Long Term Change Through Mentoring

Although the desire of City ACES is to initially provide an exciting and engaging presentation for students, and the focus will be to do this with excellence, this is not the end goal. We want more. When we envision what this could be, we see total transformation of entire communities. But the question that lingers is, how? How can a presentation involving athletes, music, and engaging speakers bring lasting change, and total transformation? Statistics tell us it can’t. No matter how excited the students are about meeting a Ray Rice or Michael Vick; no matter how powerful the speaker is that day, or able to give a challenging, thought provoking, life giving presentation; if there is no follow up beyond the presentation, beyond the event, then many students will be moved for the moment, but lasting change and total transformation will not be achieved.

It Takes a Village to Raise a Child. Mentoring programs are one of the best means of bringing a person who can represent the concern and support of the larger community into the lives of young people. In many ways, mentoring represents a return to tradition, calling upon the community to provide our youth with care and guidance, and to nurture and challenge them. Research shows that providing young people with consistent adult support through a well-supervised, frequently occurring, long-term mentoring relationship improves grades and family relationships, and helps prevent initiation of drug and alcohol use (http://ecs.org).

Total Community Involvement and Transformation

This idea of community transformation will involve one key element that City ACES just does not have at its disposal, and that is the community itself. Once we leave, once the event is over, we need the hosting community to stand and take an interest in the progress and futures of its students. Here is the perfect relationship that we seek to establish in each city: We want to contact and partner with local churches, civic organizations, boy’s and girl’s clubs, YMCA, etc. in order to help provide quality mentors following an event. It will only be through mentorship that the message from the event will become the foundation for their future. Without this critical element, the change we seek, and the hope we have cannot be realized for the inner city. Yes, the event will be top notch, exciting, and engaging, and from that event there will be a handful that take the message and apply it. But, the greater majority of students will need someone to walk this thing out with them, at least for a time. This will bring total transformation, not just to the life of the students, but, to the entire community as well.

Mentoring is a necessity and mentoring works. The presentation with the athletes is simply a forerunner to the change we desire to take place, again, involving local community organizations that are willing, and have a strong desire, to transform the community they live in, as well as the futures of the students that are located there.

“There is a brilliant child locked inside every student.”
-Marva Collins