Boston – Silver Lining Mentoring was spared a 5% cut from their FY18 Mentoring Matching Grant award last month. Mass Mentoring Partnership (MMP), a statewide organization fueling the movement to expand empowering youth-adult relationships across Massachusetts, used private funds to close a gap of the state’s final FY18 budget cutting the Mentoring Matching Grants from $500,000 to $475,000. Through the use of private operational funds, MMP was able to close the funding gap. Silver Lining Mentoring is one of 32 mentoring programs throughout the Commonwealth to receive a Mentoring Matching Grant award for the FY2017-18 cycle.
Serving as the only state funding dedicated to mentoring, the Mentoring Matching Grants line item (7061-9634) is a competitive grant program designed to create and support mentoring matches. Over the last 17 years, this investment has supported over 10,000 mentor matches and in achieved many positive outcomes for youth, such as improved attitude towards school and classroom behavior, increases in self confidence, self efficacy and positive attitude about the future. With this funding, Silver Lining Mentoring has been able to dedicate resources to volunteer recruitment and outreach, leading to an increase in both the number and diversity of mentor candidates, and more connections between youth in foster care and committed, consistent adult mentors.
“Silver Lining Mentoring is the only mentoring organization in Massachusetts to exclusively serve youth in foster care, and we depend on stable funding to meet their unique needs,” SLM Deputy Director, Julie Asher, said. “Our training and support of mentors ensures that they will provide stable and lasting support to their mentees, who often face a great deal of uncertainty. As the population of young people who experience foster care in Greater Boston grows, so does the need for critical, sustained support by mentors.”
Mass Mentoring Partnership believes that every young person has the right to access high-quality developmental relationships, and it is the responsibility of stakeholders in communities across the Commonwealth to help meet the needs of youth. In this two-year grant cycle, Mass Mentoring Partnership will continue to build relationships with legislators in the House and the Senate to raise visibility on the importance of this funding.
“The state has cut critical funds to mentoring,” MMP President and CEO, Marty Martinez, said. “We had to step up to make sure that more youth do not end up on wait lists like the thousands of young people from Boston to the Berkshires who are already in need.”
To learn more about the Mentoring Matching Grants line item, please visit: massmentors.org/advocacy.
| About Silver Lining Mentoring
Silver Lining Mentoring (SLM) empowers youth in foster care to flourish through committed mentoring relationships and the development of essential life skills. SLM is the only mentoring organization in Massachusetts that exclusively serves youth in foster care. We create a community of consistent, adult support for youth in foster care, enabling them to build the self-confidence, life skills, and emotional well-being they need to become independent adults. |
About Mass Mentoring Partnership
Mass Mentoring Partnership (MMP) is fueling the movement to expand empowering youth-adult relationships to meet the needs of communities across Massachusetts. MMP serves more than 250 programs statewide supporting over 33,000 youth in quality relationships. We work with mentoring programs and youth development organizations to assess programmatic needs and organizational capacity to provide customized strategies that strengthen youth, families, and communities. www.massmentors.org
