It is important for youth to have a strong connection to the community they live in and, even more importantly, to a healthy adult they can confide in, have fun with and learn life skills from. Mentors commit to spend time regularly with the child they are matched with, at least every other week over a year period. Activities range from exposing youth to new, fun activities or simply relaxing and becoming better acquainted. The Mentor Program matches children ages 6 to 18 throughout San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara County and takes care to match mentors with children who best fit their individual personalities, abilities and interests.

Benefits and Rewards:
Research shows that children who receive Mentors are less likely to: use drugs and alcohol, skip school, and be violent toward others. They gain more confidence in themselves, show improvement in school, and get along better with family members. Mentors have a profound influence on the child, but the child also has a powerful impact upon the Mentor. Although many of the benefits of mentoring can not be put into words, some include:

• experiencing the satisfaction of giving to children in need
• becoming more aware of the needs in the community
• exploring Social Services as a potential career
• gaining work experience
• attending trainings that assist in the field of Social Services and in Mentors' personal lives (at no monetary cost)
• sharing your perspective and hobbies and learning new insight and interests

Often Mentors report that they have learned just as much, if not more, than the child has. The benefits of mentoring, we believe, can be eternal.

Training/Support:
Once accepted, the Family Care Network provides a 4 hour training which orients mentors to the mentoring relationship and the needs of our children. Mentors have constant access to staff - to process, ask questions, or just discuss how the relationship is going. In addition, mentors have consistent access to additional training and support including Mentor Round Table Support Meetings. The agency considers our Mentors and Volunteers a necessary part in the lives of the children we serve, an essential part of our team, aiming toward the same goal: “to enhance the well being of children, teens, and families in partnership with our community.”

Application Process:
The safety and comfort of the children matched is our priority, thus we have a thorough Mentor screening process which includes:

• Interview
• References
• Criminal Background Check
• Drug Screen
• Tuberculosis Test
• DMV Printout (Driving Record)

Program staff guides volunteers through the application process, provides the materials necessary, and are available to answer any questions.

Additional Opportunities:

• Mentoring Adults: A Mentor can be valuable in every stage of life. This is why we extend our services to match Mentors to young adults in our care who are learning to live independently or to parents wanting support from another adult that they can grow and share with.

• Short Term Mentoring: Mentors can be matched on a short-term basis to serve specific needs or wishes of youth such as a particular hobby or skill.  Such items may include improvement in a specific sport, learning to garden, enhancing job skills or learning a musical instrument. We try our best to match the needs of children to the strengths of volunteers so if you have a desire to share a specific interest or talent we would be happy to connect you with a child/youth that can benefit from it!

Contact

To make a difference in the life of a child or family by volunteering please contact Julie Wilson, Volunteer Coordinator, at (805) 781-3535 or Jwilson@fcni.org.