NEWSLETTER

2011 September

Mentoring


Company Logo
AFFEC Mentoring Newsletter 

September, 2011
Family Friendly Activites in Eugene, The Cascades, and Coast Region

 

Guided Bird Tour of Berggren Watershed Conservation Area
September 17, 2011 
Event Times: Saturday, 9 a.m. - noon 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: Berggren Watershed Conservation Area 
Address: Camp Creek Road, Springfield, OR 
Phone: 541.345.2799 
Enjoy a guided bird walk along the Lower McKenzie River led by McKenzie River Trust Board member and avid birder, Margie Paris. The tour will focus on the floodplain forest and farm field edges where many birds are found.

Kidical Mass: Pirate Treasure Hunt Ride
September 17, 2011 
Event Times: Saturday, 3 p.m. 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: Oakmont Park 
Address: Oakmont Road, Eugene, OR 
Ride to find buried treasure on this monthly ride to encourage families and kids to enjoy fun, safe, and legal rides together.

Nearby Nature Quest: Harvesting a Rainbow
September 17, 2011 
Event Times: Saturday, 10 a.m. - noon 
Event Admission: Free for members, $2; $5 family 

Location: Alton Baker Park 
Address: 2300 Leo Harris Parkway, Eugene, OR 97401 
Phone: 541.687.9699 
Sample garden goodies and learn about the rainbow of wonders that grows in the learnscape. Call to pre-register.

Third Saturday Bird Walk
September 17, 2011 - November 19, 2011 
Recurring monthly on the 3rd Saturday 
Event Times: Saturday, 8 a.m. 
Event Admission: $3 suggested donation 

Location: Meet at South Eugene High School 
Address: 19th & Patterson, Eugene, OR 97401 
Phone: 541.343.8664 
Bird walk for all levels, from first timer to expert. Enjoy exploring from the wetlands and the ponds & lakes for different species of birds. Rain or shine.

Timber! Poets from the Logging & Forestry Industries
September 17, 2011 
Event Times: Saturday, 3 p.m. 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: Springfield Public Library 
Address: 225 N 5th St, Springfield, OR 97477 
Phone: 541.726.3766 
Oregon logger Michael J. Barker and Oregon forester Michael Payne will be reading from their collections of poetry and prose.

Alpaca Sum'r Nights
September 18, 2011 
Event Times: Sunday, 6 - 8:30 p.m. 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: AlpacaCountry.net 
Address: 31869 Herman Road, Coburg, OR 97408 
AlpacaCountry invites you and your family for a picnic dinner. Lead an alpaca through an obstacle course. Enjoy our famous fresh potato chips and lemonades.

Lane County Historical Museum Open House
September 18, 2011 
Event Times: Sunday, 1 - 4 p.m. 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: Lane County Historical Society and Museum 
Address: 740 W 13th Ave, Eugene, OR 97402 
Phone: 541.682.4242 
To celebrate its' 60th Anniversary, the museum is open to the public for a
celebration. Enjoy music by the Old Time Fiddlers Association, a drawing for
an Oregon Sesquicentennial Pendleton blanket, along with cake, ice cream and party favors.

Family Fishing Day
September 24, 2011 
Event Times: Saturday, 11:30 - 3 p.m. 
Event Admission: $5 - $6 

Location: Willamalane Center for Sports & Recreation 
Address: 250 S 32nd St, Springfield, OR 97478 
Phone: 541.736.4544 
Spend the afternoon with the family fishing at the Leaburg Fish Hatchery. Rain or shine. Meet at the Willamalane Center. Register in advance

Harvest Festival
September 24, 2011 
Event Times: Saturday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: Gateway Mall 
Address: 3000 Gateway Street, Springfield, OR 97477 
Phone: 541.284.3201 
Enjoy games, crafts, a food drive benefiting Food for Lane County, along with other fun Fall activities at the mall.

Family Nature Discovery Day: Migration Station
September 25, 2011 
Event Times: Sunday, noon - 4 p.m. 
Event Admission: General admission + $2 activity fee 

Location: Cascades Raptor Center 
Address: 32275 Fox Hollow Rd, Eugene, OR 97405 
Phone: 541.485.1320 
Visit the raptors for this family fun day in nature. September is all about migration: be banded, hunt for 'mice' to prepare for your journey, and learn what it takes to head south for the winter.

