Mentoring Today is a 501(c)(3) organization.
Mentor Role
  • Take the lead in supporting a young person through an ongoing, one-on-one
    relationship during the difficult time of community re-entry and hopefully for years to come.
  • Serve as a loyal friend, confidant, and advisor.
  • Be a teacher, guide, coach, and role model.
  • Give what you know with no expectation of reciprocation or remuneration.
  • Strive for mutual respect.
  • Build the relationship by planning and participating in activities together.
  • Help the mentee develop and accomplish goals and increase self-esteem.

Desirable Qualities
  • Good listener.
  • Prompt, consistent, and dedicated.
  • Creative problem solver.
  • Encouraging and supportive.
  • Patient and flexible.
  • Tolerant and respectful of individual differences.

Time Commitment
  • Though we encourage mentors to form lifelong relationships with youth, each mentor
    must make a formal one-year commitment.
  • Attend two initial four-hour training sessions and at least two quarterly in-service training
    sessions throughout the year.
  • For the first four months of your mentoring relationship, be available on Thursday
    evenings from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. to travel to Oak Hill Youth Center in Laurel, Maryland.  
    Mentoring Today will provide transportation.  
  • After the mentee is released from Oak Hill, commit a minimum of three hours per week
    to the mentoring relationship.  Mentoring takes place at our center and throughout the
    community.
  • Submit weekly mentoring logs.
  • Participate in feedback sessions with Mentoring Today staff.

Participation Requirements
  • Be at least 21 years of age.
  • Reside in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.  Living or working in DC is strongly
    recommended.
  • Be interested in working with young men in the juvenile justice system.
  • Adhere to all Mentoring Today policies and procedures.
  • Complete the application and screening process.
  • Have a satisfactory criminal history.  
  • Not use illicit drugs.
  • Not use alcohol or controlled substances in an excessive or inappropriate manner.
  • Not currently be receiving treatment for substance abuse.  If a substance abuse problem
    has occurred in the past, the applicant must have completed a non-addictive period of at
    least five years.
  • Not currently be under treatment for a serious mental disability or have been hospitalized
    for a mental disability in the past three years.
  • Not have falsified information during the course of the screening process.

Benefits
  • Personal fulfillment by contributing to an individual’s life and to the larger community.
  • Satisfaction in helping someone mature, progress, and achieve goals.
  • Participation in a lively mentor support group.
  • Personal ongoing support and supervision to help the match succeed.
  • Mentee/mentor group activities, such as field trips and complimentary tickets to
    community events.
  • Training on topics such as adolescent development, public safety, DC’s juvenile justice
    and child welfare systems, and social services available in the community.

Application and Screening Process
  • Complete written application.
  • Submit to criminal history check.
  • Participate in personal interview.
  • Provide three personal references.
  • Attend two four-hour mentor training sessions.

We would love for you to apply!  To download our mentor application, click here.  If would like
more information, please contact Whitney Louchheim at whitney@mentoringtoday.org or
(202) 678-9003.
2309 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., SE  •  Washington, DC  20020
(202) 678-9001 (office)  •  (202) 678-9005 (fax)  •  info@mentoringtoday.org