May is National Foster Care Month: Help make positive change for youth in care

This guest blog was written by Melissa Chu of AFC Mentoring in recognition of National Foster Care Month.

Mentee Henry, who has been matched with a mentor for 10 years, speaks at a United Way Breakfast about the power of mentoring.

As the only mentoring organization in  Massachusetts to exclusively serve youth in foster care, Adoption and Foster Care (AFC) Mentoring builds relationships and leverages resources to promote long term connections and community. AFC believes that every youth needs and deserves to know that they are valued and capable of greatness and that mentorship is a powerful tool in delivering these basic needs.

Consider for a moment that youth in foster care experience inconsistency in their:

• place of residence, caretakers, and daily routines
• school, teachers, and academic curriculum
• peers
• social workers and clinicians
• sense of safety and well-being

Having inconsistency in just one of these can be extremely hard; imagine having  inconsistency in multiple or all of those areas.

With an average match length of more than two years (compared to the national average of nine months), AFC’s mentors are often one of the few, if not the only, consistent, positive relationship(s) for their mentee.

Having a mentor:

• provides youth with a consistent friend and someone they can trust
• shows them they are valued and that their opinions and feelings DO matter
• empowers them to define and achieve success
• means they are, on average, 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 52% less likely to skip school, and 33% less likely to hit someone

Foster care has been shown to perpetuate negative cycles of abuse, poverty, homelessness, and incarceration. With the right supports, we can replace these negative cycles with positive cycles—healthy development, meaningful relationships, hope, empowerment, success.

AFC envisions a society committed to ensuring that all youth in foster care have long-term relationships with consistent positive adults and the necessary resources to successfully transition into adulthood. If you would like to be part of this positive change, please visit our website www.afcmentoring.org or join us on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/AFCMentoring.

Thank you for being part of the change!

A look back on the Boston Marathon®

Being an out-of-state-runner on MMP’s 2012 Boston Marathon  team, I was not able to meet all of the team members. I loved following along with all the posts and emails. This is an excerpt of an email I sent to our team after the race, and would love to share it as a reflection of my experience.

I could not be more proud to be a part of this team. The challenges of this race were large. We all trained for such a long time and I think only a few of us were previously marathon runners. This level of training took huge amounts of time and effort – time we could have spent with our family, friends, or in bed. Some of us suffered through injuries along the way and were able to fight past that frustration and still become a finisher of the most prestigious race in the world, something of which I am proud of the entire team.

On top of that we raised more than $85,000 for Mass Mentoring Partnership. Our efforts in raising this money will be used to better the lives of so many kids.  That alone makes it all worth it. Having benefited from strong mentors in my life, I am so honored to have that level of fundraising to support mentors for future generations.

For me, finishing was very emotional.  I grew up in Central Mass and celebrated every Patriots Day by heading to the Marathon. Often we would catch the Sox game and then run to Kenmore to see the runners. At this point in my life I have run a lot of races but always knew that I wanted Boston to be my first marathon.  When the opportunity to run Boston AND raise money for Mass Mentoring came up it was a no-brainer. My personal life is full of mentoring and I would not be where I am today if not for the mentors I had. Unfortunately I developed a stress fracture in my right foot during my training, and I was unable to run at all until two weeks before the marathon. It was about seven weeks of inactivity and that killed my training schedule. My longest run was 16 miles and that had been more than two months before the Marathon. When I learned of the crazy heat on race day, I was wicked worried about finishing.  So when I crossed the finish line and saw my wife standing in the bleachers cheering, I just started bawling.  Seriously, I was crying as I crossed the finish and could not stop for several minutes. No idea where it came from but I just could not help it. I gave my wife a huge hug, proudly got my medal, and ran off to the airport.  It was one of the BEST experiences of my life and I really don’t care that it took me five hours to finish (five hours and 12 minutes actually).  It was all worth it.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, Boston College and Boston Housing Authority: a critical partnership and its impact

This guest post is written by Terrence McCarron, senior manager of enrollment at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay (BBBSMB).

