Foster care volunteer mentors needed

Are you ready to ignite the potential in a young person’s life as we navigate this challenging time? Roughly 400 youth are living in foster care in the Mat-Su Valley. Many have asked for mentors they can talk to, rely on for advice, and spend time with as they get ready for adulthood challenges. We want our youth to succeed and clear the extra obstacles many of them face. That challenge is perhaps greater now than ever given the stress and change in life we’re all facing.

There’s a way you can help Mat-Su youth in foster care achieve more success and increase happiness in your own life. All it takes is a few hours a month to become a mentor. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska connects volunteer mentors with foster youth between the ages of 14-21 through its SYNC initiative.

The SYNC initiative came from a proposal by foster youth themselves. Life can be lonely when you don’t have a parent to help you. The impact is evident as we see the happiness these matches have created for youth and adults alike.

Adulthood presents challenges and opportunities, and foster youth often have no consistent adult figure in their lives when they leave foster care. Most of us had an adult we could rely on, usually parents, as we made that transition. That’s too often not the case for our foster youth.

Big Brothers Big Sisters has an electronic application, matching process, and support to ensure matches stay connected and comply with local COVID ordinances. Investment now can defend the potential of a youth who is asking for your help. That relationship will grow during these difficult times and into the future.

There is a brief application process and training specific to working with youth in foster care. It’s important for youth in care to know we have enough trained, ready, and willing adult SYNC mentors, so they don’t have a long wait when they express interest in joining. Having mentors ready to be matched is essential for youth who’ve lived with much disappointment in life.

If you are ready to enrich the lives of foster youth, and likely your own life, please visit www.bbbsak.org/become-a-big/ to learn more about becoming a SYNC mentor today. You can also contact SYNC Coordinator Kristin O’Meara at kristin.omeara@bbbsak.org or by phone at (907) 290-7670. If it’s not the right time for you now, maybe you know someone who wants to become a mentor. Please let them know about this opportunity.

Life can be hard. We all know it’s harder for some people than others. But there are things we can do to make those lives better. We wish you the best during a difficult time for many of us.

Heather Harris is the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska, is a former Big, and has been a foster parent. Les Gara is a former legislator and foster youth and helped found this volunteer mentorship initiative at the request of current and former Alaska foster youth.