The Weekly Mentor Program is making a comeback in a strong way! Over the past fiscal year, children and their mentors created everything art-related. From DIY board games and their ideal villages to colorful masks and detailed collages, our mentors developed an engaging environment. In our post program report, one of our volunteer mentors says the following, “It [Weekly Mentor Program] was a great opportunity to see the same kids over time and build a relationship.”
From March through June 2022 our volunteer mentors served 81 children.
Free Arts at Parsons Place is grateful for the dedication of our mentors as they continue to build safety, facilitate self-expression, skill-building, and encourage children to reach self-efficacy.
In quarter 3, volunteer mentors have dedicated 206 hours. During that time, we ensure that our program focuses on the following:
- Connecting children with caring adults
- Allowing children to learn and practice artistic and life skills
- Bring together children with their peers and community
- Creating a safe and positive environment for self-expression
In the last 10 months, we served over 200 children at 9 partner agencies, using resilience-building intentional art projects and 20 caring adult mentors.
The Weekly Mentor Program is unique in the amount of responsibility volunteer mentors are signing up for. Over the course of 8 to 16 weeks, mentors plan projects, gather supplies, and travel to their assigned partner agency sites for weekly art-making sessions. This task can seem daunting, but luckily, our volunteer team could restart the training and orientation process this year. By pairing our experienced, long-time volunteer mentors with some fresh faces in the mix, there’s no telling what our mentors can accomplish. This fall, we are hoping to serve even more children as we continue to ramp new and old programs.
If interested in participating in this program, register for our next volunteer mentor orientation!
