National Mentoring Month

The beginning of January brings New Year's resolutions, celebration and the feeling of a new start. As this excitement wears off, it may be important to note that January also brings National Mentoring Month. During this month, people across America are being encouraged to get involved in local organizations by mentoring those who need it. The idea behind nominating a month for this purpose is to bring awareness to the issue. Many children and teens are not provided with an adequate support network. This network allows for an expansion of a person's thoughts and ideas, as well as helps to fill the basic need for human interaction. Mentoring can fill that gap.

Over the years, mentoring has been proven to be one of the most effective programs, not only in cost but in benefit and prevention as well. Basically, a mentor is a person who provides support, listens, and is a role model. Children that benefit the most from this program don't have anyone to look up to. They don't have anyone who actively listens to them and supports their ideas. For them, it can be so refreshing to finally have a friend.

Not only do the children benefit from having a mentor, but the actual mentors who work through national mentoring committees have reported that they get just as much, if not more, back from the experience as the kids do. Awareness month is very important because it allows a month of recognition towards the different programs around the nation, but these programs extend throughout the year!

Volunteers must be 18 or older to mentor. They can mentor as an individual, as a couple, or as a family. After the initial sign up, volunteers are required to get a background check, an interview and training. This information is used to find out what interests and hobbies the future mentor has and what child they can be paired up with. By matching children and their mentors based on common interests, these relationships will be about doing the things they love an learning from them.

There are many recommended things to be done during National Mentoring Month. Some are: become a mentor in your community, learn more about mentoring, partner with a mentoring organization, think about mentors in your life and post a tribute to them online, read the latest research and resources on mentoring, make a donation to a local mentoring organization, help children succeed academically through mentoring in school systems.

Ambrosia Treatment Center highly supports National Mentoring Month. Studies have shown that having someone in you life that you consider a mentor extremely reduces the probability of drug abuse and addiction. Ambrosia treatment focuses on providing a support network, which is something many addicts were not able to have in their lives. Through Ambrosia, support networks and mentors are created for recovering addicts after treatment. Awareness for mentoring is so important in today's society. Take some time to educate yourself about the numerous benefits of mentoring in your community. It is so important.