Mental Health America of Porter County is joining our community in celebrating National Mentoring Month. We recognize that spending quality time with the youth in our community can foster an environment where these young people can grow up to become caring and responsible adults. Mentoring has many important benefits to both the mentor and mentee. According to the Indiana Youth Institute, “All children have the potential to succeed in life and contribute to society.”
Mentoring benefits youth in many ways such as:
- Improving self-esteem
- Keeping young people in school
- Helping to improve academic success
- Leading young people to resources they might not find on their own
- Providing support for new behaviors, attitudes and ambitions
- Increasing young people’s ability to seek and keep jobs
Spending quality time together is imperative in order to build a healthy, strong, and productive mentoring alliance. Building this type of relationship can help the youth in our community feel safe, confident, and supported. Here are some great ways to spend quality time with the youth in your life.
- Listen and talk to each other
- Volunteer at a local organization together
- Go to the library
- Play games like catch, Uno, tag, and checkers
- Take a walk
- Build something together
- Plant a garden
- Read to each other
- Go to the park
- Exercise together
Mental Health America of Porter County offers programs that can assist individuals and families. Building Up Our Youth (BUOY) is dedicated to teaching adults how to instill positive self-esteem and security in the youth around them. For more information about BUOY or our other services please contact Christine Pirlot, Program Director at 462-6267 or cpirlot@mhapc.org.