Mentor A Teen; Create Hope
Posted on Monday, January 30, 2012 by
By Whitney Kregar, Mentor and Volunteer Director
“This is a lot to handle as a fifteen year old.”
“I’m only fourteen, my mom is in jail and I have to talk to her parole officer for her!”
“My Dad just quit his job. I don’t know what we are going to do.”
Every week as I meet with students, I am continually amazed with what they handle at their age. They have parents and siblings in and out of jail. They are in the middle of intense custody battles. They are teenagers raising babies.
What happened to childhood innocence? What happened to living a worry free life with few responsibilities? These kids are being forced to make adult decisions far too soon. Since their normal childhood has been taken from them, they find release elsewhere. Now instead of having a sleepover, they try doing drugs. Instead of going to the movies, they get drunk at home. Even the thought of getting pregnant as a teenager seems doable to them. The only people that many of them have for support are those that live very similar lives to their own, offering no better example.
I am so excited for our new mentoring program: MATCH: Mentor a Teen; Create Hope. It is a program like we have never done before. While our Campus Life program is an incredible ministry, it isn’t always able to give each student one-on-one, undivided attention. This is what MATCH will bring our students! It will provide them with a personal friend who will care for them long term. What an opportunity we have to come alongside their lives and encourage them!
Would you be willing to help create hope in the lives of our teens? There are already students waiting to be paired with adult mentors. Maybe you love our ministry, but can’t commit to helping with Campus Life each week. This is a wonderful opportunity for you! It takes as little as one hour a week, to truly invest in a young person. The difference you will make will last a lifetime.
Please contact me, Whitney Kregar, Mentor Coordinator, at whitsto@gmail.com.