Key to the success of HowardCenter’s Community Friends Mentoring (CFM) program are its approximately 130 volunteer mentors. Now in its 27th year, Community Friends supports children in Chittenden County, ages 6-12, who could use extra one-to-one attention due to stresses in their lives.

Children are referred to CFM by HowardCenter staff, parents, school personnel, and other helping professionals. Mentoring pairs are matched and meet regularly to spend time together in the community, sharing activities they both enjoy. The activities are as varied as the personalities of the mentor pairs. The mentoring relationship can provide a positive influence on a child’s life as they move into their teenage years. The average mentoring relationship for CFM lasts for nearly three years, and several matches are in their seventh, eighth, and ninth years.

Kristen Hayden-West, the CFM Coordinator, says that finding that perfect match may take up to six weeks. The careful attention given to matching volunteers and youngsters was one aspect of the program that attracted Joanne Muehlberger and her husband, Howard, to CFM. Together, the couple has been mentoring a young boy for the past three years. They enjoy many of the same activities as their young charge: rollerblading, bike riding, and kayaking. “During our training,” says Joanne, “they told us that an important part of our role was to have fun with our mentee and make him feel special. The truth is, he makes us feel special.”

When they interview prospective mentors, Hayden-West and her staff look for individuals with ties to the community who are reliable, fun, and are able to ask for help from staff when necessary. Mentors receive pre-service and in-service training. In addition, the Community Friends staff is always there to
lend a hand and provide feedback.

Recently, notes Hayden-West, there has been an increased demand for mentors in kinship-care situations—children who are in the custody of a non-parent relative such as a grandparent. In fact, CFM is the only mentoring program in Vermont that focuses on this population, putting HowardCenter at the forefront of mentoring programs in the United States.

CFM relies on community support. If you are interested in becoming a mentor or making a donation, contact Kristen at 802.488.6650 or e-mail her at KristenHW@howardcenter.org.

Source URL: http://www.howardcenter.org/news-and-events/newsletter.php

CenterScope
A publication of HowardCenter
208 Flynn Avenue, Suite 3J
Burlington, VT 05401
Telephone 802.488.6900
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www.howardcenter.org
CenterScope is published
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Tags: Community Friends, HowardCenter, Mentoring, Volunteering