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News & Events

[ CLOSE ]Christian Mentors Hires First Full-Time Employee

New Director Coming Aboard

January 15, 2008
As part of our continued growth and vision for the Lord's work in this ministry, we have hired our first full-time employee. Robert Manno joins Christian Mentors from the world of business and Emergency Medical Services, where he served in such capacities as Firefighter/Paramedic, and Operations Manager. Most recently he brings global business experience from the private sector, and hopes to use all his gifts for the glory of God's work. Having a full-time employee will enable Christian Mentors grow exponentially from a volunteer basis to a full time, fully functioning organization.

[ VIEW ]Organizations Develop Partnerships to Reach Area Youth

Press Release

January 18, 2008

In October 2007, Birth Choice of Temecula and Christian Mentors (CM) began a powerful new partnership to provide mentoring to public and private school kids between 4th- 8th grades.

We anticipate this joint program, complete with qualified, adult mentors that have received thorough background checks, will help to ensure that referred kids are receiving a quality mentoring relationship. All kids will be referred by their parents, school teachers, guidance counselors or youth leaders.

All children will be mentored in public settings and will have at least one hour of quality mentoring each week to help them improve their self-esteem, focus their interests, improve their GPA's through reduced absenteeism, reduce high risk behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, criminal activity and other behaviors that take their focus off academic achievement. Focusing on extra-curricular activities that kids are interested in, we are able to make a difference in their futures, along with support from their parents and the school systems. Help us help your kids through a mentoring program that provides additional support to kids who at risk or who are already participating in high risk behaviors.

We are also looking for mentors who are willing to mentor at least one child for one hour of mentoring each week for one year. We will train all motivated adults, 18 or over, who have a strong desire to help children and have a clean background check. All mentoring will be performed with written parental approval and parents or legal guardians must transport the child to the mentoring session or make personal arrangements for transportation.

There will be a training for interested mentors Friday February 22 at 7:00pm. For the location of the training or for further information on this Mentoring Program for Kids between 4th -8th Grades contact the program director Robert Manno at 951 926 0856 or sign up at ChristianMentors.org.

CM, based in Menifee California, recruits trains, fingerprints, and performs thorough background checks on Christian, volunteer mentors who make a one-year commitment. The goal of the program is to supply practical tools and guidance to strengthen the family unit by teaching adolescents how to become responsible, productive adults. CM matches children with a compatible mentor who befriends him or her and meets one-on-one with the child at pre-approved, public locations (office, parks, restaurants, etc) in the Riverside County area. The mentor and student spend time on school work and engage in activities (such as playing sports and games, eating together, talking) that help build a strong relationship.
Birth Choice of Temecula, one of the mentoring partners, provides educational books, DVD’s, video’s and brochures to help educate on teen abstinence and the high risk of STD’s in today’s world. Birth Choice provides information and counseling to help deter children from high risk, sexual behaviors; prevalent in today’s teens. Birth Choice can help reduce teen pregnancy and STD’s such as HIV/AIDS, HPV and others by educating children on the importance of abstinence until marriage. Note: Birth Choice of Temecula will only educate Children if the parent requests and approves of this. Birth Choice Office: 951-699-9808

