Boys' Mentors

The Girls' and Boys' Mentoring program is based out of Alexandria's Community Lodgings, a nonprofit devoted to empowering families out of homelessness and instability through education and affordable housing. Mentors meet once a week in a group setting for approximately one and a half hours. The groups serve students in grades 6-12 who come from families identified as homeless or low-income. Our mission is to provide a long-term, structured relationship between individual mentors and mentees and the entire group, to increase the program participants' self-esteem, emotional well-being, and social connectedness. Both the girls' and boys' programs focus on building relationships, all while in a group setting. We typically have five mentors for every 10-12 mentees, and while it is mostly group mentoring, some mentors and mentees have formed one-on-one relationships. Activities include special events such as baking, movie nights, snow tubing, and group workouts. Program participants take part in life skills lessons, discuss hypothetical situations such as how do you handle yourself if someone confronts you at school, and plan for post-secondary education and career opportunities.