It's one of those wonderful life milestone kinds of photos - the man bending down, helping the boy fix his tie. A lot of moms out there took this same photo this prom season.
But this one shows the relationship not of a father and son, but mentor and student.
This is Bob Suess fixing Devin's tie. They're out shopping, picking out something for Devin to wear to the big dance.
We are always looking for mentors for our kids, mentors to help get kids in foster care through high school and into college. They help with everything from completing FAFSAs to applying for scholarships.
Our agency partners with the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and others on a project called HEMI, the Higher Education Mentoring Initiative. HEMI matches some of our foster kids with long-term mentoring relationships that begin in high school and last through college.
But mentors become much more. They're surrogate parents, surrogate siblings, trusted advisers, friends. Our kids need all of those so badly.
Suess is a former teacher and administrator who built a career in education over more than 40 years. He says he always has believed that you have to take a holistic approach to helping kids if you want them to succeed academically. He mentors two teen-age boys through HEMI now - Devin and Antonio, who just graduated from high school.
Thank you to all those who mentor our kids in foster care. We appreciate all the tie tying and everything else you do to lift up these kids.
