Second Chance Juvenile Mentoring Initiative

The young men in the picture may seem different and the environment they are in alien to you.  Often times we are tempted to want to write these kids off as “trouble makers,” “bad kids,” or “neighborhood blight.”

When getting to know kids who have been incarcerated you find that they are not that much different than kids in perhaps your neighborhood, local school, or even church (actually some of them may come from those very places).

The young men and women in our juvenile detention centers, correctional facilities, or transitional shelters  have been caught making poor choices, and some seem to be caught in an endless pattern of continued bad decisions that place them right back in detention.  Often times what they are lacking are accountability, resources and positive adult relationships that can spur them to achieve re-entry goals they themselves have set.  What they need is a second chance.

Serve Our Youth Network would like to help break this pattern of recidivism in the Des Moines Metro area, and we seek to do so through connecting kids with mentors who will provide accountability, support, and coaching in life skills while working on re-entry goals that have set with our case managers.  If you’d like to learn more about becoming a mentor for a young man or woman coming out of incarceration back into the community you can find out more here.  If you know or work with a young person who is currently incarcerated whom you think would benefit from this program you can make a referral here.