Friday, September 3, 2010
Goodwill Inaugurates Youth Mentoring Program
GoodGuides™ Seeks a `Few Good Mentors!
In January, Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey launched GoodGuides™, a new mentoring program to help 12-17 year-old youth make positive choices and plan for their future. The program helps young people develop career plans and skills. GoodGuides™ seeks to help teens avoid risks such as school failure, juvenile delinquency, family violence and other challenges. The mentoring program is funded through a two-year grant that Goodwill Industries International received from the U.S. Department of Justice. Goodwill NY-NJ is one of 56 local Goodwill agencies in 38 states that is currently running GoodGuides™. Goodwill's long history of helping people find jobs and its emphasis on building strong families makes it a good match for this program.
 
Goodwill recruits, vets, and trains adults from the community to volunteer as program
mentors. The mentor selection process includes a brief interview, background check, a
1-hour orientation and 2-hour training sessions. During training, potential mentors
will learn about the program guidelines, mentoring Do’s and Don’ts, and suggested
activities.
 
Jimmy Louis, who manages Goodwill's Signs&Design program, quickly signed-up as a
GoodGuides™ mentor. "As a Goodwill afterschool participant in 2003, I had great
role models," he says. “Now is my turn to give back!” He joined Signs&Design in 2004
and collaborates with the staff from all Goodwill's Beacon programs. If you would
like to mentor youth in your community or know of young people who could benefit
from the GoodGuides™ services, please call (718) 777-6443 or email at
awhittaker@goodwillny.org. “You just need to have a passion to help our youth become
productive adults,” notes Anthony Whittaker, Goodwill’s GoodGuides™ Program
manager. “IF YOU WANT A CHILD TO DO GREAT THINGS IN THEIR
WORLD, COME SPEND SOME TIME IN OURS!” he says, reciting the Good-
Guides™ mantra.