Strengthening Chicago's Youth (SCY) Blog

scy-chicago:

In honor of Mentoring Month and Mentor Day, SCY asked Gail Brodkey, an inspiring Social Worker at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, what she most enjoyed about being a mentor.

She shared, “I work with families that live in a lot of Chaos. Much of their lives are full of negativity. There is nothing better than the smile that comes across a mother’s face when I’ve pointed out the POSITIVE things she is doing for/with her child.” Through her guidance and positivity, Gail changes lives.

US News reported that a large social science research study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab, in partnership with CPS and local nonprofits, found that counseling and mentoring actually reduce violence. Jens Ludwig, director of the Chicago Crime Lab, said, “we have data from the most rigorous possible scientific study suggesting that it is not only possible to prevent youth violence involvement through pro-social programming, but that the returns on investment are extremely high.” The study showed that benefits to society compared to program costs measured as high as 31 to 1.

Counseling and mentoring activities augment pro-social cognitive skills among youth, including self-regulation, impulse control, social information processing, personal responsibility, and conflict resolution. These skills not only help reduce crime and homicides, but help increase school engagement, attendance, grades, and graduation likelihood. As mentioned above, the cost of providing guidance is so small compared to the potential gain.

One example of an admirable organization doing commendable mentoring work within SCY’s network is Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC), which is enabling youth born in poverty to start jobs and careers by age 25, and providing opportunities for volunteers to make lasting commitments to mentoring. The T/MC site connects leaders of volunteer-based mentoring programs; youth in or looking for mentoring programs; volunteers looking to get involved; board members looking for how to improve non-profits; business leaders looking for ways to engage employees; parents looking for places to enroll their children; donors looking for programs to support; and media looking for stories of heroes. Through a continuous exchange of ideas and information, these connections help all stakeholders to better understand where tutor/mentor programs are needed most, why they are needed, ways to get involved, and approaches to improving existing programs in order to ultimately reduce poverty in inner city neighborhoods and improve the availability and quality of tutoring and mentoring programs throughout the world.

SCY sends out a tremendous thank you to all of the mentors and care providers working tirelessly to unveil the smiles within less than ideal circumstances. Please take a moment to think about who has positively touched your life, and send a note of gratitude their way.

This is a reblog of a SCY blog from January of 2014.