Opportunity Title
Refugee Foster Care Mentoring and Tutoring

Opportunity Type
On Going

Duties of Volunteer
Refugee Mentoring: refugee youth in foster care, typically ages 16-21. The goal of this program is to help a refugee youth feel welcome and supported in the United States. By building a friendship through various fun activities and outings, mentors will also be able to introduce their mentee to life in their community and help them reach goals in preparation for independent living. This is a 1 year, 4 hour per month commitment. Refugee Tutoring: Help refugee youth, adults, or families learn English and work on homework or class-specific material. Typically afternoon or evening hours, but up to you and tutee. Tutoring most frequently takes place in the client's home or a public setting (library, etc.). Semester or school-year commitment, 1 hour per week. Mentors commit to spending 1 year with a refugee youth of their same gender for a least 4 hours a month. The goal of our mentoring program is to help our youth adjust to life in the U.S. and feel welcome here. You can accomplish this by exploring Grand Rapids together, doing fun activities like sports or bowling, or simply having a good conversation! Our program has a slight college/career focus, so we ask that during your year of mentoring you do three of those activities. That could include working on a resume, touring a college campus, or just sharing about your time in school or your career. As a Bethany mentoring team, we will provide a variety of free activities throughout the year that you can bring your mentee to. Our refugee youth are usually between 15 and 18 years old upon arrival, and they all came to the U.S. without any family or guardian to care for them. About 50% of them come from Central American countries (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador) and the rest come from a variety of countries including Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. A mentor is an additional support to a youth in our program, someone they can rely on and who can help prepare them for successful independent living. Our program is community-based and very flexible, which allows you to set your own schedule for mentoring as long as you're meeting 4 hours a month with your mentee. The mentor coordinator is available to guidance and support throughout the year, and you will be in charge of submitting monthly reports about how your mentoring experience is going.

Deadline to register
July 1, 2019

Contact
Joanne (Joey) Hulst
jhulst@bethany.org
616-965-8022

Details of special training
Interested parties will submit an application, have an in-person interview, background check, and attend a group training session.

Details of special skills
Spanish-language skills are helpful, but not necessary. Applicants should have experience with relationship building and interpersonal communication.

Is the location accessible by The Rapid?
No