Help Make a Difference by Mentoring Children with Mentor Dubuque

Youth mentoring is such an underrated component in the lives of young people. It fosters a connection between a young person and someone who can become sort of a life-coach or role model, and serve as an impactful individual for the rest of their life.

Hillcrest Family Services' Mentor Dubuque program is all about fostering those connections. Taylee O'Brien, a Mentor Specialist, and Lizzie Pollock, a Mentor Coordinator at Mentor Dubuque, stopped by the studio to talk about the program and all they offer mentors and mentees alike.

Mentor Dubuque pairs adult volunteers with boys and girls ages 5-15. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to mentorship, however. This mentoring service includes:

• Matching volunteer mentors (18 years of age and up) with mentees (ages 5-14)
• Building confidence, companionship and stability in the lives of boys and girls
• Adding fulfillment in the lives of adult volunteers
• Building a stronger Dubuque through stronger values in children
• Comprehensive matching programs including interviews, common interests and background checks - per Hillcrest Family Service's website

Lizzie Pollock gave a general overview of what Mentor Dubuque and their services is all about:

We're a youth-based mentoring program as well as community-based, which means that our matches go out one-on-one in the community and kind of experience things that are going on. We service youth ages 5 to 15. We set them up with a mentor 18 and up, and we ask that those two meet for four-to-five hours a month for at least a year. - Lizzie Pollock

Mentor Dubuque is in the middle of a unique conundrum, however. While they have plenty of mentors, they are light on mentees, or rather, children ages 5-15. If you want to get your child involved with Mentor Dubuque's services, you can find out more on their website and via my interview with Taylee and Lizzie. Take a listen below!

You can also find Mentor Dubuque on Facebook!