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POWER 4 Youth
© 2008
Revised 4/22/08
POWER 4 Youth
Welcome to POWER 4 Youth! We are one of the largest mentoring programs in the communities we serve serving adolescents and teens since 1999. During the past nine years, more than 200 at-risk, primarily low-income students have been served by volunteer mentors through POWER 4 Youth.
POWER 4 Youth educates youth and builds a stronger community through one-on-one academic mentoring to at-risk teens in the Long Beach, Lakewood and Fullerton, California areas. The mission of POWER 4 Youth is to assist middle and high school youth through providing academic support, encouraging academic achievement, and connecting with caring adults who serve as mentors. Pairing adult volunteers with teens from at-risk neighborhoods throughout the community, POWER 4 Youth focuses upon academic achievement and self-development. Although founded by the Presbyterian Church, it is not a church program: There is no religious affiliation requirement, evangelical focus or proselytizing component. The program is available to all students.
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Our Goals |
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To provide under-achieving students academic mentoring and assistance; to establish one-on-one relationships between youth and adult mentors; to support and collaborate with the school district and other youth-serving agencies; and to help students explore opportunities for further self-development. |
History
POWER 4 Youth began providing tutor/mentoring in the fall of 1999. However, its history goes back to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Shortly after the riots, eight Long Beach area Presbyterian Ministers got together to ponder how such a thing as the riots could happen. They not only wondered why, but also mused about what they could have done to prevent such an event. What could they do now to prevent further violence and desperation? They became especially focused on the need to reach young people before things get so out of hand. The Pastors realized they had a real heart for reaching kids before trouble started.
From these discussions, two small programs were born. At one church, a program reached out to the community’s African-American youth. Another church lent assistance to Cambodian young people. The focus was to reach the kids “on the edge,” not teenagers already in trouble, but youth whose lives could go in any direction, depending upon the influences the kids experienced.
As time would have it,
one church closed. In its closing, the church sold their property, using
the proceeds to create an investment fund with the purpose of continuing this
vision of serving Long Beach youth. The leaders of the church did not want
to see the vision die, and wished to leave a hopeful and positive legacy in an
otherwise painful situation.
With the influx of long-term
funding, and with growing awareness of the great numbers of youth needing basic
guidance and tutoring, POWER 4 Youth was created. Beginning with six pairs
meeting on Thursday evenings at Covenant Presbyterian Church in downtown Long
Beach, to today, serving forty-five youth each week at three locations.
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POWER
4 Youth |
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The best way to describe the program is
to hear from participants themselves. One student, Katie, put it this way:
"I have been in POWER 4 Youth for about two years and it has helped me A
LOT. I no longer feel like I am alone in the world and that no one cares. I
finally found someone who I can trust and who likes me for me. My grades
have gone from D's with two F's to all B's with an occasional A. I am also
learning to overcome my fear of getting to know people and have made a
number of new friends...I really like my mentor and I only wish I could have
found her sooner." |