HELP CENTER
The Answers You Need
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What do I have to do to mentor?
A. Applicant mentors are required to:- Submit to a background screening
- Submit driver’s license or identification card- Complete a questionnaire and mentor agreement- Have 2 of 3 submitted references give favorable reference- Attend a Level Up training- Attend an in-person interview
Q. What makes a good mentor?A. Mentors are stable, positive adult volunteers from the community who present support, resources, and companionship to youths in need. Mentors take all shapes and forms depending on the needs of the individuals in need of mentors. You don’t have to be the president or have had 5 kids of your own to be a good mentor. However, there are experiences and life skills you may have developed that make you a more desirable candidate to a child. The opposite could also be true.
Q. How many trainings do I have to go to?A. Just one! We offer many opportunities for training as volunteers have all different schedules.
Q. How is a mentor matched with a mentee?A. As mentors go through the clearance requirements process, they are invited to do an in-person interview with a coordinator, where the coordinator will make observations and notes based on the applicant’s experience, personality, presence, attitude, competency, emotional intelligence, and a wide range of other factors too complex and nuanced to summarize. Simultaneously, mentees are interviewed during the application process by coordinators who assess their expressed needs and desires. In combination with consideration for geographic relativity, communication, interests, needs, and other such factors, a compatible match is determined by a coordinator. The mentor will then be contacted about the potential match and given some information about the coordinator’s reasoning for the identified compatibility. The coordinator will then arrange a ‘match meeting’ per the availability of the coordinator and mentor.
Q. How, where, and when will I meet with my mentee?A. It’s up to you and your mentee! Once you’ve had your match meeting with a coordinator, you and your mentee – will schedule a meeting on a weekly basis. You will be meeting your mentee, one-on-one.
Q. What if my mentee doesn’t like me? A. We’ve had very few matches with a mentee who decides they don’t particularly care for their mentor, and even some mentors who decided the same about their mentees. It’s a realistic possibility that in spite of a coordinator’s best efforts to make a compatible, long-lasting match, their judgment was off. Both mentee and mentor are offered the opportunity to have a closure meeting, depending on the length of their existing relationship, and are also offered the choice to drop the program or be rematched with a different mentee or mentor. The biggest thing is not to take it personally. Be honest and proactive in your communications with a coordinator and keep in mind what’s best for the mentee.
Q. I know my role as a mentor, but what is expected of my mentee?A. Mentees are expected to commit to spending their minimum 4 hours a monthly for six months with their mentor, and they are also expected to communicate if problems in the relationship arise on their end. We encourage mentees to do a lot of things with their mentors – develop goals, ask question, be on time – but for the most part, the relationship is notequal. Most part of mentoring is recognizing greatness in your mentee and supporting and challenging them to walk boldly in their purpose.