Learn more, volunteer as a mentor (504)836-8700

	Children with incarcerated parents are innocent, but they face tough challenges.  Without intervention, they have a 70 percent chance of ending up behind bars. Volunteers of America is working to change this tragedy.

Post-Katrina, this program — which matches caring adult mentors with youth — is more important than ever because of the disruption of community life and the stress and displacement experienced by so many families.  Mentors volunteer to give these young people extra acceptance, attention, encouragement, guidance and hope. 

Who are the mentors?  People like you who care enough to break the cycle of violence and show innocent children a better way.  All it takes is a couple of hours a week. 

Children and mentors meet weekly for at least an hour at one of the sites made available by churches, Catholic Charities and Xavier University.   Once the relationship between child and mentor has matured, mentors take the children on outings to enjoy activities together.  The churches participating are members of the Communities United and Empowered (CUE) network.

The program is financed by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s Administration for Children and Families, bolstered by in-kind resources of $350,000 a year.