One Young Man's Story

While most of our young, male mentees are matched with male mentors, "Mike" lives with a single father, so he was matched with a female volunteer, "Deborah".  The two have been meeting for several years.

One of the main goals of mentoring is to make sure students know they matter.  Mentoring gives them another adult to trust and turn to when they need advice.  Sometimes, however, mentoring can have a more immediate, tangible outcome.

Mike and his mentor meet over the lunch hour.  Deborah noticed Mike had stopped eating lunch.  The two would sit in the cafeteria, but Mike never had a lunch, either from the school or from home.  It took a few weeks, but Mike finally shared that he owed too much money to the school, and they wouldn't give him anymore meals until he paid his bill. 

Deborah contacted her mentoring facilitator who was able to speak to the guidance counselor about Mike's situation.  His family did qualify for the free and reduced lunch program, but they had never turned in the required paperwork. 

With Deborah's urging and help, Mike's father filled out the paperwork, and Mike was accepted into the program.  Not only does he now get to eat lunch, he also can eat breakfast at school!  Additionally, Mike lives too close to the school to ride the bus, so he was frequently tardy as he walked to school.  Now that he qualifies for free and reduced lunches, he also can ride the school bus for free.  He's no longer consistently tardy, because he has a ride and an incentive to there on time to eat breakfast. 

Having another adult watching out for a student can make all the difference!

GRIP Mentoring focuses on changing our mentees' lives, but that's not the only benefit of mentoring.  We know we change mentors' lives as they are introduced to the individual and social problems students face.  In addition, there are cultural and environmental benefits to mentoring. 

Colin Beavan, better known as No Impact Man, writes about the power of mentoring to address environmental concerns in the article below.
 Here's a small excerpt:

"I think that maybe, just maybe, mentoring may actually be one element in saving our planet from complete degradation and humans from complete unhappiness.
Hyper-consumerism is clearly driven by many institutional and cultural forces. But amongst them, according to consumer theorists, is the principle of sublimation.... When we can’t get an emotional need met directly, we try to gain satisfaction in round about ways. Hence, some of us eat when we are sad, drink when we are frustrated or—yes—go shopping when we are lonely.

My questions is, what if those of us who went out shopping on a Saturday morning because we felt lonely instead addressed our need for connection directly? What if we helped to raise other people’s kids? Isn’t it just possible we might all find we had more meaningful, safer, satisfying lives while buying a little less junk?
But even if I’m wrong, isn’t it possible that by helping each other get through this thing called life—that we would all just be a little happier?"

http://chronicle.umbmentoring.org/no-impact-man-speaks-the-environmental-case-for-for-youth-mentoring/

So...come change a child's life and save the planet at the same time!  Get more information at Youth and Shelter Service's website http://www.yss.ames.ia.us/en/programs/grip_mentoring/for_potential_mentors/
or "like" us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/yssgripmentoring/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Sometimes the effects mentoring has on the students is only seen long after the mentoring match has ended.  However, there are times when we get to see the immediate impact that mentoring has on students. 

 

Here are a few stories from our GRIP facilitators:

·         A 7^th grade mentee is in the same grade as my daughter and she told my daughter to tell me “Thanks for getting me my mentor back again this year.”  My daughter said she looked so happy!

·         There is a 7^th grade male mentee who had always been matched with a female mentor before.  This year, he was matched with a male mentor.  At their first meeting, he had the biggest smile on his face.  Usually, he shows little to no emotion, so this was very nice to see!

·        A mentee told me that she had something to give her mentor the next time they met.  Turns out she decided to give one of her art projects (a clay heart shaped door knob hanger) to her mentor.  This was only after two meetings with her mentor- they had already made a great connection!!!

·        I needed to re-match one of my mentees because his former mentor was unable to mentor this year.  I was recruiting new high school mentors and one of the guys had worked at the pool this summer and knew this mentee from the pool.   When the mentor was trained and ready to go I set up their first meeting.  I asked the teacher to tell the mentee, but she had forgotten.  When I got the mentee from his room and brought him out in the hall to tell him that his new mentor was here and he saw who it was….the look on his face was complete joy!  He was almost speechless and could only giggle!  It was so cute.   What a great match! 

 

From the Mentee's Family...

We love hearing from the families of our mentees!  While the names have been changed to protect people's privacy, the impact mentoring has had on these families is quite real.

We recently received a letter from the foster parent of a little girl in the GRIP program.  The foster parent writes,
"Ana and I played "volleyball" together on Thursday and she talked about how you visited her and how much she likes you.

Thank you for all you do. Ana needs to know she is special and important.

You make her feel that way.

Thanks again,

Thomas

 

 

Parents and guardians have to re-sign permission forms for mentees every year.  In addition to signing the form, one parent from Ames sent this note:

“Trevor and Alec have gained so much from the GRIP program and would love to continue having mentors! As a single mother, I appreciate the time and energy these young men are willing to pour into my sons each week, in addition to their already busy lives and other commitments. My appreciation runs very deep and the relationships my sons have gained from the GRIP program are shaping them and their future!“

-Joan

 

A parent from Boone included this note:

My son really enjoys being wit his mentor.  I am so glad he can be part of the program!

- Olivia

 

Mentoring not only impacts the child, but the entire family!