The Founding of Mentors Matter

 

 

Mentors Matter began in May 2005 out of the desire to continue implementing an intergenerational mentoring program, with a faith based outreach, to at-risk youth in the Chester County (Octorara) area. Mentors Matter is founded on the research based mentoring model developed by Dr. Andrea Taylor, Temple University /The Center for Intergenerational Learning which has four components to the model which adds to its outcomes/success.  Mentors Matter recognizes 1) the benefits of mentoring with adults who are 50 and older, 2). teaching teens that giving back to the community is rewarding through a Community Outreach component, 3). includes families with mentor/mentee outings and 4). utilizes a Teen Time to help youth to empower themselves with positive decision making tools. Mentors Matter also hosts a monthly Mentor Coffee for mentors to be able to network with one another and for ongoing training, which is held the second Monday of each month at Freedom Life Christian Center, 447 Noble Road, Christiana, PA  17509.

 

Mentors Matter has also added an additional program called, The Bridge.  The Bridge will allow mentors who are younger than the 50 year old age requirement for Mentors Matter to be paired with youth of any age, who are outside of the research based model on which Mentors Matter was founded. The same tenets of Mentors Matter apply with the Bridge.

 

The Director and Founder of Mentors Matter, Laura Wilson had previously been the Program Director for the Octorara Across Ages program.  Laura Wilson began the complete implementation process of the Octorara Across Ages program in December of 2002, and brought the program great success through advertising efforts, speaking engagements, radio and television venues and through collaboration efforts of the school district, youth centers and churches. For the next two and a half years Wilson recruited mentors, gave presentations of the program through the Weed and Seed conference in Hershey, PA to the West Chester AARP, promoted the importance of mentoring through radio interviews, a Comcast commercial and also to numerous local (Octorara) civic and church groups. The majority of the Mentors Matter participates were affiliates of local churches and area youth groups.

 

Recognizing the desire of many of the program participants to have a more faith-based outreach to compliment the mentoring process, Wilson then began Mentors Matter in May 2005 giving the option for mentors/mentees to be a part of this new opportunity. From the beginning of implementing an intergenerational mentoring initiative in the area to now, many excellent activities have occurred to add to the inclusion of families of the students in the mentoring process, outings, and other learning opportunities through mentoring. Some of those activities are:

· “Luau in the Park”- a time for families, kids and mentors to interact

· “Trip to Lincoln University and lunch at Peppercorns Restaurant”- kids attended a presentation by the Upward Bound program, toured the Lincoln Campus and ate lunch in Oxford, PA at Peppercorns Restaurant.

· “Back to School” ~ where teens in the program learned how to do research at the Parkesburg Library and also learned through a Scavenger Hunt activity to find books in a certain category (followed by a pizza lunch in the park and flag football).

· “Teen Time”- learning healthy teen dating habits presented by the Chester County Domestic Abuse Center (which included lunch and recreation time).

· Clean up at the Parkesburg VFW~ Community Outreach with many of the Mentors Matter teens to help with the VFW’s upcoming summer celebration.

· Mentors Matter Picnic- end of the summer fun with volleyball and a campfire for mentors, teens & families

· “Open House for Mentors and Karaoke Night”~ a time where prospective mentors could come and meet with other mentors to learn more about the program followed by a Karaoke Night for the mentors, kids and their families held at the Octorara Community Recreation Commission (OCRC).