[ VIEW ]Mentor Program Getting Past Growing Pains

A Press-Enterprise Article

February 13, 2008
Erica Shen
Press-Enterprise
Brian Bovee, 37, founder of Christian Mentors, still remembers the organization's first event when no one showed up. Four years have passed since that first event and the program that had only eight mentors now has about 40. Christian Mentors is a program that provides spiritual and moral support for orphans and children from single-parent families.
The organization provides training, fingerprinting and background checks for all potential mentors. It matches mentors with children in Riverside County, according to their geographical location, interests and schedules.
Thanks to a grant from the Department of Education, the volunteer-based organization was able to hire its first paid employee.
"You spend a few years finding out who you are and working out the kinks, but we are ready to take it to the next level," said Robert Manno, 37, director of Christian Mentors.
Dedicated mentors are at the core of the program, Bovee said. The organization is always looking for Christians who are interested in becoming a positive role model for a child.
Cathy Bates, 47, of Hemet, has been a mentor for a little more than a year.
"My two sons are grown and have left the house and it's just neat to have a young child in my life and do something for her," Bates said.
She and Jessica Prado, the 9-year-old child she was matched with, did everything during their weekly meetings. They flew kites, read books at the library, played soccer and went fishing, Bates said.
Prado caught her first fish with Bates.
"I think I give her some stability and I think the most important thing is that she can feel God's love through my life," Bates said.
Although mentors are only required to spend one year with the child, most of them extend their relationship beyond that commitment, Bovee said.
Eric Mascho, 14, and his mentor Joe Tretter, 31, are an example.
The two started their mentorship about four years ago and instantly became friends. They worked on school assignments, played sports and went fishing. Tretter included Eric as a junior groomsman in his wedding.
"I have seen him grow so much and look forward to watching him grow even more," Tretter said. "The possibilities are endless with him and if he continues to make good choices, there is no telling how great of a person he will become."
Mascho's mother, Kimberly Glass, 45, said she is thrilled to have Tretter as a positive figure in her son's life.
"Talk about two peas in a pod," Glass said. "My son glows and he smiles when he is going to see Joe."
Eric struggles with his school work, but his grades would go up every time after he sees Tretter, Glass said.
"He (Tretter) tutors me but he never gives me the answers," Eric said. "He just gives me the tips and shows me the steps and lets me find the answers myself. Plus we have a lot in common. We just share a good vibe together."
The next step for Christian Mentors is to revamp its Web site, update its phone system, work with other organizations to reach more children and bring the organization that started in Hemet to the national level, Bovee said.
"There isn't a nationwide Christian mentor program and we think there should be," he said. "We believe Christians should be mentors who can positively influence kids in need." For information about upcoming mentor orientation, call 951-926-0856.
For More Information: Click Here
Related Documents: PE Article 2-14-08.pdf

[ VIEW ]Christian Mentors Begins Construction of New Web Site

New Web Platform Will be State-of-the-Art

February 24, 2008
Christian Mentors is happy to announce our new website will be coming in the Spring of 2008.
Thanks in part to a grant provided by the US Department of Education, our new state-of-the-art
website will enable us to bring our ministry to a new level, with plans to reach children in need on a
national level. Be sure to check back periodically for developments!

