MENTORING MONDAY: Participating organizations and how to help

PHONE BANK: 202-895-3307

Mentoring Monday is your chance to make a difference in a child's life and become a mentor. Here's information on how you can apply to be a mentor, or find one. Today, you can make a difference in a child's life.

SIGN UP TO BE A MENTOR: If you'd like to volunteer to be a mentor for local youth, click here to complete your form. Someone will contact you with more information.

MENTORING MONDAY - PARTICIPATING PROGRAMS
Here's a list of the programs participating in Mentoring Monday, and information on how to contact them.

Concerned Black Men National - (Sponsoring Mentoring Organization) CBM CARES® Washington DC is part of a comprehensive outreach project designed to improve academic and life outcomes for youths enrolled in select middle schools in the District of Columbia. Activities include: Group life skill sessions and enrichment activities to expose youths to career choices, life goals and examples of good citizenship; and Mentorship that provides youths with men who can share life experiences and otherwise offer themselves as good role models. The CBM CARES® Washington DC seeks to serve a minimum of 100 boys by way of group and one-to-one mentoring for 8 hours per month for a minimum of 12 consecutive months. Contact: Darnell Swinton at 202-783-6119 or 1-888-395-7816. Website: www.cbmnational.org

Asian American LEAD (AALEAD) supports low-income and underserved Asian Pacific American youth with educational empowerment, identity development, and leadership opportunities through after school, summer, and mentoring programs. We are the only youth organization that serves low-income and underserved Asian Pacific American youth in the District of Columbia; Montgomery County, MD; and Fairfax County, VA. Our Mentoring Program matches youth between the ages of 10-18 with caring and committed adults from the community. Mentors meet one-on-one with their mentees, engaging in activities in their local community. Mentors must be 21 or older and must be committed to meeting with their student for a minimum of 6 hours a month for a year. To volunteer with us, please visit www.aalead.org or contact Stephanie Lim at slim@aalead.org or (202) 884-0322 ext. 104.

BEST Kids Mentoring Program - BEST Kids is a nonprofit mentoring organization that empowers youth in foster care to build better futures, one child at a time. Every aspect of our programming is designed to reach positive outcomes for the children and youth we serve including academic achievement, social and emotional well-being, the avoidance of risky behaviors, and the development of independent living skills. Our community-based mentoring model allows for the mentees and mentors to explore the community and try new activities together, in order to broaden the child's world-view and exposure to new opportunities for growth. Mentors must be 21 or older and able to commit a minimum of one year in the program to mentor children aged 6-18 in DC's foster care system. For more information, please visit our website (www.bestkids.org) or contact our Mentor Recruiter, Daniel Silbert, at daniel@bestkids.org or 202-397-3272. We'd love to hear from you!

Capital Partners for Education (CPE) makes a college degree possible for low-income youth in the Washington, DC area. Since 1993, we have connected motivated students from low-income families with the opportunities, resources, and guidance they need to graduate from high school and college and pursue professional careers. CPE provides students with a unique combination of one-on-one mentoring, individualized staff support, college and career readiness programming, and scholarships. By complementing the rigorous education in our students' high schools and colleges with additional wrap-around services, CPE levels the playing field between our students and their upper-income peers, thereby breaking the multigenerational cycle of poverty one family at a time. Contact: Chris Lockwood, Recruitment and Selection Associate, mentor@cpfe.org or call 202-682-6020 ext. 221. Website: http://www.cpfe.org

CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocate trains and supports adult volunteers that advocate for children in the foster care system. CASA volunteers fight for the rights and needs of the children they are appointed to until they are in safe, loving, permanent homes. After screening and 37 hours of pre-service training, volunteers are assigned to one child and commit to advocating for one year. Volunteers spend 10-15 hours per month meeting with their child and advocating on his or her behalf. Established in 1977. Office located in Riverdale, MD. Contact: Ann Marie Binsner 301-209-0491, pgerber@pgcasa.org , or visit: www.pgcasa.org

CBM CARES® Princes George's County, MD - The CBM CARES® Mentoring Program is a national mentoring initiative of Concerned Black Men National (CBM). The program is a uniquely designed mentoring initiative that combines a school-based, group mentoring process with a one-to-one mentoring experience to t improve academic and life outcomes for boys enrolled in targeted middle schools in Prince George's County, Maryland. The CBM CARES® Prince George's County, MD seeks to serve a minimum of 100 boys by way of group and one-to-one mentoring for 8 hours per month for a minimum of 12 consecutive months. Contact: Antonio Scott at 202-783-6119 or www.cbmnational.org.

