"Ohio Valley Goodwill Celebrates National Mentoring Month!"

Jauuary is National Mentoring Month and Ohio Valley Goodwill is celebrating  the first anniversary of its GoodGuides program; a mentoring program designed to serve at-risk youth 12-17 years of age. Initially launched in Northern Kentucky, the GoodGuides program is now available in the Cincinnati area as well. The program provides guidance to 12-to-17 year-olds who face risk factors such as dropping out of school, juvenile delinquency, family violence and other challenges. Through the use of trusted adult mentors, the program helps these young people to build career plans and skills. The basic idea is that if we can keep these youth out of trouble now, they will be less likely to face even greater hardships down the road and instead, contribute to and strengthen our community. Ohio Valley Goodwill’s GoodGuides program has successfully matched  52 mentors with youth during the initial stages of the  effort and is committed towards achieving 100 total matches in the coming year. GoodGuides is funded through a $19.1 million grant to Goodwill Industries International from the U.S. Department of Justice. Ohio Valley Goodwill is one of 56 community-based Goodwill agencies in 38 states that received funding from the grant to provide career-focused youth mentoring so that youth can build career plans and skills as they prepare to finish school. Ohio Valley Goodwill is especially pleased that the Cincinnati Enquirer selected its GoodGuides program and one of its mentoring teams for an upcoming story on National Mentoring Month. The mentor team profiled are a wonderful example of how the mentoring process can truly impact a young man’s life. Look for the upcoming story in a January issue of the Cincinnati Enquirer as well as posted on our News Blog in the next few weeks. As the GoodGuides program continues to grow, adult mentors are being sought. Ideal mentors are people who truly like adolescents; are willing to commit at least one year to transform the future and are dependable and committed. For more information about the GoodGuides program, please visit www.cincinnatigoodwill.org or contact: Tim Spoleti, Youth Services Manager at tspoleti@cincigoodwill.org. Ohio Valley Goodwill’s GoodGuides program salutes National Mentoring Month in the past way possible… by helping youth to succeed.