Mentor North: A One-to-One Community Based Mentoring Program Throughout the Twin Ports
Jordan Zabel | Published on 9/21/2022
Mentor North, the parent organization to Mentor Duluth and Mentor Superior, oversees a one-to-one community based mentoring program throughout the Twin Ports. Within our program we ask for mentors to commit to a one-year mentoring relationship during which they meet with their mentee for at least four hours a month. Once matched, our matches do a wide array of activities together such as hiking, fishing, baking, sailing, going to movies, and so much more. Truly, no two matches are the same within our program as we make sure to take the time to get to know all of our youth and mentors very well.
We know our work is extremely important to not only the matches we work with but the greater community. Research shows that when a youth has a mentor in their life they are more likely to hold leadership positions, finish schooling, and volunteer themselves. To mentor is the best way to give back and invest in your community. We ask all of our matches if they enjoy being matched and if that match has made a positive impact on their lives and all of them respond positively. All of this would not be possible without our amazing volunteer mentors. Last year our volunteers put in more than 3500 hours spending time with their mentees, who range in age from 7 to 17. We know that mentoring is a more intensive volunteering position but we are able to retain and recruit more volunteers due to making sure they know they are valued and are the reason we have our organization running. Mentor North is the only community based mentoring program in the Twin Ports and we do all this work to make sure the youth that want a mentor can have one.