There are kids on waiting lists who need an adult friend, a mentor, someone willing to spend at least two hours once a week with them, having fun and hanging out - you know, just being there.
     These particular 9- to 14-year-old kids live in the Montpelier area, and as of mid-August, there were 5 girls and 3 boys on a waiting list at Girls/Boyz First!! Program coordinator Wendy Farber says she hasn't done any outreach yet, and still there's that waiting list in addition to the 25 sets of paired kids and mentors already enjoying each other's company.
     It's not so much that she's got lgbt kids to pair with queer adults, she says, but that she needs adults who either don't have kids of their own or whose kids have grown and gone. The kids come from different populations, so the mentors should too, she indicated. Both mentors and kids are screened, and the mentors receive 3 hours of initial training, with additional support and training offered during monthly meetings. Unlike parents of newborns, mentors also get a manual, though it's more about procedures and policies than parenting.
     The Vermont Mentoring Partnership, which supports and works with 136 mentoring programs statewide, quotes data from a 1995 Big Brothers/Big Sisters study that kids who have mentors are 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs. They're also 53 percent less likely to skip school.
     What does a mentor do? Well, anything that's either free or doesn't cost much: hike, bike, swim, rock-hunt, gardening, crafts, or building stuff for summer and fall; trips to the library, bowling, cross-country skiing, skating, museums, more crafts are typical for winter and early spring. The mentoring experience is similar to being a Big Brother/Big Sister.
     Girls/Boyz First!! is funded by Central Vermont New Directions and The Community Connection using a mix of federal and state funds. Mentors commit to a year with a child. If you're interested, call Wendy Farber at 802-229-4798 or email her at wlsubaru@aol.com