[ VIEW ]Organization Seeks to Reduce High Risk Behavior

A Valley News Article

April 25, 2008
Christina Macone-Greene
Valley News

Birth Choice of Temecula, a nonprofit pregnancy resource center and ministry, is adding another exciting dimension to its organization thanks to a recent US Department of Education mentoring grant.
“In October 2007, Birth Choice was approved for an educational grant that is allowing us to manage an expanded mentoring program with Christian Mentors of Hemet,” said Jennifer Cartell, executive director of Birth Choice. “This program will offer nocost mentoring to families with children in fourth to eighth grade who are in need of support.”
This mentoring program, explained Cartell, will help diminish high-risk behavior that leads to excessive absenteeism and low grade point averages (GPAs).
“The grant requires a review of baseline GPAs and absenteeism and improvement resulting from the children’s meetings with a volunteer,” said Cartell.
This volunteer will be an FBI-screened mentor.
The new program is gaining momentum. It strives to decrease high-risk behavior, promote children’s wellbeing and empower them to reach for their dreams.
“Our volunteer mentors will be able to help these children achieve measurable success,” Cartell said. “Parents, schoolteachers, counselors, pastors and other community members will also benefit, as they will have a place to refer potentially troubled youth or for youth who have high-risk circumstances.”
The grant that Birth Choice received is in the amount of $197,000, said Cartell, but the funds are kept at the US Department of Education.
According to Cartell, the funds are only distributed as the mentoring is completed, and moreover, most of the money will not be used by Birth Choice.
“The [funds] will come in over the period of one year and will be distributed to the mentoring organizations and for mentoring only,” explained Cartell.
Being a Christian-based nonprofit, Cartell said they will use the money to provide mentoring to all children, regardless of race, religion or nationality.
“Our services are free and confidential,” she said. “Government monies will only be used to facilitate mentoring of kids with signed permission from their parents.”
In the grant process, Birth Choice teamed with St. Anthony’s of Long Beach and Christian Mentors of Hemet. This partnership was advantageous, explained Cartell, because the other institutions already had seasoned, successful mentoring programs.
“Both of these organizations had the ability to mentor children, collect report card baseline information and past academic success and train volunteer mentors to mentor children at no cost,” said Cartell. “Additionally, [St. Anthony’s and Christian Mentors] already had the infrastructure in place to collect and report data, collect mentoring session information, ensure thorough background checks [including fingerprinting] and communicate a positive program to the community.”
Cartell said Birth Choice is ecstatic to be under the same mentoring “umbrella” as these other organizations because their reputation and ongoing success helping children and families has been outstanding.
Mentoring that will take place through Birth Choice may be done at their location; however, Cartell said that mentoring may also be done off-site. “Most of the mentoring will take place at public places, such as athletic events, public park activities, restaurants or other places agreeable to the parent and the mentor.”
The activities that mentors will conduct with children will be fun and uplifting, Cartell said. The mentor, she explained, will serve like a big brother or big sister for the child. “The mentor will help [the child] feel good about themselves, avoid high-risk behaviors and strive for academic excellence,” said Cartell.
For this grant, the age group Birth Choice will work with is a critical one. In their professional experience, they typically see girls 14 years of age and younger already involved in high-risk behavior.
This behavior can involve drugs, alcohol and sexual activity. It is the goal of the group to reach out to children early on, before high-risk behaviors manifest.
“It is our hope that we can help kids and parents avoid these high-risk behaviors altogether through mentoring,” said Cartell. “Often, parents are at their wits’ end, not sure what to do with their troubled child and helpless to find the answer; our volunteer mentors will help them find the answers.”
Some professionals contend that children are, at times, more willing to “open up” to a mentor than a parent.
Even though the grant focuses on children in fourth through eighth grade, Christian Mentors enrolls kids ages 6 through 18, said Cartell.
Like any nonprofit, there is always a need for dedicated volunteers. “The public can help by signing up to be a volunteer mentor, spending one hour per week for one year to help a child succeed; they can also refer their children to the program or tell other parents, teachers or counselors about it,” said Cartell.
To learn more about this mentoring program, log on to www.christianmentors.org.
For more information about Birth Choice, visit www.birthchoicetemecula.com or call (951) 699-9808.
For More Information: Click Here
Related Documents: Valley News Article 4-25-08.pdf

[ VIEW ]Mentoring Organizations Unite

Mentoring Fair

May 01, 2007
Several local faith based and community based mentoring organizations in Riverside county are coming together for a few mentoring fairs to take place in May. Heres a look at the dates and times…

Saturday May 5th 10-12pm Bible Fellowship Church, Hemet
Friday May 11th 7-9pm Revival Church, Menifee
Friday June 15th 6:30-8:30pm Rancho Community Church, Temecula

At the fair various faith based (ie Christian Mentors) and community based (ie Big Brothers of Inland Empire) mentoring organizations will be represented and all will have an opportunity to discuss their unique mentoring programs. Potential mentors will then have an opportunity to interact and, if desired, sign up with a mentoring program. Parents are also encouraged to attend the sessions to learn more about mentoring opportunities in this area.

Organizations attending the fairs are Christian Mentors (based in Menifee, CA), Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Inland Empire, and Mentoring Today for Tomorrow (based in Temecula, CA), and Hemet Unified 21st Century Afterschool Program.

Individuals or organizations who are interested in learning more participating in the mentoring fair may contact info@christianmentors.org or call 877.721.7256.
Individuals or organizations who are interested in learning more participating in the mentoring fair may contact info@christianmentors.org or call 877.721.7256.

