Heather’s father, a single parent, raising a teenage daughter on his own.  He wanted the positive influence of a mentor for his daughter.  Heather was matched with Allie, a wonderful GrandView University student.  Heather enjoys their visits, especially when they attend a local church group’s Ignite night.

In our training we discuss our training we discuss our roles in mentoring and qualities of successful mentors, SOY’s history and vision, our policies and procedures as they relate to our mentors, and how to best engage and support your mentee.  We’ll discuss common characteristics of the youth we serve, our matching process and expectations.

To be a qualified mentor you need to complete the entire training.  This training is free and breakfast will be provided.  To RSVP (please do so by Friday, May 11th) either call Shane Vander Hart at (515) 321-5077 or email him at shane@serveouryouth.org.

Lisa has loyally followed Shelby from the numerous homes that she has lived in.  Shelby knows that she can count on Lisa to show up and do what she says, no matter what!

We had all of our expenses covered by these fabulous sponsors so all money made from registrations went toward serving high risk youth in Central and Southern Iowa. Thank you so much for helping us make this new event for us a success!

• Van Wall Equipment
• Musco Lighting
• Vermeer Charitable Foundation
• Compass Chiropractic

The following businesses provided prizes:

• Rassmussen Bike Shop
• IronWorks Fitness
• Trader Joe’s
• Anderson Erickson Dairy
• Jason’s Deli
• Scheels

Carlos was on the waiting list for a mentor for quite a while. Both of his sisters are matched with SOY mentors. This past December on the way home from a family funeral in Texas, Carlos asked his mother, "when is it going to be my turn to get a mentor?" His mother replied, "be patient all in God’s timing!" It was not long after that Carlos got his Christmas wish for a mentor. Nick, a student from Drake University, would be his new mentor! They have had a blast hanging out together, attending Drake Basketball games, shooting hoops and playing raquetball!

Serve Our Youth Network is need of Bibles to give to juvenile offenders that we work with in the area juvenile detention centers and facilities we serve.  We currently use the NIV Outreach Bible from Biblica (formerly International Bible Society).  There are three ways you can help us out.

1. Purchase a case or several copies of Bibles and have them shipped to us.  You can purchase those here.  The cost of a case of 24 is $54.00 ($2.25/Bible).  A single Bible costs $2.75 a piece.  You can ship the Bibles to: Serve Our Youth Network, Attn: Shane Vander Hart, 1548 Hull Ave., Des Moines, IA 50316.
2. You can donate directly to us and designate the funds to be used for Bibles.  You can donate online here.  Checks made out to Serve Our Youth Network can be mailed to our Pella office – Serve Our Youth Network, 309 Roosevelt Rd., Des Moines, IA 50219.
3. You can donate used paperback NIV Bibles provided they look new.  There can not be any writing in them, tears, creases, etc.  If you are interested in helping that way please contact Shane Vander Hart at (515) 321-5077 or shanev@serveouryouth.org.

As always donations and in-kind gifts are tax-deductible.

1.  Promote the welfare and safety of the young person.  Obviously a mentoring relationship should be about focusing on what is best for the mentee.  It isn’t that mentors don’t benefit as a result of their relationship with their mentee, but we need to remember that the focus needs to remain on the youth and we must do no harm.  We must exercise appropriate boundaries and realize that we are in a position of power which can be misused.

2.  Be trustworthy and responsible.  Simple – do what you say you’re going to do.  Don’t make promises that you can not keep.  Let your yes be yes and you no be no, (Matthew 5:37).

3. Act with integrity.  It should go without saying, but ultimately you serve and perform for an audience of One.  Also we want our youth to know there is something different about us.  We want them to see Jesus in us, and since we limit ourselves to only talk about faith if the youth initiates it shouldn’t we make sure we’re at least modeling what it means to be a follower of Christ?  If you fail to do this then you’re mentoring in vain.

4. Promote justice for young people.  Be their advocate – a good example would be what Apostle Paul did for Onesimus (see Philemon).  He wrote a slave owner to advocate on behalf of a young runaway slave, putting his reputation on the line – something that was unheard of in the ancient Roman world.  Also recognize your own latent biases and prejudices (we all have them) as you relate with your mentee and keep them in check.  Seek to be a student of your mentee to gain a better knowledge of their culture.  Be a good listener.

5. Respect the young person’s rights and dignity.  Kids are free moral agents, and they will make their own decisions.  They may disappoint us, but we need to model perseverance in the midst of that.  Also this means not looking at your mentee as though they are a project of sorts.  Our role is not to be a “fixer” or a “savior” of kids (there’s only one Savior, and you’re not Him).  We need to be a friend, guide, coach and advocate (along with many other positive roles).

Happy mentoring!

Amachi Mentoring Training 6:00p-7:00p

This section of our training we’ll discuss common characteristics, themes and needs of children who have a parent in prison or who have been impacted by incarceration, and how we can best serve them.  We’ll also explain our Amachi Mentoring programs – our expectations and the matching process.  This will also include discussing common concerns with community-based mentoring.

Prevention Through Mentoring Training – 6:00p-7:00p (training for those interested in our Prevention Through Mentoring Program, held separately from Amachi training)  This training discusses how mentors can talk to their mentees about substance abuse, an update on the latest substance abuse issues, and how to spot warning signs that youth may be struggling with illicit substances.

Mentoring 101 – 7:00p-8:00p (this training is for all prospective mentors)

In this section of our training we discuss our roles in mentoring and qualities of successful mentors, SOY’s history and vision, our policies and procedures as they relate to our mentors, and how to best engage and support your mentee.

Second Chance Mentoring Training– 8:00p-9:00p (training for those interested in our Second Chance TEAMs Program).

In this section of our training we discuss juvenile system youth, understanding Iowa’s juvenile justice system, expectations and the matching process for Second Chance, how TEAMs will function and cover basics to facilitating groups (this is a group mentoring program).

To be a qualified mentor you need to complete Mentoring 101 and either the Amachi, Second Chance, or Prevention Through Mentoring training (depending on the program you want to be involved in).  This training is free and dinner will be provided.  To RSVP (please do so by Saturday, May 22nd) either call Shane Vander Hart at (515) 321-5077 or email him or use the form below:

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Come join us for a great event to help show love and give hope to kids in need.  Gather your family members, friends and co-workers and get registered now for the 1st annual 5K walk/run event to help increase our efforts to get mentors and volunteers for children and youth who are at-risk in Central Iowa.

The 5K will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at Grey’s Lake Park in Des Moines, IA.  Our walk/run start time will be 9:00a, registration begins at 8:00a.

The registration fee is $20/person (children under 5 years of age are free).  There will be prizes for the top three finishers, raffles, and a free t-shirt with every registration.

You can download your registration form below, please return the completed form by April 6th to the address given.

You also have the opportunity to register online by clicking the button below:

You may be interested in being a sponsor.  As a sponsor of this event you are assisting us in making sure that 100% of every dollar donated by the walk/run participants goes directly to help recruit mentors and volunteers, as well as, keep those matches and our programs going for a long time to come.  You can download the sponsor form below:

If you have any questions be feel free to call our main office at (866) 620-9037 or email Kathy at kathy@serveouryouth.org.

Update: If you have a website or a blog and would like to put this 468×71 banner on your site?

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