Life Buddies - Youth Advocate/Mentor
Life Buddies is a long-term Christian mentoring program serving children who face significant obstacles. We are seeking full-time professional Mentors to serve as a positive adult role model to eight children. A successful youth mentor will develop caring and sustained relationships with each child. For each child, the mentor will set positive expectations; nurture and promote each child’s strength, talents, and abilities; help ensure physical and emotional well-being; teach life and academic skills; provide enrichment activities; and model responsible behavior. The mentor will document activities and participate in the ongoing evaluation process. Mentors will work primarily one-on-one with their children, while also building trusting supportive relationships with parents/caregivers. A mentor must know, understand, honor, support, and clearly articulate the organization’s mission, vision, values, and principles.
Essential responsibilities:
BENEFITS: Benefits include a stipend for medical and dental insurance, retirement, and generous paid time off.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent preferred but not required.
INTERESTED? Email a resume and cover letter to broberts@bridgeoftopeka.org.
Essential responsibilities:
- Be willing to make a commitment to serve for three years. Children and youth benefit most when mentorship is consistent and sustained over years.
- Develop and sustain long-term, caring, protective, and loving relationships with each child.
- Spend time with children, one-on-one
- Partner with parents/caregivers to provide concrete and social/emotional supports for the family.
- Set realistic goals based on each child’s strengths, talents, abilities, and needs
- Teach life skills and help develop a talent/skill/area of interest with each child
- Provide enrichment resources and activities that include opportunities for cultural awareness
- Develop positive relationships with families, teachers, and others involved in each child’s life
- Reinforce basic academic skills
- Maintain a flexible 40-hour per week work schedule. Some late afternoon, evening, and weekend hours will be necessary.
- Maintain spending within budgetary guidelines.
- Complete, distribute, and collect time summaries, activity journals, short-term plans, expense reports, and evaluations materials accurately and in a timely manner
- Attend and actively participate in team meetings and staff functions
- Provide information and support to the development and executive team on related activities
- Fulfill other responsibilities as requested
- Ability to advocate, securing additional resources, opportunities, and services for youth as appropriate
- Ability to navigate systems in schools in order to secure conditions for optimal academic success
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Cross-cultural communication skills
- Demonstrated ability to work with children in varied capacities and settings
- Ability to develop trusting relationships with children, families, teachers, and others involved in each child’s life
- Ability to work independently and as a team player
- Ability to manage several concurrent issues and solve problems effectively
- Strong written and verbal communications skills
- Strong organizational and time management skills
- A good sense of humor
BENEFITS: Benefits include a stipend for medical and dental insurance, retirement, and generous paid time off.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent preferred but not required.
INTERESTED? Email a resume and cover letter to broberts@bridgeoftopeka.org.