The Midlands Mentoring Partnership says as many as 25,000 to 30,000 Omaha-area youth need mentors.
January is National Mentoring Month. MMP works with 13 programs in the Omaha area and wants to recruit 600 new mentors this month.
Whitney Mastin, Director of Operations for MMP, says there’s a misconception that a person needs to be college-educated or have children of their own to be a mentor, when really what’s needed is to be a friend and role model.
"They’re a friend, first and foremost, and a role model, someone that youth can look up to and can seek out for guidance and can share new experiences with that they may not otherwise have had the opportunity to be exposed to."
Mastin says for most programs, mentors need to be over 18, able to mentor for two to four hours a month, and make a year-long commitment. She says mentoring has been shown to improve academic and social outcomes.
More information is available at mentoromahanow.org.