Every child who needs a mentor should have a mentor.
 




AmeriCorps VISTA Members Celebrated at Mayor & County Recognition Day for National Service
 
Early this month, members of VMP's AmeriCorps VISTA team participated in Central Virginia's Mayor & County Recognition Day for National Service. Participants celebrated the impact of national service with city & county officials and finished the day by volunteering to clean up historic Evergreen Cemetery. Special recognition is in order for VMP VISTA member  Maurice Robinson , who spoke at the event on behalf of the cohort about his experience with VISTA. We are grateful for our VISTAs' commitment to the community and invite you to celebrate them with us! 

Click here to learn more about VMP's AmeriCorps VISTA program.


Link to Learning: Ethical Decision-Making Framework and Blog





A 15 year-old youth tells his mentor that he is working late night shifts to help his mom pay bills and support his younger siblings. The mentee's work is a violation of child labor laws and is negatively affecting his attendance and performance in school. On the other hand, the income is currently keeping the family housed and fed. The mentor approaches the program staff for advice. What should he do?

Mentors frequently are faced with difficult and confusing ethical dilemmas. The column, "Dear Dr. Jones," is currently accepting submissions for a blog discussing these complicated issues. Follow along with these stories, or submit your own. 

As another resource for ethical decision making, this article also describes the process of following the ethical decision-making framework that guides the user through the steps of collaborative decision-making to arrive at an informed and ethically sound decision.


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Virginia Mentoring Partnership
4900 Augusta Ave, Suite 140
Richmond, VA 23230
804-828-1536




Virginia Mentoring Partnership is a 501 (c) 3 organization that is supported by grants, corporate donations, individual donations and in-kind services.  For more information or to support our organization please visit us at www.vamentoring.org 
Outstanding Mentors & Mentoring Programs Recognized at 15th Annual Virginia Mentoring Awards
Thank you to our sponsors, program partners, supporters and friends for joining us at the 2017 Virginia Mentoring Awards & Conference on March 23rd at the Jefferson Hotel. Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney kicked off the luncheon with remarks recognizing the many volunteer mentors, mentoring program representatives, and business leaders celebrating mentoring in Virginia. Congratulations to this year's award winners: Christopher Cooke of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Inc. Serving Greater Richmond, Tri-Cities, & Hampton Roads, Jonathan Showalter of Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries Strive Mentoring Program, Make Space - Visual Arts Center of Richmond, and EAB Royall & Company College Mentorship Program. 
 
Thank you to our event sponsors and all who joined us to celebrate outstanding contributions to the mentoring movement. Click here to view more photos from the event.
  


Upcoming Staff Development Opportunity: Elements of Effective Practice Training on Closure Practices
 
Closure or termination is a normal stage in the life of a mentoring relationship. With agency support and proper notice of the timing and reasons for closure, mentees and other members of the match may fare better in coping with the loss of the mentoring relationship. Join us for a training on closure practices relating to:
  • Identifying natural emotions, such as grief, denial, and resentment that may arise as mentor/mentee relationships come to a close
  • Providing options for saying goodbye in a healthy, respectful, and affirming way
  • Addressing appropriate situations for staying in touch with your mentee
April 18th, 12-2pm: Register here

Upcoming New Mentor Training Sessions will be held:


VMP Offers Opportunity for Programs to Evaluate Match Quality and Outcomes

VMP is excited to support youth mentoring programs with a comprehensive and cost effective evaluation that will measure match quality and outcomes. In VMP's recent State of Mentoring Survey, feedback data provided by mentoring program staff indicates a great area of need or challenge is how to evaluate match quality and outcomes.  VMP has partnered with John Harris, Ed.M., and founder of Applied Research Consulting to lead a cohort of 5-6 mentoring programs through a year long evaluation process. 

Participating in this evaluation project programs would yield useful insight on the way individual, program and match characteristics inform two broad questions that are central to youth mentoring programs: 
  • How could programs maximize match quality for served youth?
  • How could programs maximize outcomes for served youth?
Participating programs should have over 35 active one-to-one matches and should demonstrate commitment to quality mentoring standards. If your program is interested in participating, please promptly  email Betsy Bilharz, Assistant Director of Program Services.