Mentoring Connection

In April 2005 New Concept Self Development, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin celebrated the kickoff of their mentoring children of prisoners program, Mentoring Connection, in conjunction with the commemoration of their 30-year anniversary. Rev. Dr. W. Wilson Goode, Sr. was the keynote speaker and brought the 175-person crowd to their feet. June Perry, the agency’s executive director, says the event was a great success and that they are still receiving calls from interested volunteers. Although Mentoring Connection mainly recruits volunteers from the general community rather than congregations, Rev. Goode was glad to speak at the event in support of their program.

“It’s not important whether the program is an Amachi modeled program,” says Rev. Goode. “It’s not important whether the program is faith-based. What’s important is that we help the children. It’s all about the children.”

There are currently two other mentoring children of prisoners programs in Milwaukee, both of which recruit volunteers from the faith-based community. By recruiting from a different population, Perry sees the opportunity to extend the volunteer base for such programs throughout Milwaukee. New Concept Self Development is currently running a radio and television ad for Mentoring Connection. The ad is running on FM stations and cable for the first 30 days and on AM stations and network television for the following 30 days.

Advertising is “worth the expense,” says Perry. The agency wrote advertising into their budget and received grant dollars for the expenditure, along with funding for the print ads that they have placed across the city. “Getting the word out is really important,” says Perry. “I get comments from people who say, ‘I really like that program; I can’t be a mentor, but what else can I do’?” For instance, someone in charge of a walk/run for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) suggested forming a team composed of mentors and children that UNCF could highlight during the walk/run, according to Perry.

New Concept Self Development began the Mentoring Connection in February 2004 and as of May 2005 the agency had 60 matches. They fully expect to meet their goal of 100 matches by the end of July. Perry attributes the agency’s success to their 23 years of experience running other mentoring programs and to the reputation of New Concept Self Development. Another key factor that has contributed to the achievement of the program, says Perry, is that the agency serves children in other areas besides mentoring. The agency operates numerous programs that are grouped under three divisions, Division of Social Services, Division of Youth and Education Services, and Division of Mental Health and AODA services. Referrals of children from these social service programs make up fifty percent of the children in the Mentoring Connection program.

When advising other agencies on how to create successful and sustainable mentoring children of prisoners programs, Perry says it is key to have an advisory committee with connections. Members of Mentoring Connection’s 16-person advisory include the chief probation officer for the Milwaukee County detention center, an assistant fire chief, an assistant police chief, and the chair of the Democratic Party for Milwaukee County, as well as other key stakeholders. Although the committee’s first official meeting is June 8, they have already started working on the program’s behalf. Perry says that she was recently notified by a committee member of potential state funding for Mentoring Connection: “So just that kind of connection with people who think about—well maybe there’s another way that we can get some money for (Mentoring Connection), that’s really important.”

Summer 2005