Mountain Bike Day for Kids
September 25, 2011 
Event Times: Saturday, 9 - 5 p.m. 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: Greenwaters Park 
Address: Oakridge, OR 
Phone: 541.782.1022 
Guided rides, skills clinics, shuttles, races, food, live music, ecology and
trail-building rounds out this youth centric mountain biking day. Enjoy refreshments, raffles and more fun. Registration required. Some bikes provided.

Eugene Ballet Company Season Preview
September 29, 2011 
Event Times: Thursday, 7 p.m. 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: Wildish Community Theater 
Address: 630 Main St, Springfield, OR 97477 
Phone: 541.686.0689 
Enjoy a lively and entertaining preview of Eugene Ballet's 2011-12 season.
The evening combines an informational talk, dance excerpts and slides.

University of Oregon Campus Tours
September 13, 2011 - December 23, 2011 
Recurring daily 
Event Times: Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. &
1:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m. 
Event Admission: Free 

Location: Ford Alumni Center 
Address: E 13th Ave & Columbia St, University of Oregon campus, Eugene, OR
97403 
Phone: 541.346.3201 
Student Ambassadors offer 90-minute walking tours of the main campus. Available year-round except holidays.

Brain Builder Bonanza
September 14, 2011 - September 30, 2011 
Recurring weekly on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 
Event Times: Daily, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 
Event Admission: $4; members, children 2 and under free 

Location: The Science Factory Children's Museum & Exploration Dome 
Address: 2300 Leo Harris Pkwy, Eugene, OR 97401 
Phone: 541.682.7888 
Visit the summer exhibit featuring hands-on activities on a range of science and engineering topics: air table, nanotechnology, brain  teasers, etc.!
Donate to AFFEC

 

Would you like to contribute to AFFEC's cause for helping children? Any amount can have a lasting impact on a child. Click below!


Donatenow
Questions?

 

Feel free to call at 541-343-2856 or email:info@afamilyforeverychild.org

 

Few bonds in life are more influential than those between a young person and an adult. 

As you begin your journey toward becoming a mentor, you will need to thoroughly understand the role of mentoring. Look at a role you are already familiar with. Most of us have had a supervisor, a boss or coach who has made a positive difference in our lives. Those people wore many hats. They acted as, delegates, role models, cheerleaders, policy enforcers,
advocates, and friends. As a mentor you will wear these same hats.

Mentors understand the need to assume a number of different roles during the course of a mentoring relationship, but successful mentors also share the same basic qualities:
. A sincere desire to be involved with a young person
. Respect for young people
. Active listener
. Empathy
. See solutions and opportunities
. Be flexible and open

As you and your mentee begin your relationship; exploring values, interests and goals, you will find yourself making a difference and having a positive effect on their life. What you may also be surprised to see is that you will be learning more about yourself, too. Mentoring doesn't just affect the young person. Mentoring is a shared opportunity for learning and growth.
Many mentors say that the rewards they gain are as substantial as those for their mentees. Being a mentor enables them to:
. Have fun
. Achieve personal growth, learn more about themselves
. Improve their self-esteem and feel they are making a difference
. Gain a better understanding of other cultures and develop a greater appreciation for diversity
. Feel more productive and have a better attitude at work
. Enhance their relationships with their own children

Good mentors are willing to take time to get to know their mentees, to learn new things that are important to the young person, and even to be changed by their relationship. Accept the challenges and rewards of mentoring a young person and experience the benefits that will last each of you a lifetime. 

 

 

people

 


Angel and I entered our mentoring relationship three years ago. As Angel admitted to me recently, when she first met me, she just wasn't sure about the whole mentoring thing! She was 11 years old and in her 12th placement, and I was retiring from my work in the public school system. I hoped that serving as a mentor would provide an opportunity for me to continue to work with kids who have been handed a difficult path in life and can benefit from extra care and attention. Her caseworker felt that extra care and attention was something Angel badly needed. Angel and I now agree that our relationship is very special to each of us, and that we plan to remain friends forever.

Initially, I believe that the commitment to just spending time together regularly made it possible for us to get to know each other and work out our relationship. It took time for Angel to build the trust that I would be a lasting part of her life, and for her to feel comfortable sharing her feelings and ideas with me. Slowly we discovered things we both enjoy doing, like playing board games, shopping at Goodwill and garage sales, and
going out to eat. Angel invited me to her choir concerts at school; she spent time at my house and met my husband and other kids in my neighborhood. Bit by bit we became a vital part of each others' lives.