In an effort to serve more kids in Boston’s inner-city housing developments and create opportunities for more families to tap the resources of our agency, an innovative partnership was formed with Boston College and the Boston Housing Authority’s Franklin Field development in Dorchester — and the ripple effect on our kids and the community continues to grow.  I’d like to share my answers to some common questions about getting a program like this off the ground and into action.

How was the partnership formed?
It all began with thoughtful conversation with our incredible partners in the community, supported by the resources of our organization.  Families from the Franklin Field area were demanding our services. Boston College students were looking for more meaningful ways to get involved in the community. BBBSMB decided to “match” these two communities to meet the needs of both.

We worked with parents, neighborhood leaders, school staff and kids, letting them help us conceive what the program should look like. After an initial cold-call to the Boston Housing Authority staff and the coordination of several meetings with the administration at the Boston College Volunteer Service Learning Center, the program began to take shape.

In our second year, we reached out to our sister affiliate and began serving girls in the area too.  All parties had an overlapping vision of a mentoring community that was a true collaboration incorporating the voices of everyone involved.

What has made it successful?
As the program evolved, we have been able to provide high-quality mentoring for 43 children in the Franklin Field area that might otherwise be on a waiting list for some other program. This is the most basic measure of our success and we continue to recognize very positive trends. For example, all 43 participants completed their pivotal first year together. A majority will complete a multi-year commitment. Retaining our families and volunteers is something we take very seriously. The last thing we want is another relationship to start and stop for a child.

Additionally, our communal events have focused on core youth development skills – I have personally seen the participants grow in their confidence, ability and willingness to try new things, their caring for one another and their ability to make healthy connections to their “Big Brothers” and “Big Sisters”.

How was it decided to run this as a site-based program on a community-based level?
The concept of providing a site-based program on a community-based level is supported by our investment to fully vet and train our volunteers so that those involved reap the benefits of a site-based program, including facilities, resources, access to leadership, and structured activities. There is also the flexibility to stretch and grow the relationship in the ways that a community-based mentoring relationship would. For example, many matches meet outside the scheduled events that we host and communicate weekly as a way to cover gaps, work around scheduling conflicts, and deepen their commitment to one another.

What are the goals for the future?
Our foremost goal for the future is to stay committed and loyal to the amazing families, volunteers, and kids that have become a part of our circle.  Our agency very much wants these mentoring relationships to be as stabilizing and powerful as they can be. The significant effort put forth in the communities of Franklin Field and Boston College is not lost on our staff. We feel a daily responsibility to do our part to enhance and support our “Bigs,” “Littles” and their wonderful families.

What do you recommend to other programs who would be interested in creating a similar partnership?
It works best when you have a high level of personal dedication from the right people. This program has been fortunate in its first few years to have ambitious leaders — volunteers, parents, and staff from all sides of the table — who offer up weekend time throughout the year to help this program tick. More than anything, you need fully invested people with high expectations that take the commitment to building better communities personally.

Research indicates that kids who take part in programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters show educational-related success, avoidance of risky behaviors and socio-emotional competency. I have witnessed first-hand the impact of the Franklin Field Program and know that working together with volunteers, donors and municipal agencies to be part of the solution is critical to stopping the cycle of violence and poverty in our communities.  Join us in our effort to serve more kids – volunteer today!

To find out more about our BBBSMB’s programs or how to volunteer, visit bbbsmb.org or call 617-542-9090.

The continuum of mentoring across generations

This post was written by MMP’s Program Manager of the Highland Street Corps Ambassadors of Mentoring, Mallory St. Brice

Mallory St. Brice

Last week, I participated in a panel at Wheelock College, entitled, “A Change Across Generations: The Changing Nonprofit Landscape.”   The purpose of the panel was to discuss how the modern workplace now consists of three generations of workers (Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y), each with potentially different styles and approaches to leadership, and how this may transform the nonprofit landscape.

