
• 658 volunteers served as mentors.
• 35,000 hours or $614,250 worth of services were provided by volunteer mentors.
• $488,850 in federal and state funding was brought into the community in support of mentoring.
• Over 500 requests were made seeking mentors for youth.
• Over 258 youth were on waiting lists for mentors
• All programs report the need for male mentors is critical.
• Mentoring is a good investment that can save costs in the long term; a mentor costs on average $1500/year, compared to $150/day to support a youth in Juvenile Services or $750/month to place a youth in foster care.
What you can do to help.
The CCMRT is a vital resource in our community. We are asking for your help to bring attention to the need for mentors by publishing and/or promoting mentoring stories_about the relationships and the programs that serve our community.
We believe this will inspire caring adults in our community to mentor, and inform the community about a little known yet influential resource. Please contact us to talk about how we can partner to work on this important challenge. Contact: Pamila Gant, , (866) 316-8190.
