In honor of National Mentoring Month, Midlands Mentoring Partnershipis holding a community-wide recruitment campaign in collaboration with 12 member mentoring organizations.
Deborah Neary, Executive Director, says mentoring is something that’s easy to fit into your life. She says it only takes four hours a month or 1-hour a week to be a mentor.
Neary says she her mentees have taught her about music, restaurants and other activities she says she may never have experienced on her own.
"Youth who are mentored are more likely to have better attendance and grades at school. They are also much less likely to be involved in trouble. It’s so amazing to hear all the stories of mentors and how their lives have been fulfilled or changed or touched just by connecting with a young person.”
Neary says anyone over the age of 18 can be a mentor. She says you don’t need any special skills or knowledge to be a mentor. You just have to know how to be a good friend and a good listener.