Wellness & Mental Health
Together We Can Youth Mentorship Program
Become a mentor!
The program
Together We Can Youth Mentorship Program is a free program that supports high-risk Black, African, and Caribbean youth, ages 15-25, by helping them to make healthy and safe life choices.
The program aims to help improve the emotional well-being and support the positive development of its youth participants by increasing access to consistent, caring adults who will support them to pursue and achieve goals and successful outcomes related to:
- Education
- Employment or entrepreneurship
- Civic engagement
- Leadership
- Cultural identity
The program’s activities are culturally focused with an anti-Black racism lens to assist youth in developing positive life skills, resiliency, and overcoming barriers to their success including systemic racism. Activities include:
- Group mentoring with peers
- Workshops, events, and field trips
- Cultural projects
- Community activities
- Academic and employment support
The overall goal of this program is to eliminate outcome disparities seen in areas such as high school graduation rates, post-secondary education attendance, employment rates, and to improve the emotional well-being of its youth participants. The Youth Mentorship Program aims to achieve this by providing:
- A sense of belonging and community
- A strong cultural identity
- Advocacy skills to aid in increasing and encouraging civic engagement and leadership skills
Becoming a mentor
This program only works due to the assistance of dedicated and compassionate adult mentors. Mentors are matched with a mentee and are provided with assistance and access to relevant resources to help them build a strong understanding of the mentee’s developmental needs. Mentors receive training to familiarize themselves with the mentoring process, expectations and skills.
To become a mentor you must be:
- 25 years or older.
- Have knowledge of issues faced by Black, African, and Caribbean youth.
- Police clearance to work with the vulnerable sector.
- Able to commit for 1 year of weekly contact with your mentee.
- Able to attend orientation, training, and ongoing workshops and special functions.
- Able to initiate or attend community events for mentees.
- Able to provide timely reports, and monthly check-ins.
- Willing to adhere to Health & Safety protocols.
