FI Addresses Recruitment during Mentoring Month
Agency to Roll-Out weMentor!tm Campaign on January 25th
Official weMentor January Poster
Mentoring remains to be one of our community’s most critical services. However according to Mentoring USA’s Executive Director; Stephen Powell, the number of available mentors are extremely low. In fact single parents, mostly mothers remain on long waiting lists, waiting to fill the gap in their children’s life left void by an absent father.
“We have been diligent at building the capacity of community agencies to deal with the impact of fatherlessness. Unfortunately the available resources don’t always match the urgent need,” say Kenneth Braswell, Executive Director of Fathers Incorporated. “This issue no more urgent than in the need to recruit African American men into formal mentoring programs.”
In a measure to address the difficult in recruiting Fathers Incorporated is launching its weMentor!tm project. The campaign will address the low number of African American men serving as mentors. The campaign also seeks to raise public awareness, increase recruitment capacity and build national mentoring networks. The weMentor!tm concept embodies the African proverb; “It Takes A Whole Village To Raise A Child” by embellishing the fact that it takes more than “I” to make a difference in the life of a child. Thus the campaign will highlight the need for “ALL” (African American men in particular) men to be accountable for filling the gap of fatherlessness.
David Miller, M.Ed., chief visionary officer and co-founder of the Urban Leadership Institute published Man Up: Recruiting & Retaining African American Male Mentors in 2007. The report has maintained its relevancy even some five years later. “The report highlights the need for a greater commitment to make sure that all children have access to mentors and role models. A great deal of organizations are working on mentoring initiatives yet few are sharing resources and collectively working together to strengthening mentoring efforts,” says Miller. “The report underscores the need for partnerships to tackle tough issues like recruitment and retention among mentoring programs.”
“Imagine this; each state worker in each state in the nation, taking one hour a week to connect with a child, talk with them, support and encourage them. Imagine each parent making sure that their child is exposed to positive men and women by taking them to church, the mosque, temple or other religious institution on Sunday,” says, Greg Owens, Co-director of SUNY Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities Outreach and Engagement. “We have to get back to what has always made sense for us. Interconnectedness and a warriors spirit to make sure that the children are well!”
“We believe that fatherlessness is a driving force in the need to identify, recruit and refer responsible and willing men to volunteer as mentors. weMentor!tm will serve to strengthen mentoring organizations and indentify associated resources for deeper service delivery,” continues Braswell.
Fathers Incorporated and its national partners will engage in a yearlong set of national activities, partnerships and events designed to increase the number of African American male mentors. These activities will be part of the TIES NEVER BROKENtm campaign. weMentor!tm activities will include social marketing and traditional media campaigns, product development, mentorship recruitment drives, website presence of activities, repository of mentorship organizations and creation of a “mentor” referral network. Campaign will launch at Fathers Incorporated’s annual dinner on January 25th.
Campaign Partners
BCDI-Albany * Black Butterfly Inc. * Blackstar Project * Childfind of America * Hot97 | KISSFM * K.I.N.G. * Mamas Boyz * Mentoring USA * National Cares Mentoring Movement * Open Society Foundations * Real Dads Network * Real Men Charities * Real Men Cook * Urban Leadership Institute * Women in Fatherhood