Mobis seeking applicants for the 2018-2019 Vermont Mentoring Grants

Vermont Business Magazine Mobius is excited to announce the start of the 2018-2019 Vermont Mentoring Grants application process. These annual grants are designed to support new and existing mentoring programs in Vermont that match adult volunteers as mentors for youth mentees (ages 5-22) in long-term, one-to-one, quality-based mentoring relationships.

The Vermont Mentoring Grants have traditionally been made possible through support from the A.D. Henderson Foundation, the Permanent Fund for Vermont’s Children, and the Vermont Department for Children and Families. During the 2017-2018 grant year, Mobius and its three funding partners awarded 31 grants, totaling more than $333,000, to support more than 100 new and existing mentoring program sites, and more than 1,800 adult-to-youth mentor pairs in communities across Vermont.

Potential applicants should contact Mobius at [email protected] by June 1 to express an intent to apply. Applications are due by August 3. For more information about the grant guidelines, and how to apply, please visit www.mobiusmentors.org/vermont-mentoring-grants.

This year’s grants are designed to provide continuing support for established programs that demonstrate they meet best practices, and assist in the planning and implementation of new programs.

All successful 2018-2019 grantees will commit to participating in Mobius’ K-12 Mentoring Initiative by collaborating with Mobius and other programs in their region to ensure that the youth they serve have the opportunity to continue meeting with their mentors through high school graduation. Programs that serve middle and high school mentees will commit to providing support and resources to youth and their mentors to help them explore post-secondary and career opportunities, and track their mentees’ high school graduation and post-secondary enrollment rates.

Additionally, grantees will demonstrate they are meeting best practices through the Quality Mentoring System (a program assessment system developed by Mobius and MENTOR, The National Mentoring Partnership), and commit to tracking and evaluating their program data through a Results-Based Accountability (RBA) process. Lastly, all funded programs will continue to use common questions from the Vermont Mentoring Surveys to survey their mentors and mentees, and track youth outcome data in the following key areas: resiliency; pro-social skills; future aspirations; connectedness to community; and attitude toward school.

According to the “Mentoring Effect,” a study released in 2014 by MENTOR (The National Mentoring Partnership), one in three youth in Vermont will enter adulthood without having a formal or informal mentoring relationship with a caring adult. National studies by MENTOR and Big Brothers Big Sisters demonstrate that youth with mentors are less likely to engage in risky behavior with drugs and alcohol, and are more likely to develop positive relationships with peers and adults, and pursue college and other post-secondary opportunities. Based on the 2017 Vermont Mentoring Surveys, youth supported by mentoring programs in Vermont are 48 percent more likely to feel like they matter to people in their community, and nearly 75 percent of mentors play a direct role in their mentee’s education.

Now in its sixth year as Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership, Mobius supports approximately 140 adult-to-youth mentoring program sites that serve 2,300 mentor pairs throughout the state. In addition to managing the Vermont Mentoring Grants, Mobius also offers technical support to program staff, maintains an online program directory and referral system for volunteers, manages a quality-based program management database, raises public awareness of mentoring, works with programs to ensure they are meeting best practices, and leads statewide mentoring initiatives. For more information about Mobius, and mentoring programs and initiatives in Vermont, visit www.mobiusmentors.org.