Youth Programs
Youth Mentorship Programs
A youth mentoring program costs less than almost anything else in youth work, and it keeps working long after the money stops.
Ours is built on staying in touch. Not a visit. Not an assembly. Not one inspiring talk from someone successful who never comes back.
What Mentorship is For
Most young people who drift out of education do not decide to. Nobody notices in time, nobody asks, and by the time it is obvious the student has already stopped thinking of themselves as someone who finishes things.
A mentor is a person whose job is to notice. That is most of the value, and it is why continuity matters more than the mentor's credentials.
Who JEPF Mentors
At-risk young people, primarily in Jamaica, whose schooling or next step is in question. JEPF also participates in educational and community work in the Washington, DC and Maryland area.
Who Does the Mentoring
JEPF's team includes educators and alumni of Howard University, the University of Maryland, and Georgetown University. Several team members also work as substitute teachers at local high schools including High Point, Roosevelt, and Northwestern.
That is team experience rather than an institutional partnership, and we state it that way deliberately. What it means in practice is that the people designing this work have stood in front of teenagers recently enough to remember what it is like.
Volunteering as a Mentor
Educators and former educators who can commit to regular contact.
Professionals who can speak credibly about a route into their field.
University students and alumni, particularly from the Caribbean community.
Community members who can offer consistency more than expertise.
How Donations Support Mentorship
Mentoring is cheap compared with most programming, but it is not free. Donations cover coordination, travel, materials, and the staff time that keeps a mentoring relationship from quietly lapsing.
The longer-term plan is to run mentorship out of the leadership training center JEPF is raising funds to build in Jamaica, so the relationships have a permanent home rather than depending on whoever is available that year.
Become a Mentor, or Fund One
Tell us whether you want to mentor, help coordinate, or support the program financially. We will follow up.
Common Questions
How does mentorship help at-risk youth?
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It puts an adult in regular contact with a young person, so problems get noticed before they end an education, and so the young person has someone to ask about what comes next.
What does JEPF ask of a mentor?
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Consistency. Regular contact over time matters more than credentials or a dramatic single intervention.
Do I need teaching experience to mentor?
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No. Educators are welcome and several JEPF team members are teachers, but reliability is the requirement.
Put an Adult in a Young Person's Corner
This is the cheapest thing we do and the one that lasts longest in a young person's life.