Lund Family Center Mentor Program
Do you remember the mentors you had while growing up? Do you have a mentor now? Many natural mentors are teachers, a coach or a family friend. Consider paying forward the gifts your mentor gave to you, by becoming a mentor to a Lund Family Center client!
Mentoring has profound impacts on both partners in the relationship, for example:
- Previously incarcerated women are over 20% less likely to recidivate if they have a mentor.
- Having a mentor decreases the chances of unplanned second and third pregnancies in teen mothers.
Big Brothers Big Sisters found that after 18 months of
spending time with their Bigs, Littles (ages 10-16) were:
46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
27% less likely to begin using alcohol
52% less likely to skip school
37% less likely to skip a class
More confident of their performance in school work
1/3 less likely to hit someone
Getting along better with their families
The Lund Family Center Mentoring Program will be matching young women who are pregnant or parenting with substance abuse and/or mental health histories with mentors to provide a healthy and supportive relationship in the mentee’s life. This relationship will empower them to grow emotionally and socially. The primary focus of the program is to create one-on-one matches that will meet in the community. The time spent with a mentee could look like anything the two of you enjoy doing together— walking, cooking, having coffee, learning new skills, or any other activity. These are young women who may not have many social supports that can support their new lifestyle. Becoming a mentor to these young women will help them as they complete their treatment and transition into the community.
Our vision for the program is to create successful mentoring relationships, where mentees are always listened to and guided toward healthy lifestyle choices, but still supported when they make mistakes. Mentors will have the opportunity to learn as much as their mentees, and develop a greater understanding of poverty, substance abuse, and other social problems. At the same time, mentors will learn that the young women they work with are not much different than themselves.
All mentors must be 21 years or older, complete an application, background check, screening process, and 6 hours of specialized training. To learn more about what you would do in the Lund Family Center's mentoring program read through the volunteer mentor position description.
fill out a Mentoring Program Application.