Make A Difference for a Lifetime in Your Spare Time
Dozens of local youth who will soon “age out” of the foster care system need mentors to provide compassionate guidance. Mentorship provides an opportunity for community members to make a positive difference in the lives of young people who have experienced abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
Mentors serve as positive role models and build impactful friendships with youth as they prepare to enter the next phase of their lives. Being a mentor means being a consistent source of support, wisdom, and encouragement. Foster youth have experienced instability while growing up, and having a trusted, reliable adult mentor can be truly transformative.
Studies show that kids with engaged mentors have a greater chance of enrolling in college or trade schools – and a much lower chance of using illegal drugs.
Kids Central, Inc. administers the Mentorship Program in our community and seeks volunteer mentors for youth ages 16-22. Mentors engage their young friends through weekly phone or video contact plus monthly outings to a restaurant, nature park, or other activity you both enjoy. Like all Kids Central volunteers who have one-to-one contact with children, mentors must pass a background check.
Mentorship Program volunteers receive ongoing coaching and the assistance needed to succeed, including an orientation, clear goals for the relationship, coaching, accessible resources, and more. Kids Central generally asks for a yearlong commitment to allow time to build trust, but the organization will accommodate partial-year Florida residents based on their availability.
Take the first step on your mentoring journey today by contacting Kids Central. Visit KidsCentralInc.org for more information on becoming a mentor, or contact (352) 873-6332 or [email protected] with any questions. You really can make a difference for a lifetime in your spare time as a volunteer mentor!
Kids Central, Inc. is the nonprofit lead agency that cares for abused, neglected, and abandoned children in Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, and Sumter Counties.
