Mentor Monday: John's Experience

My name is John and I am a member of Eastern Hills Community Church. I first learned about Friends For Youth (FFY) in December 2012 when a spokesman from the mentoring program explained a little about what FFY does for this community. I was very interested mentoring services program between Ridge View Academy, Division of Youth Corrections and FFY, that are helping youth in need through their Success Journey Program.

Our mentoring process began in February 2013 and for the first 14 weeks we would be interacting and getting to know the mentees that the seven mentors would be working with. As mentors we would arrive at the Ridge View Academy facility and would be escorted to the cafeteria to meet with the new mentees. After dinner we would assemble in a classroom and begin the Success Journey process, which included icebreakers that fed into relevant scenarios to break down barriers between the mentors and mentees. The first few weeks were very challenging to get through age and racial barriers between the adult men mentors and the youth mentees. But as the weeks rolled on, trust and bonding became the norm and we were all making progress in the relationships that were being formed.

At the end of the 14 weeks the mentors were charged with choosing three mentees that they felt that they could work with one-on-one in the future and the mentees were given the same opportunity for the mentors. I was paired up with Tim to mentor him for the remainder of the commitment times through February 2014.

Tim made significant strides from that point forward by achieving eight consecutive green weeks and RAM status, which allowed him more freedoms, allowed home passes as well as mentor off-site visits and activities. He was granted parole on October 1, 2013 and has begun his junior year in Longmont, Colorado. He is doing very well at school and participated in the fall Festival choir program at the school. He is actively looking for a job is helping his family and living up to all of the commitments of parole that is required of him. He is also keeping a very positive attitude about life and about the future.

Friends For Youth has a great support system to help the mentors and mentees understand what the process is and how it works. They supply us with plenty of activities, sporting events, occasional food boxes for the families and quarterly mentor training.

I felt a connection with Tim from the very first moment because of his positive attitude, his ability to work with others, his leadership skills, and his respect and love for his family. Tim has so much potential to succeed that it is just amazing to me how far he has come. I visit him weekly, which is a 65 mile round trip that is worth my while to spend the face to face one on one with him. It has truly been a joy and blessing to be a part of his life and I believe that the mentorship will continue on for a long time to come.