The NC Mentoring Partnership is
the state advocacy group for mentoring. In North Carolina, the
Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service and Communities In
Schools of NC work together to help local organizations recruit, train
and retain mentors for youth. The National Mentoring Partnership
is our partner for technical assistance and support. Working with
schools, churches, local mentoring organizations, volunteer centers,
businesses, and other statewide agencies, the partnership helps conduct
statewide campaigns, provides technical assistance and training to
support mentoring in the state.
Mentor Recruitment/Matching
To meet its recruitment goal, the North Carolina
Mentoring Partnership recruits prospective mentors through national
and local public service announcements on the radio and television, has
a faith-based Outreach Program to reach members of the faith
community, and makes presentations throughout the state.
Public Awareness
A coalition of radio, TV, and print advertisers,
including outdoor advertisers, joined with Pepsi Bottlers of North
Carolina to launch a major advertising campaign entitled "Change the
Outcomes." Billboards appear on major highways throughout North
Carolina. There are three different versions of the billboard, each
depicting a child with a risk factor. For example one billboard is
divided in half: the left side shows a young girl who is pregnant; the
right side shows the same girl with a basketball. The tagline reads
"Change the Outcome-Mentor." Duke Energy provided funds to help pay for
the printing of billboards.
Resource Development
The partnership works with state government
agencies to include mentoring as a prevention strategy in all grants
and funding involving youth. This provides opportunities for local
agencies to apply for grants or other state funding at the local level.
The partnership is also working with the business sector and
faith-based groups to encourage funding and support for local mentoring
programs.
Public Policy
The Mentoring Council (The North Carolina
Mentoring Partnership: The Governor's Mentoring Initiative) was
established through an executive order, which gives it high visibility.
The council has instituted a state Employee Community Service Leave
policy that allows state employees to mentor for one hour per week. The
council also encourages all education and youth granting agencies to
include mentoring as a key prevention strategy, allowing local programs
to include mentoring in funding requests.
Tracking and Data Collecting
The council maintains a collection of all
mentoring organizations in the state. The database and number of
mentors and updated yearly.