Angel has been in three different foster homes since she and I first met. As it has turned out, I have been able to provide her with stability during the difficult and anxious transitions she has had to make from home to home. Although she now lives an hour and a half away, our mentoring relationship is still a solid one. I know her foster family well and visit her in her
current home, and she spends weekends in my home on a regular basis. I have become someone who is knowledgeable about parts of her history, and whom she can talk to about experiences that no one else remembers. She also knows
that I can provide a safe haven when things in life become overwhelming to her.

It is truly an honor for me to be able to watch this amazing and resilient young woman as she grows up and figures out her life. Angel has a strong belief that "everything happens for a reason," and I think that the two of us happened to be chosen as mentor and mentee for a good reason. I have learned more from her than I ever thought possible, and I know she has
learned from me as well. We enrich each others' lives, and we broaden our experiences when we are together. I am grateful to AFFEC for providing this opportunity, and for the ready support they provide each time I have a question or request. I strongly encourage others to give mentoring a try - you will receive so much more out of the experience than you put into it!

Anne Moffet
   

Shawn - 10-year-old boy who lives in Beaverton, OR
Shawn is an active young man that loves video games. He likes to play sports. Shawn likes all animals and is very good with them. He lives with a single mom and needs a good male role model in his life.

Tyler - 13-year-old boy who lives in Eugene
Tyler would like to share a mentor with his brother, Brady. He likes to watch movies, play on the computer and loves video games. Tyler loves to swim and likes animals. He is an active young man.

Brady - 11-year-old boy who lives in Eugene
Brady would like to share a mentor with his brother, Tyler. Brady loves running and going to the park. He is talkative and likes video games. He has never been camping and would like to go. Brady likes to draw and read fantasy books. He likes to go to church and would like to go to church with his mentor.

Eric - 4-year-old boy who lives in Eugene
Eric would like to share a mentor with his sister, Allison. Eric is an adorable little boy that loves adult attention. He also likes playing with other children. He likes to be read to and likes to ride his bike. He is an active 4-year-old boy that likes to swim and run and play with animals.

Allison - 9-year-old girl who lives in Eugene
Allison would like to share a mentor with her brother, Eric. Allison likes to play with other children and is a very well behaved little girl. She is sweet and has a very warm personality. She likes to do arts and crafts and playing with dolls. She loves animals, bowling, camping and playing dress-up.

Ronald - 9-year-old boy who lives in Eugene
Ronald lives with his single mother and needs a positive male role model in his life. Ronald loves cars. He has a huge collection of hot wheels and legos. He loves his animals and is very active. He wants to try new things and likes to play outside. Ronald likes to skateboard and ride his bike.

James - 14-year-old boy who lives in Eugene
James is a very interesting young man. He has a lot of interests and wants to experience all that life has to offer. He likes Frisbee golf, baseball and loves to eat burgers. He likes school and is very talkative. James wants to learn how to weld and would love someone to help him learn to play the guitar better. He is an amazing artist that can draw and paint. He would prefer a couple as his mentor and would like them to come to his
school activities.

Adam - 16-year-old boy who lives in Eugene
Adam is a shy young man that likes outdoor activities. He plays basketball and loves to go to Duck football games. He likes history and would like help with his English homework. Adam likes to swim, bowl and play ice hockey. He likes to go boating and camping. Alex would prefer an African-American male mentor.

Mike - 11-year-old boy who lives in Springfield
Mike likes to talk and his favorite subject in school is art. He would like help with his math homework. Mike likes to play Frisbee golf, swim, bowl, and ride his bike. He loves the Oregon Ducks. Mike would like to learn how to play the guitar and the drums. He would like a mentor that will take him to church. Mike would like a male mentor.

Martin - 10-year-old boy who lives in Springfield
Martin is a very active young man. He likes to play outside and can walk for miles and miles. He likes to hike, ride bikes and skateboard. He has a very active imagination and makes up a lot of outdoor games. Martin loves pizza and cinnamon rolls. He wants to play football. He loves video games and going camping. Martin would prefer a funny male mentor.

Grant - 13-year-old boy who lives in Oakridge
Grant can take the bus from Oakridge to Eugene to meet up with his mentor. He would like to be a part of a Hispanic community and would like a bilingual mentor. Grant loves the Ducks and would like to go to any of their sporting events. He likes to draw and paint. He loves being outside and does a lot of trail riding on his bike. He would like a male mentor that will teach him new things and give him some new life experiences.

