Local mentoring program provides guidance to youth without a father figure

Once again, Mark (his name has been changed) sat at home alone with nothing to do. He was putting off his homework, playing video games and watching TV. As he was wasting his time, continuing in a downward cycle, there came a knock at his door. Matthew Lowe, a volunteer with the Safety Net Mentor Program, was there to spend the day with him at Lagoon amusement park.

Lowe, and many others locally volunteer with this nonprofit organization helping at-risk children in the community to shape their lives more positively. The majority of these kids come from a home where their father is absent.

Lowe said the experience he has had with his mentee has been rewarding.

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“As we started working together I noticed that the biggest influence that I had on his life was that I interacted positively with him and that’s really all he needed from me,” Lowe said. “He needed an adult who would treat him with respect and value him as a person because he hadn’t gotten a whole lot of that.”

This experience was new for Mark because he came from a different family life, Lowe said.

“One thing that I’ve seen a lot of is the effect that a rough environment in the home has on a child because in that environment they are taught to feel negatively about themselves,” Lowe said. “They go to school and they act negatively because that’s how they identify themselves and their teachers and their peers respond in the same way.”

Lowe said the program offers kids something they can’t have in their home environment. Through the program, children are treated with respect and value.

The Safety Net Mentor Program attempts to match youth with responsible and concerned adults who will provide support and guidance. To strengthen the program, Safety Net Mentoring is hosting a pie and ice cream recruiting party tonight.

Safety Net Mentor Program director Karla Sedillo said the program needs more volunteers to improve the lives of the local youth.

“The event was a great success last year but many of our mentors have graduated or moved away,” Sedillo said in a news release. “We are always in need of new volunteers, we never want to turn a kid away. The more mentors we can get, the better off our community will be.”

The event will be tonight from 7  to 8 in 3238 of the Wilkinson Student Center. For more information on the event or the program, visit safetynetmentor.org.