[ VIEW ]Christian Mentors Presents Dr. Jeff Meyers

A Free Webinar

September 21, 2006
In James 1:27 the bible says that “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless.” Christian Mentors (CM) is inviting potential mentors, churches, and parents to attend an online webinar on Christian Mentoring. Attendees will learn how hear from Dr. Jeff Myers about a strategy developed by Passing the Baton Intl. that has been used to mobilize people in churches and Christian schools to become mentors. The Passing the Baton strategy involves five steps that allow people to become more involved—and more deeply trained—over time, which a goal of preparing teachers and parishioners to equip the next generation of culture-shaping leaders. Focus: what PTB has learned in developing its one-day workshop, what PTB has learned about breaking down the barriers that stop people from committing to mentoring, and how PTB uses a “coaching” approach to help organizations discern the steps they should take to embrace mentoring and discipleship. For more info on PTB visit www.passingthebaton.org.

To participate in the webinar attendees will just need a phone and, ideally, a high speed internet connection. On the day/time of the conference attendees call a toll free number and will be conferenced in with all the other attendees. Attendees will then be given a website to access where the presentation can be viewed online. All attendees must enroll online to save a space in the webinar.

Heres a look at the important details…
Webinar date: Tuesday October 17, 2006
Webinar time: 2:00 PST
Enroll online: www.christianmentors.org/webinar

CM recruits trains, fingerprints, and performs thorough background checks on Christian volunteer mentors who make a one-year commitment. The goal of the program is to supply practical tools and guidance to strengthen the family unit by teaching adolescents how to become responsible, productive adults. CM matches children from single parent families or alternative care homes with a compatible mentor who befriends him or her and meets one-on-one with the child at pre-approved public locations (parks, restaurants, etc). In addition to discipleship the mentor and student spend time on school work and engage in activities (such as playing sports and games, eating together, talking) that help build a strong relationship.

will just need a phone and, ideally, a high speed internet connection. On the day/time of the conference attendees call a toll free number and will be conferenced in with all the other attendees. Attendees will then be given a website to access where the presentation can be viewed online. All attendees must enroll online to save a space in the webinar.

Heres a look at the important details…
Webinar date: Tuesday October 17, 2006
Webinar time: 2:00 PST
Enroll online: www.christianmentors.org/webinar

CM recruits trains, fingerprints, and performs thorough background checks on Christian volunteer mentors who make a one-year commitment. The goal of the program is to supply practical tools and guidance to strengthen the family unit by teaching adolescents how to become responsible, productive adults. CM matches children from single parent families or alternative care homes with a compatible mentor who befriends him or her and meets one-on-one with the child at pre-approved public locations (parks, restaurants, etc). In addition to discipleship the mentor and student spend time on school work and engage in activities (such as playing sports and games, eating together, talking) that help build a strong relationship.

[ VIEW ]Christian Mentors Holds "mini" Summit

Featuring the debut of our Affiliate Program

September 26, 2008

Christian Mentors is very excited to announce the introduction of our new mentoring Affiliate Program! If you are a church or other organization interested in offering your own Adult or Youth Mentoring program, but don’t want to “re-invent the wheel”, you can’t miss this informative meeting and “mini Summit”!

By becoming a Christian Mentors Affiliate Program, our partnership and our “plug-n-play” portal will allow you to benefit from the following features: Automatically handle mentor and mentee intake via online application Process FBI fingerprints and background checks Automate orientation and training Automate the "ushering" along of the process "Your next step is..." Manage all participants in a very comprehensive and complete admin area Offer searchable and viewable profiles of participants Automate collection of data for metrics and reporting Collect reference letters automatically via triggered email, deposited into a viewable database online Offer tools and resources to mentors in the Lounge Offer automated screening, browsing, and matching and connection services for adult mentors and mentees seeking accountability and/or adult mentoring
Your organization can duplicate all of these services, for only $25 per month (or discounted rate of $250 per year) flat fee (plus the cost of fingerprints). However, if you come to the informative meeting, you will be offered an opportunity to try the service free for two months.
We will be holding a gathering of community resources at Temecula Community Church Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 10:00 AM, and Friday, November 14, 2008 10:00 AM at Bible Fellowship Church in Hemet to do a live demo and answer your questions.
Please plan to come to one of the meetings, regardless of whether or not you think you can use this program. You will have an opportunity to meet other commuinty organizations and leaders. We also want to connect with you to discuss how we can recruit mentors and mentees from your organization if you don’t plan on starting your own program. Please be sure to check us out on the web under Affiliate Program for more details on our program, and please RSVP to help us better serve you!