Mattie - 15-year-old girl who lives in Roseburg
Mattie is a very artistic girl. She loves pepperoni pizza and Chinese food. Mattie likes to ride horses, going for walks and to draw. She would like to learn how to cut glass and more about graphics. She likes music , shopping, and spending time at Crater Lake. Mattie would like to be a vet when she grows up. She would like to volunteer with animals. 

Clara - 15-year-old girl who is in a group home in Portland
Clara will be moving to Cottage Grove in the next few months. She really needs a supportive adult in her life as she has no family at all. She would like someone to come visit her in Portland and spend some time with her. Clara is allowed off site visits. She likes to shop, socialize and listening to music. She needs a mentor that will start visits in Portland and will then continue with her when she moves to Cottage Grove.

Isabel - 10-year-old girl who lives in Cottage Grove
Isabel is a very active young lady. She loves to talk, dance and playing imaginary games. Isabel is a very talented artist. She loves to draw, make 3-D crafts and paper sculptures. Isabel likes to swim, read comic books and eating candy. She loves Chinese food and Home Town Buffet. Isabel needs a mentor that will stick with her. She's been through a lot of changes and needs a consistent adult in her life.

Alex - 16-year-old boy who lives in Springfield
Alex is an active 16-year-old boy that is working on his Eagle Scout Badge. He lives in the country and would like a male mentor that likes to do a lot of different activities. He likes the outdoors but also likes playing video games and watching movies.  

 
Special Activity Coordinator 
Help mentors/mentees with special projects

Coordinate setting up sites and materials for the mentors/mentees 

Coordinate quarterly community service projects for the mentors/mentees to do together

Life Skills Coordinator
Help coordinate the Life Skills Program
Reach out into the community to find people that can teach different life skills to the youth
Keep the youth and foster parents up to date on where, when and what classes will be offered each month

Mentors 
Youth are matched with an adult volunteer mentor who has similar interests, by spending time together forming a friendship. We ask that the mentor spend approximately 10 hours a month with the youth doing things like: visiting parks, sports activities, watching a movie, doing homework, or talking about what life has to offer the child. These are just examples; many more options available. The mentor and the mentee will decide what activities to do together to build a lasting bond. The mentoring program is designed to bring stable, long-term relational support to foster youth. mentoring relationships can provide stable emotional support, increase self-sufficiency and expose foster youth to new cultures and experiences, thus broadening their vision of "what could be" in their lives.

Caseworker Referrals for youth in the Portland Area

Mentors can play a valuable role in a youth's life.

A Mentor can be many things to a foster youth:
A stable adult - Foster youth are often overwhelmed with the rotating cast of caseworkers, foster parents, clinicians, legal advocates, and other professional adults that may be a part of their team. A mentor serves as a continuous source of support. 
.A positive role model - Foster youth need positive relationships with adults they can learn from and grow with. Mentors can model appropriate behavior, provide guidance and advice and enable foster youth to form healthy relationships with adults they trust. 
A source of happiness - In addition to the practical roles mentioned above, a mentor can also bring joy and fun to a foster youth's life. Simply bringing some laughter and entertainment to a foster youth's day can help foster normalcy in childhood experiences. 

Mentoring makes a big difference: When kids enjoy a regular, positive activity with an adult over the course of a year, those kids are 46% less likely to begin using drugs, 27% less likely to begin using alcohol, and 52% less likely to skip school. This decreases drug-related suspensions, drug-related crime, and the number of babies born drug-affected. Children guided
by positive role models are more likely to improve their academic performance, make better decisions, have more self-confidence, and a sense of belonging. Foster youth with a mentor tend to have better relationships with parents/caregivers, teachers and peers. They are also more likely to attend and graduate from college.

 

The Bachscore: Ducks assistant Scott Frost speaks about mentoring teen 

 

Published: Wednesday, September 07, 2011, 7:00 AM Updated: Wednesday, September 07, 2011, 7:04 PM

  

By Rachel Bachman, The Oregonian 

 

On June 30, Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy headlined an event at Imago Dei Community Church in Portland that aimed to find mentors for boys in need. In the course of introducing Dungy, Oregon assistant football coach Scott Frost spoke of the need he sees daily for male mentors and told a remarkable story about his reaching out to a young man.  

