What's Happening?
#GivingTuesday Proceeds to Launch MentorLink in 2018
As part of a worldwide fundraising movement, The Schenectady Foundation joined #GivingTuesday this past holiday season, and we could not be more excited over the results! We want to extend a special “thank you” to those who contributed to this campaign. Contributions went to the Call to Action (CTA) for Schenectady’s Youth Fund, and totaled more than $20,000. With the Foundation’s commitment to a double-match, the fund has reached over $60,000, and these funds will be allocated to an emerging mentoring “hub” in the Schenectady County.
Call to Action is a multi-year commitment by the Foundation to invest $2.5 million in youth programs focused on mentoring, youth employment, and civic engagement.
Thanks to the effort put forth by the community, the Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to support the development and operation of a new program known as MentorLink. Our goal: to ensure that every Schenectady youth has a supportive adult mentor or ally in their life. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region will act as the Program Leader, and will manage all aspects of designing and delivering MentorLink services. To-date nine community-based partners are participating: Boys Day Out, Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady, Community Fathers, Save Our Streets, SEAT Center, Smart Scholars and Working Group on Girls.
The provision of mentoring to youths by caring adults has long been established as a significant contributor to youth achievement. Children in high-quality mentoring relationships are less likely to use drugs and alcohol and more likely to go on to college than are their counterparts who lack mentors. Fully 33% of children, however, reach age 19 without experiencing positive mentoring relationships.
MentorLink follows a shared services model, which will increase the quantity and quality of caring adult mentors available to work with Schenectady children and youth aged 6-24. The MentorLink “hub” removes administrative burdens of the community partners, while recruiting, training and supporting the involvement of adult mentors from a broader-base of volunteers. This enables MentorLink partners to focus more of their efforts at serving youth, and less on administration and recruitment. As such, the program’s Year 1 goals are to recruit, screen, train and monitor the impact of 100 additional adult mentors and allies.
Due to the variety of partner organizations and their programs, volunteers may be utilized in an assortment of ways. For volunteers, though, there are two main levels at which to get involved:
- Mentors: Volunteers who make a consistent long-term commitment to work with one or more youths. A mentor is defined as an adult who commits to the establishment of a one-to-one relationship with a single child, or with a maximum of 5 children in a group mentoring relationship, for the duration of at least one school year. Relationships can be site-based or community-based.
- Allies: Volunteers who make a one-time or periodic commitment to work with youths one-to-one or in groups. There is no specific service duration or frequency requirement.
We anticipate that MentorLink will publicly launch by late spring. We’ll keep you informed of our progress and hope that you will help us to promote mentoring as “something we all do in Schenectady”.
Again, we would like to thank those who contributed to the CTA fund on #GivingTuesday. Because of you, we are one step closer to bringing the “mentoring effect” to each and every youth in our community.
