This commentary is by Beth Perlongo of Burlington. She is on the MENTOR Vermont board of directors and is the chief of staff and strategy for Redstone, a real estate development and property management company based in Burlington.
As we begin to navigate the new normal of life after a pandemic, young people in Vermont need our help. Vermont’s youth mentoring organizations offer a connective tool that is evidence-based and shown to have proven mental health benefits. By employing this tool, youth have been shown to be more likely to attend school, participate in sports and community activities, and are less likely to use electronic vapor products or to make a suicide plan.
Yet, since March 2020, there has been an estimated 35% decrease in mentee-mentor matches throughout the state — a drastic and devastating decline in support for our youth. Sadly, we know one in three young people will grow up without a trusted adult to turn to for support outside of their family.
As a board member at MENTOR Vermont, I often see people think of mentoring as a free resource. While mentors are typically volunteers, and youth mentoring is an incredibly cost-effective tool, our mentoring programs require sustainable funding in order to meet community needs.
The behind-the-scenes work of youth mentoring agencies include mentor recruitment, screening, training, onboarding, and continued match support to ensure the success of mentee-mentor matches. Our fellow community members who staff these organizations work tirelessly with limited resources, oftentimes as the sole staff member and on a part-time basis, to make and maintain meaningful connections between mentees and their mentors.
Additional funding is needed to increase staff hours and ramp up recruitment. Our goal should not just be recovering program volunteer numbers to pre-pandemic levels, but ensuring every youth seeking a mentor in Vermont has the supportive relationships they need to thrive.
Mentoring matches can be fostered for very little investment and often last for several years, but the youth mentoring field needs more funding to meet the demands. Despite public support, state investment in mentoring has not increased since 2007 and was decreased in 2011 to the level it remains at today.
Additional resources can help increase the quality and quantity of safe and effective youth mentoring relationships in places where young people live, learn, connect, and play. MENTOR Vermont has launched the Maximize Mentoring campaign to urge lawmakers and decision-makers to prioritize our young people and provide more investment into mentoring.
We all have a role in supporting Vermont youth. Tell your local lawmakers that funding mentoring is a short- and long-term investment we need in our communities. If you are able, consider offering financial support to a mentor organization in your community. Utilize MENTOR Vermont resources (www.mentorvt.org/become-a-mentor) to find a local program in your area where you can volunteer your time to form a meaningful relationship with a young-person. Local business owners, consider providing your team members the paid time-off they may need for volunteer opportunities like mentoring — as little as an hour a week can make a difference to a program and a young person.
All of us can commit to developing a mentoring mindset anytime we interact with young people.