 

Frost so far has declined all media requests to elaborate on the story. But at that large, public mentor-recruiting event, Frost drew a poignant sketch of his relationship that deserves a longer look. Here are Frost's words from that day, edited for length and clarity. 

 

I have a real passion for this and it's for several reasons. The first reason is, probably two of the greatest examples for me in my life that I've ever been around both have a real heart for mentoring, and that's Coach Dungy and my coach at University of Nebraska, and that's Coach Tom Osborne.  

Coach Osborne started a deal at Nebraska called Teammates, which is nothing but doing the same thing at Nebraska that this project's trying to do here in Portland. Coach Dungy's written a book about mentor leadership.  

 

The second reason is what I see on our football team all the time. These young men are desperate for leadership.... They're desperate for someone to show them that they're capable. They're desperate for people to show them how things are done.  

 

And I see it day in and day out on our football team and the others that I've been on, that the men on our team that are accomplished, that are disciplined, that don't have problems, that make their way through life easily, the guys that are really on point on our team and every team that I've been on are guys that have strong fathers in their home.  

 

I will tell you with almost 100 percent accuracy, the kids that have problems, either academically or disciplinary problems, all of them didn't have dads. And if they did have a dad, they had a weak dad that wasn't involved or he was an enabler. Almost every single one of them. Consequently, the coaches have to kind of take on that role of being mentors and being father figure-types.

 

I was lucky enough to have a great father. Most of these kids we have problems with weren't. And to me, that was a huge motivation to get involved with something like this. Just seeing the guys on my team that didn't have it and the effect it had on them.  

 

If you're around it every day like I am, it's amazing to see. I've been involved a lot of my life in mentoring. I did it at Kansas State with Big Brothers Big Sisters. My next coaching job was at University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. And I was with Big Brothers Big Sisters.  

 

Probably the best experience of my life in regards to mentoring has happened at Oregon. I got to Oregon and I decided I wanted to do it again. Went to a guy named James Harris that does great things for our program, that kind of works with outreach programs, and I said I wanted to mentor someone. He suggested I get involved with a group called A Family for Every Child that does basically what Big Brothers Big Sisters does but does it with foster kids.  

They set me up with a kid named Chris, who was a sophomore at the time at Willamette High School in Eugene, Ore. Chris is a great kid. I really don't know how he turned out as well as he did. He's been in and out of foster homes his whole life -- five different ones, I think. Love Chris to death. I ended up being a mentor to him for about two years.  

 

He came to all the Ducks games. He's a huge Ducks fan. We'd go do other things together. He was on the (Willamette) football team. He was on the bowling team, so we bowled a lot.  

 

(After a problem at his foster home), the State of Oregon asked me to take Chris in as a foster child. I had all sorts of excuses why I didn't want to do that. I'm single. I'm living in a place by myself. I work 14 hours a day during the season to try to get the Ducks ready to win games. On top of that I've never cooked a meal other than macaroni and cheese.  

 

Well, Chris ended up going with a friend and his parents, and they made him live in the garage. About two months after that, the mother of the house had a nervous breakdown and threw him out. I mean, just literally threw him out, and he didn't know where to go. And (the state) came to me again and I was finally convinced that this kid needs me.  

 

He was in his senior year of high school and they were going to send him to Utah. I finally said to myself, 'I need to stop making excuses and live up to this.' I took Chris in. I've been a foster parent since December, and it's the best thing I've ever done.  

 

I forget who said it, but a quote that I really like is, 'Don't make the mistake of doing nothing because you can only do a little.' I'm not there for Chris as often as I'd like to. But because I'm there for Chris, I've seen changes.  

Not only that, it's been one of the best things I've ever done for me. Because I'm starting to realize the value of having someone completely depend on me, and the impact that I can make on someone.  

My point is: Stop making excuses why you shouldn't.  

 

Chris recently started his freshman year on the football team at a small college outside Oregon. Frost planned to buy him a truck that could handle snow. Under the "Personal" heading on Chris' online player profile page it says, "Son of Scott Frost."  

 

The Mentoring Project is a Portland-based nonprofit aiming to end its list of 1,000 area kids, most of them boys, waiting for mentors. It still is taking volunteers. 

 

-- Rachel Bachman

 

 
A Family For Every Child | 880 Beltline Road | Springfield, Oregon 97477 | 541-343-2856

 
This email was sent to scott@afamilyforeverychild.org by heather@afamilyforeverychild.org |  
A Family For Every Child | 880 Beltline Road | Springfield | OR | 97477