Why Mentoring?
1 in 3 young people will grow up without an adult mentor of any kind
Friends for Youth safely and expertly matches adult volunteers with youth who need support through our two mentoring programs: 1-to-1 Mentoring and School-Based, Group Mentoring. Mentors are matched with local youth who are facing significant challenges in their young lives. By simply doing fun and interesting activities together, mentors can help mentees improve academics, improve their behavioral and emotional health, and positively change the course of a youth's life.
In 1998, we created the Mentoring Institute which has trained and assisted thousands of youth-serving organizations nationwide in mentoring Best Practices, indirectly impacting over 2 million youth.
90%
have been impacted by abuse
100%
are living in poverty
20%
have an incarcerated parent
81%
don't have a trusted adult to talk to
1-to-1 MENTORING
Community-based 1-to-1 mentoring for youth between ages 8-17
School-based, Group mentoring
School-based group mentoring for youth transitioning from middle school to high school
Mentoring Institute
Resources for youth-serving organizations based on our gold-standard mentoring model
Our Impact
18
years of statistical outcome evaluation data proves our model works
3M
youth impacted by Mentoring Institute trainings
2,500+
Mentor & Mentee Friendships since inception
"She's always encouraging me, and she has influenced me to go to college.”
-Mentee Ingrid
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