I happen to straddle the lines of both Generation X and Generation Y (I was born in 1982, the end of the assumed “X” generation, and I am the child of Baby Boomers), and was able to offer my perspectives as a young nonprofit professional who has served in the sector for almost eight years.  I operate the Highland Street Corps Ambassadors of Mentoring program at MMP, and in addition to expanding high-quality youth mentoring, a secondary goal of the program is to provide meaningful service opportunities and training to individuals in preparation for them to become future nonprofit leaders.

Something I realized from participating in the panel is that there is a major opportunity for nonprofits to capitalize on this fresh level of diversity that exists in our workforce by developing their future leaders through mentoring.  But many organizations maintain they are constrained by budgets, or are fearful of investing in talent that will leave the eventually agency (or are just too busy) and this seems to be a missed opportunity.

As we discussed the potential differences and approaches to work and leadership between the generations, I couldn’t help but think about how this all connects to mentoring.  When we were asked if there are different strengths that each generation brings to the work environment, we all spoke to the many ways knowledge sharing can occur in the workplace for the greater good of the organization. Older, more seasoned employees bring profound knowledge in their respected fields, and possibly historical knowledge of an agency which can be valuable in planning processes.  They also bring a level of depth, knowledge and perspective that one can only gain over time – some may call it wisdom.  They are usually able to think more critically and on both a macro and micro level.

Recent college grads bring new energy and perspectives, and especially during these fiscally dismal times, they can help to re-energize other staff around the mission of the organization. They tend to be able to grasp modern technology more easily and can help an organization integrate the use of such technology to operate more efficiently and effectively. I believe they are, in a way, more connected to and aware of world issues because of their connection to technology, which puts more information at their fingertips.

Gen X’ers like me, are in the middle and bridge the gap between Generation Y and the Baby Boom generation that raised us. This diversity of experiences and perspectives can be an asset to any agency because each group has something valuable to offer.

Today, nonprofits are facing record numbers of retirements of executives in the very near future, but research shows that most are not investing in leadership development and that the majority of young nonprofit professionals do not see their future in the nonprofit sector.  The economy has certainly played a role in this, as it has impacted professional development budgets and cut the time people are willing to invest in developing their young staff.

It was said during the panel discussion that employers are hesitant to invest in developing their junior staff due to fear that the young Generation Y or X’ers will put in just a couple years at an agency, be trained, and take their skills somewhere else when they become a more “valuable” employee. The younger generations are seen as less stable or dependable to employers, usually because they don’t have families and mortgages for the most part. But many young people are in fact willing to stay at an organization if they feel like their employers care about them enough to invest in their futures and development and growth within the agency. At MMP, a handful of my colleagues and I are under the age of 35 and have been with the agency for at least two or three years. There may not be opportunities to move up through the ranks at every organization, but there are ways to foster loyalty among young staff.

While employers cannot totally control how long an employee chooses to stay,  organizations can employ valuable practices to help staff develop professionally and feel more connected. For example, they can assign senior staff to mentor  new or junior staff. Or, they can create a development plan that allows junior staff to take on additional responsibilities over time or lead a special project if they perform well.

People primarily learn by “doing,” and development does not always have to happen through training. Many young professionals bounce around from job to job every two to three years because they feel there is nothing more to learn at their agency, or because they are not able to visualize a track for growth within an organization. But mentoring is a big piece of this. Young professionals are seeking mentors now more than ever, and often have to look outside of their agencies to find one through their own networks, affinity groups or associations. They thirst for the wisdom and knowledge that the soon-to-be-retired Baby Boomers may take with them.  Things like how to handle conflicts, or how to advocate for a raise or a promotion, how to develop a professional identity, or deal with difficult staff.  They need someone who can hear their challenges and relate.

The need for a mentor does not necessarily end after high school or college. In the youth mentoring field, we always talk about “return on investment” and how investing in mentoring can positively impact families and whole communities.  Well, if organizations foster practices to invest in their young staff and mentor them to be successful, it is not only an investment for that organization, but for the nonprofit sector as a whole. After all, we are in this sector to give back and create a better world, aren’t we? As professional adults, we need to offer our wisdom to the next generation at every stage of their lives: this is the continuum of mentoring.