Concerned Black Men Washington DC Chapter - "Just Say Yes" Group Mentoring Program (JSY) addresses the urgent need to support African American families and youth in the Washington DC metropolitan area by mentoring boys ages 9-15. JSY mirrors the K-12 school year and meets twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays. JSY provides mentees a safe environment for self-development through positive reinforcement and mentoring support. At JSY, volunteer mentors engage boys to be personally accountable and develop life skills through structured workshops, field trips and cultural activities. JSY activities promote academic excellence, self-esteem and self-governance, critical thinking, cultural awareness, volunteerism, and healthy living. All JSY mentors are males, ages 21 and older, who have completed a CBM-DC application and passed a comprehensive Federal background investigation. Volunteer & membership interest contact: Charles Brinkley (202) 255-5335 or membership@cbmdc.org.

Higher Achievement - Provides middle school children from underserved areas year-round academic enrichment programs and preparation for top high school placement. Mentors teach a small group (3-4) of 6th, 7th and 8th graders in a core academic subject--Math, Literature, or an Elective Seminar (all curriculum and training provided), one night per week Mon, Tue, or Thurs, mid-September until early May. Services DC and Alexandria, VA. Contact: Stephanie Holzinger at sholzinger@higherachievement.org or 202-544-3633.

Mentors, Inc. - Aims to increase the graduation rates and success of young adults enrolled in the D.C. public high schools by pairing them with caring, adult volunteers in structured and enriched mentoring relationships that promote their personal, academic, and career development. Ages 14-18, grades 9-12. Established in 1987. Offices located in Washington, D.C. Contact: Furqan Khaldun at fkhaldun@mentorsinc.org or 202-495-3762. Website: www.mentorsinc.org.

Space of Her Own is a creative mentoring program serving fifth-grade girls in Alexandria and Arlington. Each week mentors and mentees meet to enjoy dinner together and create works of art. Girls design dream boards, build and decorate lamps, create wall hangings, and more throughout the year. As a culminating activity, mentors help to renovate each girl's bedroom using all of the creations that they have made during the year. Life skills lessons in nutrition, avoiding peer pressure, healthy relationships, and conflict resolution are provided by the Alexandria Court Service Unit. For more information, please contact Haley Bader at recruitment@spaceofherown.org, call (703)-746-4687 or visit our website: www.spaceofherown.org.

Space of His Own is based off the successful model of its sister program. Each week fifth-grade boys and their mentors meet at Jefferson Houston Elementary School to enjoy dinner and a carpentry lesson. They design their own toolboxes, chests, bookshelves, and more. At the end of the year, mentors also participate in helping to renovate each boy's bedroom using all of the projects they build together. Life skills lessons are provided by the Alexandria Court Service Unit. For more information, please contact Haley Bader at recruitment@spaceofhisown.org or call (703)-746-4687.

U.S. Dream Academy - Provides comprehensive, site based, after school academic, social and values enrichment through supportive one-to-one and group mentoring to children of incarcerated parents or children at risk of incarceration because of their life circumstances. U.S. Dream Academy helps to encourage and shape the lives of students with positive dreams and equipping them with the tools to make those dreams a reality. Contact: Kyle Bacon at 202-645-3470 or www.usdreamacademy.org.

YMCA Youth & Family Services -YMCA Youth & Family services is the Y's social services branch that offers counseling, outreach, education, mentoring and more for some of the region's neediest kids and families. The mentoring program is a multi-agency initiative that matches court-involved youth ages 6-18 with adult mentors in Montgomery County, MD. The goal for the Y's mentors is to establish a caring, trusted, and committed relationship by providing support, friendship, counsel, reinforcement, and serving as positive role models to the young people. Mentors help youth cope with their life circumstances and develop the life-skills needed to make positive choices. Contact: Laura Brown at Laura.brown@ymcadc.org, call 240-432-6530 or visit www.ymcadc.org.

TO FIND A MENTOR: Visit www.mentoring.org and type in your zip code in the "Connect to Mentoring opportunities" box.

MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership - For more than 20 years, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) has been the lead champion for youth mentoring in the United States. MENTOR helps children by providing a public voice, developing and delivering resources to mentoring programs nationwide and promoting quality for mentoring through standards, cutting-edge research and state of the art tools.