Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum recently issued a challenge to continue finding 1,000 mentors for the program he launched in May 2015.
Several community organizations were asked to participate in this program including: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Goodwill Goodguides, Leon County Schools and many others. They will help develop the support and guidance for the youth of this program.
Over 30 percent of children in the United States live in a single-parent home and this rate has doubled over the past 45 years, according to census.gov.
Gillum stressed the importance of the community’s role in shaping the youth.
“It is vitally important for the future of our community to help our young people find the inspiration to better their lives, and to be held accountable for when they choose apathy, delinquency or inaction. The youth of our community need guidance, encouragement, and support to dream bolder, and reach higher than they may think is possible,” Gillum said.
Gillum wants 1,000 mentors to volunteer at least one hour once a week to a mentee in the community.
Chanelle Glover, vice president of the Florida A&M University chapter of Big Sister Little Sister mentoring program, thinks that Gillum’s initiative will have a major impact on the community.
“With Mayor Gillum’s new initiative, I feel it will have a very positive impact on our youth and also be very effective. I think it will help the progression and development of our youth, and it will give them the opportunity to connect with the people in their community and get involved in new things,” Glover said. “The initiative can also give our youth someone to look up to in a positive light. I feel like it can also help enhance their skills and abilities, as well as broaden their horizons by getting to know different people and get exposed to different views of life.”
Qadeera Allen, a fourth-year fine arts major at FAMU expressed the relevance of this mentorship.
“The mentor initiative will be extremely effective and this will provide well needed support to lower income communities,” Allen said. “This new initiative will assist volunteer programs that are in need of support from the community. I believe that children’s testing scores will increase and the drive to finish school will increase sufficiently.”
For more information and involvement for the 1,000 Mentors initiative, visit www.talgov.com.