In This Together
In the City That Makes a Difference Through Mentoring
I
n an effort to make a positive difference in the lives of Wilmington’s youth, Mayor Baker last month launched a new drive for city employees and residents alike to join a new mentoring initiative. The drive will supplement other mentoring efforts currently underway. Mayor Baker hopes to ultimately identify 500 additional mentors to work with youths in the city. “Many organizations in Wilmington and Delaware, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters and Connecting Generations, have had mentoring programs for years,” Mayor Baker says. “Recently, Lt. Gov. Denn launched a statewide effort to find mentors. As part of our desire to support these efforts and reinvigorate the city’s own corps, I’m asking city employees and city residents to seriously consider becoming mentors.” In late 2008, Mayor Baker issued an executive order establishing the Greater Wilmington Mentoring Commission, a group of businesses, educators, and community leaders charged with the coordination and facilitation of mentoring programs for school-aged children. The commission is working to establish a citywide network of mentors to provide school-based and communitybased mentoring to help youths build academic, social, and life skills. “Our children represent the future of Wilmington,” Mayor Baker says. One-onone mentoring, he further notes, has proven effective as a kind of social intervention, leading children to more successful paths in life. “If we’re to continue prospering in the future, we must provide our youths with the guidance they need to become well-educated, responsible, and productive citizens able to achieve their full potential. Time and again, oneon-one mentoring from positive role models has proven its value in keeping children in school, promoting higher learning, and decreasing the likelihood of drug and alcohol use and other undesirable behaviors.” in
City residents interested in mentoring should contact either Big Brothers Big Sisters (bbbsde.org) at 998-3577 or Connecting Generations’ Creative Mentoring program (creativementoring.org) at 656-2122.
AUGUST 2009 | 25 magazine
08_Wilmington_InThisTogether.indd 3
7/24/2009 5:03:54 PM