YMCA’s Reach and Rise looking for more mentors for children
Reach and Rise at the Butler YMCA will once again include a one-on-one mentorship element, which the agency has not offered with the youth mentoring program since 2018.
Jessica Burr, clinical director of the Butler YMCA, said Thursday, Jan. 4, there will be six one-to-one matches between mentors and children by the end of January, and the program is looking for more mentors to pair up with children.
“We do have training for group mentors starting in the middle of January, then we’ll be starting training for one-to-one mentors in February,” Burr said. “We are helping them to build relationships, to have a positive role model that they can learn things from; talk about social skills and providing them with the skills they need to reach their goals.”
Her comments followed a proclamation read at the YMCA at 339 N. Washington St. by Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy for Reach and Rise month in the city. The proclamation recognized the program and encouraged others to join during January, which is National Mentoring Month.
According to Burr, Reach and Rise is a national program that aims to provide support to children ages 6 to 17 who may be struggling because of socio-economic circumstances. The YMCA also has a group mentoring Reach and Rise program, which has had more than 150 children enroll in it since 2018.
Reach and Rise administrative assistant Jerry Johnston said mentors get extensive training for working with children who enroll in Reach and Rise. Burr said being a mentor to children has been one of the best experiences of her life, and some children who go through the program become mentors in the future.
“The group I co-lead has five kids, ages 11 to 13,” Burr said. “The backgrounds of some of the kids are far from ideal, but during the past 12 weeks, I heard them express how important the group is for them in various ways.”
Kelly King, Reach and Rise program manager, said they will start a new location for the program at Karns City Area Jr./Sr. High School in February, opening slots for more children to be involved in Reach and Rise.
The group program has a spring cycle, summer cycle and winter cycle. The spring cycle will begin in February, and there will be four sites for the program with the addition of Karns City.
Larry Cicco, a member of the youth mentoring advisory committee, said Reach and Rise grew out of the YMCA’s old Big Brother and Big Sister program, which also involved one-on-one mentoring.
King added that she has seen children become more confident in themselves as they stay involved in Reach and Rise.
“Maybe they come in and they’re a little quiet, they really start to come out of their shell, start to express with themselves more, connect with the other kids and make new friends,” King said. “That’s a big goal of the program is to be able to make new friends and try new things too.”
People who want to become a Reach and Rise mentor at the Butler YMCA can contact any member of the Reach and Rise team, including Burr at jburr@bcfymca.org, King at kking@bcfymca.org, and Johnston at jjohnston@bcfymca.org.
