MENTORING
YMCA Little Brother/Little Sister Mentoring Program
The YMCA Little Brother/Sister Mentoring Program has a primary mission to nurture the potential of youth and teens, establish positive self-esteem and promote healthy development of all children in the Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and surrounding communities, by providing them with a positive adult role model, friend and mentor.
As a volunteer mentor, you are matched with children between the ages of 4 – 17 years, who is in need of additional support, friendship, and individual attention.
Volunteer Requirements
This program requires an extended volunteer commitment, spending a minimum of two hours per week for nine months, as well as, volunteers need to be 18 years of age or older, with transportation, a valid drivers license and current insurance.
Application Process
Children and Families:
If you have a child that you feel would benefit from participation in the YMCA Little Brother/Sister Mentoring Program, please contact Dawn Herberg, Program Coordinator, for more detailed information and a child’s application to the program, at 701-775-2586 or click here. You may also check with a school counselor, caseworker, church pastor or other human service representative in the area to receive a referral to the program. Referrals are not required for participation.
Volunteers:
The first step in becoming a volunteer mentor in the YMCA Little Brother/Sister Mentoring Program is to contact Dawn Herberg, Program Coordinator, to set up a personal orientation at 701-775-2586 or click here. At the orientation, you will learn more about the children in need of your one-on-one attention, your role as a mentor, what types of activities you can be involved in together and how to complete the application process. Applications to be a mentor are provided upon completion of the orientation.
Our Community Partners
In 2009, the Grand Forks YMCA Little Brother/Sister Mentoring Program teamed up with RSVP+ North Dakota and the Amachi Mentoring Coalition of North Dakota to help provide Meaningful mentoring relationships to children of incarcerated parents. According to Amachi, America’s most isolated and at-risk children are the estimated 7.3 million children who have one or both parents under some form of state or federal supervision. The Amachi mentoring program was developed to provide them with a different path by establishing the consistent presence of loving, caring people of faith. Additional surveys have indicated that weekly meetings with a mentor (on average) had phenomenal success in cutting school absenteeism, improving parental, peer relationships and confidence, as well as, reducing first-time drug and alcohol use.
More About our Community Partners:
RSVP+ North Dakota 
A federally and locally funded program, sponsored by NDSU that connects agencies with needs to volunteers with skills. RSVP+North Dakota invites individuals of all ages to enhance personal growth, develop leadership skills, and meet critical community needs through meaningful volunteer service opportunities.
For more information, go to: www.rsvp.ndsu.nodak.edu
Amachi Mentoring Coalition North Dakota (AMCND)
A state wide initiative run by RSVP+. The AMCND is part of a larger project started by Amachi in Philadelphia, a mentoring program started by the Rev. Dr. Wilson Goode. It is our mission to work with the communities we serve to recruit and match volunteers with children in need to make a positive impact through meaningful mentoring relationships. The effects of incarceration influence children across the United States both directly and indirectly. Mentoring is just one way that the community can directly benefit the lives of their children.
