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LFCS Mentors

January is National Mentor Month

At LFCS, our CALL and CHOICES mentor programs provide this valuable service to many young people throughout St. Louis. Our mentors work with children after school and all day throughout the summer and encourage smart daily behaviors, such as finishing homework, encouraging positive social interactions, and the ability to say no when it counts.  Our mentors empower young people to make smart choices that put them on a path to making better life choices.  Other impacts mentoring has on young people include:

• Young adults who had mentors as kids are 55% more likely to be enrolled in college
• More than twice as likely to hold a leadership position in a club or sports team
• 78% more likely to volunteer in the community

Mentoring has a large impact on the children, but is also a shared opportunity for learning and growth. In fact, many mentors say they are surprised and grateful for the chance to mentor because their experience is more rewarding than they imagined.  Our mentors have had many encouraging experiences working with youth in the community.  One mentor shared that “mentoring allows me to create long lasting relationships with youth and their families.  It facilitates a unique bond that encourages growth and development.”  Another stated, “the impact of mentoring, why it matters in what we do, can be seen, heard and felt when a participant in our program says ‘I wish you were my mom or dad’, or a parent says how grateful they are that a program like ours exists to help them connect with their children in a more positive way.”