Programs > Mentoring
Get in on a Good Thing!
The youth of our Austin community are faced with a prevalence of violence, drugs, criminal activity, gangs, and a lack of positive peer and adult role models. According to the 2000 US Census, 11% of the community population 25 and older had less than a 9th-grade education. Almost 40% of all adults in our area have not completed high school, double the national average for educational failure. Only 7% of the population 25 and older has earned a bachelor’s degree or higher (vs. 24.4% nationally).
Single parent households make up 69% of households with children in our community, indicating a significant need for positive adult role models to be involved the lives of neighborhood children. These statistics become even more sobering when paired with the research indicating that nationally only 21% of students whose parents have a high school diploma or less will attend college for four years. As a result the youth of our community have a shortage of role models who have succeeded educationally or professionally.
Circle’s Mentoring Program provides an opportunity for concerned adults to make a difference by sharing their lives with young people from our community.
Our Mentoring staff provides screening, training, and ongoing support to ensure the success of each mentoring match. Mentors and their mentees (4th-8th graders) are matched for a minimum of 12 months, and they meet for an hour per week here at Circle and off-site for four hours during school breaks.
Through time spent helping with homework, playing a sport or game, or even cooking together, mentoring matches build a friendship which is aimed at ensuring the mentee’s success.
But, don't just take our word for it that Circle Urban's Mentoring Program is having a positive impact. Please click on the link below to read our 2010 Mentee Survey Highlights. |
