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During the 2018-2019 grant cycle, The Tri-C Community Coalition plans to enhance the Tri-C Mentoring Program. This entity pairs at-risk, school-aged youth within the Clyde, Conception, and Conception Junction communities of Nodaway County with trained, positive adult role models. The goal at hand is reducing the “high-risk environment” in our community that contributes to underage drinking, tobacco addiction, and illegal and other drug use leading to violent acts and other risky behaviors. By providing not only alternative activities but also prevention-based community forums, the at-risk youth will have an opportunity to participate in new experiences and in turn promote bonding between the mentors, the families of the at-risk youth, and the community as a whole.
The proposed project of enhancing the Tri-C Mentoring Program has numerous facets. The first task is training volunteers how to be mentors. We have partnerships with seminarians at the Conception Abbey, elderly within the community, and staff at Jefferson C-123 Schools that assist with recruiting. The Tri-C Community Coalition brings nationally-known speakers to facilitate the yearly training session. We also provide a mentoring handbook containing valuable contact information as well as suggestions for enhancing relationships with mentees. The second facet of the Tri-C Mentoring Program is coordinating locations, times, and alternative activities in which the mentors and their assigned youth can participate. The administration of Jefferson C-123 Schools allows our adult mentors (local seminarians, elderly within the Tri-C Area, and staff from Jefferson Schools) to visit students during their lunch time once a week. In addition to the weekly visits, the Tri-C Community Coalition provides monthly activities outside of school in which the mentors and their assigned youth may bond (bowling, movies, theatrical productions, pool parties, gaming tournaments, rental of the Teen Beat, etc.) In addition, the Teen Beat/Mentoring Halloween Party, Santa’s Workshop (arts & crafts event – all ages), Tri-C Mentoring Easter Egg Hunt, Tri-C Cleanup Day, The Lollipop Parade, St. Columba Parish Carnival, and Prescription Drug Take-Backs are just a few of the community-wide prevention activities fostering improved mentor/mentee, parental, and community networking. This step combats our individual risk factors of lack of positive role models as well as poor decision-making and problem-solving skills.
The final facet of the Tri-C Mentoring Program is securing adult volunteers to assist with supervising mentoring events as well as providing transportation to and from the alternative activities. The 8 members of the Tri-C Community Coalition as well as concerned parents of the school-aged children of Jefferson C-123 Schools donate countless hours of their time as well as mileage to and from events to assure that this valuable program continues to positively influence our at-risk youth in the community. These wonderful adults truly understand the adage, “It takes a community to raise a child” and are always willing to lend a helping hand to families struggling with substance abuse of some kind.