Youth Mentor Project
Become a mentor and friend for a foster youth in transition to independent living.
Utah Youth Mentor Project
In Salt Lake County, about 200 youth “age out” of foster care each year. One day they are wards of the state. The next day they are on their own.
The Utah Youth Mentor Project helps aged-out youth pursue job training or college and helps them find safe places to live so they can cope with jobs and school. It also assists the formation of mentor groups, where adult mentors are matched up with aging-out youth for a two-year commitment. Last year Wasatch Presbyterian joined the Mentor Project with seven mentors and seven young friends.
Our friends cover a gamut of personalities, abilities, hopes, fears, challenges, and motivation. Two are just finishing high school and expect to be out of foster care this summer. One of these has been awarded a $5,000 scholarship that her mentor helped her apply for; she also thinks – and we pray – that she finally, on her last chance, passed the Utah Basic Skills math test, again with the help of intense, Starbucks-fueled studying she did with her mentor in the week before the test.
Two are attending SLCC. Of these, one is marvelously self-directed toward a career in auto mechanics; the other is at SLCC because her mentor realized the deadline was about to pass and got her to the registration office on the last day, enduring a several hour marathon with hundreds of other last minute students. She attends school diligently and on time, even though her first class is at 8:00 a.m.
One youth left Utah and is no longer in the program. The other two are struggling to find direction,
and their mentors are struggling to keep track of where they are,
how to contact them and how to help. Pray for them.
WPC’s mentors are DeaAnn/Randy Cate, John Louviere, Bonnie Mitchell, Peggy Riedesel/Harold Sears, Betsy Sutherland, and MJ/Bob Dow. If you would like to know more about being a mentor, talk to any of us. Not every story is guaranteed to have a happy ending, but the Mentor Project means there will be more happy endings than there would have been otherwise.
While mentors serve entirely on a volunteer basis, the Mentor Project has a small but energetic and highly talented staff paid primarily by a grant that expires at the end of 2010. The Board is working diligently to secure funding for 2011 and beyond. Anyone who has, or knows someone who has, a talent for fundraising, grant seeking/writing, or great contacts, please contact me. Thanks to WPC’s Service Committee for donating the local portion of October’s Peacemaking offering to the Project.
-Bob Dow
Make a difference
Attend our Information Meeting to find out:
- What it takes to be a mentor
- What resources are available to make it easier
- What it means to give time and love to help a youth survive
Meet your new “friend” this spring:
Youth in the Mentor Project are beginning their last year or two of high school. This gives you time to get to know them before they leave Foster Care.
Learn to love, share your wisdom, be a role model and invest in the future of one young person who needs an unconditional friend.
If you can’t be a mentor, you can still be part of the program:
Volunteer to be a Mentor Project Partner
Help Support events
- Fill in for mentors when they are away
- Donate gift cards, care packages, tickets
- Provide opportunities or services for youth
Contact Bob Dow for more information: 467-5679
Youth that leave the custody of Foster Care at age 18 are truly on their own for the first time.
Can you be a friend in need?
Help create a community of support that will make their transition to independent living possible.
Contact Bob Dow for more information: 467-5679
