by Mike Gallagher for the CMF NewsWire
Posted 1/25/10

The number of mentoring organizations and projects have exploded throughout Michigan in the past year due to the tremendous need caused by the faltering economy and people’s willingness to step up to help others, according to Paula Kaiser VanDam, executive director of the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC).

But much more still needs to be done, she adds.

With January being both National and Michigan Mentoring Month, events celebrating and promoting this effort are being held throughout the state and are being sponsored by foundations and other nonprofits, schools, businesses and local and state governments.

Created by the Harvard School of Public Health and MENTOR, National Mentoring Month marks its ninth year in 2010.

Local partners across the country – including those in Michigan - work to leverage the national campaign and recruit and raise awareness for mentoring in their communities. The goals of National Mentoring Month are to:

• raise awareness of mentoring in its various forms
• recruit individuals to mentor, especially for those programs with kids on wait lists for mentors
• promote the rapid growth of mentoring by recruiting organizations to engage in the effort

“By focusing national attention on the need for mentors, as well as how each of us - individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofits - can work together to increase the number of mentors, we assure brighter futures for our young people,” says President Barack Obama.

The MCSC, through its Mentor Michigan program, supports more than 200 mentoring organizations around the state that match caring adults with young people in need of role models.

Other Michigan mentoring groups help team up retired experts from various businesses with unemployed workers to provide guidance and career advice; child care experts with young, unwed mothers or those who need child-rearing instruction and help; and substance abuse experts with addicts or former addicts looking to straighten out their lives.

To help fund this month’s events, Mentor Michigan – teaming with Meijer Stores in a fundraising effort - awarded $15,000 in mini-grants to 35 mentoring organizations last fall and allowed them to choose their own activities and celebrations. Grants ranged from $150 to $1,000.

The events now being held across Michigan to help educate people about mentoring and to promote donations and volunteer sign-ups – from Detroit to Grand Rapids and from Battle Creek to Menominee – include movie marathons, motivational speakers, radio shows, get-together breakfasts, lunches and dinners, silent auctions, rock walls, basketball games, gift card sales, indoor swimming parties and more.

VanDam says an important part of the activities is educating the public that even more needs to be done, both in volunteerism and donations.

“Like all nonprofits, mentoring organizations are experiencing an increased demand for services and decreased funding and resources,” says VanDam.”To be successful in their communities, they need the support of government, businesses, foundations and individuals. They need people to bring awareness to the importance of mentoring, to provide operational funds and to even host fun activities for mentors and mentees to participate in.”

Mentor Michigan is the brainchild of Governor Jennifer Granholm and her husband, First Gentleman Dan Mulhern, who chairs the organization. It is guided by mentoring professionals who serve on the Mentor Michigan Providers Council.

Its current program goal is to match 10,000 youth across Michigan with mentors.

Kicking off this year’s Michigan Mentoring Month, Granholm says, “"The future of Michigan's children is the responsibility of all citizens. By strengthening young people through mentoring, we are building a stronger future for them, our communities and our great state.”

Michigan Foundations Support Mentoring

Michigan foundations have been long-time supporters of mentoring programs around the state.

For instance, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan is a sponsor of “Winning Futures,” an organization founded in 1994 to promote mentoring of young people.

In 2003, “Winning Futures” founded the Metro Detroit Mentor Collaboration that today aids Southeast Michigan mentoring programs with new initiatives.

Another example is The Art of Leadership Foundation which provides funding for helping Detroit area middle- and high-school-aged teens team up with mentors to help them transition from high school to college.

Additionally, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Legacy Scholar Program provides mentoring services to children in the Battle Creek area; the Manistee County Community Foundation gives grants to Love Inc. so it may offer mentoring and life skill classes to adults and children; and the Capital Region Community Foundation has changed lives through its grants to support Junior Achievement mentoring.

Other Michigan foundations singled out for praise by Mentor Michigan officials are the Mawby Family Fund, Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, and the MASCO Corporation Foundation for their mentoring support efforts.

Praising the “leadership, compassion and determination” of foundations to improve mentoring opportunities throughout the state is Peter Tripp, executive director of Big Brothers, Big Sisters, A Community of Caring, which serves children in Allegan, Barry, Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

“Without foundations’ support, we would not be able to offer the level and quality of programs we now provide to promote mentoring of our young people,” says Tripp. “What they do is just incredible.”

Michigan Nonprofit Association President & CEO Kyle Caldwell says foundations “are the lifeblood” of many nonprofits which have stepped up their mentoring efforts, especially during the economic crisis that is impacting families and children across the state.

“Mentors volunteering through a committed and impactful nonprofit organization can be a powerful tool for community strengthening,” notes Caldwell. “But to be sustained, mentoring has to be cultivated and nurtured for each generation to share for the benefit of the next.”

The need for more mentors in Michigan is found in state surveys and reports, including a Mentor Michigan 2008 survey which found 22,916 children that year served by mentors, including many who reside in foster homes, were diagnosed with a cognitive disability, had physical disabilities or had incarcerated parents.

“And that number is only a portion of the total number of children and young adults who now need – and are seeking – mentors in 2010,” notes Mulhern.

Juan Olivarez, Kalamazoo Community Foundation’s president & CEO, says providing grants to help support the Kalamazoo area – and Michigan – mentoring efforts “is a priority for us. The need is great…and we know that mentoring works.”

For example, the MCSC reports that – based on ongoing studies and surveys - children with mentors are 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs; 27 percent are less likely to begin using alcohol; 52 percent are less likely to skip school; and children with mentors are more confident in their schoolwork performance and better engaged with their families.

“Simply put, mentoring programs work…and foundations often are the cornerstones of support for these important efforts,” says Diana R. Sieger, president of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation.

Robert S. Collier, president & CEO of the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF), says foundations have long recognized the need for – and success of – mentoring programs, especially those dedicated to pairing children in need with caring, dedicated adults.

“CMF and its members are celebrating Michigan Mentoring Month with a call to action for all those individuals who want to make a difference in the life of a child or struggling adult,” says Collier. “A simple decision to get involved can make all the difference.”

To learn more about mentoring and how you can get involved, visit: mentormichigan.com or call 2-1-1 (the state’s information line.)