Mentoring by Modem
From Foster Care to Professional Life
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According to Jean Rhodes, mentoring expert and author of Stand by Me: The Risks and Rewards of Mentoring Today's Youth, mentors can play a very important role in the lives of foster youth as they make the transition to adulthood. "This is a period of vulnerability for all kids," Rhodes says, "but the issues are highlighted for foster children."
Orphan Foundation of America executive director Eileen McCaffrey has also seen first-hand the importance of a caring adult in the lives of foster youth, many of who grow up moving through foster homes, group homes and residential treatment centers.
"They don't see people sitting around dining room table paying bills, planning for vacation next year, they're not learning by example," McCaffrey says. "They don't really know what it takes to be an adult."
But the supply of traditional mentors may not be enough to serve the needs of children leaving foster care as young adults, particularly males. "It could be said that most mentors recruited nationally would prefer to be matched with younger children, and that the number of women volunteering to be mentors is far greater than the number of males," says Mary Furnas, an independent consultant who works with agencies that promote the use of technology with foster youth.
"The number of youth in foster care waiting for a mentor grows long," Furnas says. "The number of older youth in foster care waiting for a mentor grows even longer."
A March 2002 report from the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago concurs that foster youth have acute needs when it comes to moving out of care and into professional life. The study shows that youth aging out of foster care in California, Illinois and South Carolina were under-employed, earned significantly less than low-income youth who were not coming from the foster care system, and had average earnings below the poverty level.
The eMentoring program helps foster youth prepare for work life by matching them with mentors based on their professional interests. For example, Ahlgren's interest in computers led him to Robinson, who encouraged him to start his own Web design company, Guamboy Technologies, last year. The company has a few loyal clients who "keep the expenses covered," Ahlgren says. So far, he has built over 15 web sites and hopes to expand in the near future.
Bill Sisson, a computer sales consultant, wanted to mentor a young person, but frequent business travel prevented him from committing to regular one-on-one meetings. For the last six months, he has been an eMentor to Joe Kelley, a junior at Western Washington University.
Kelley's major is accounting, and he envisions himself in a business career, although like many college students, he's not exactly sure what kind. Sisson suggested that in lieu of Kelley's job washing cars, he apply for work at Costco. Kelley pursued it and got the job.
"It's an opportunity to work in a professional environment," Sisson says, "and demonstrate some skills that will push him along in corporate environment."
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: From Foster Care to Professional Life
Page 3: Log in and Make a Connection
Page 4: Online or in Person?
By Julee Newberger
Reprinted by permission from www.connectforkids.org.
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