National Cares Mentoring Movement Inc

Affiliate development and mentor recruitment and training: our work is only possible because of our local cares affiliate leaders, a volunteer army of caring and committed adults who recruit, train and deploy loving mentors, and our national community impact partners, from whom we recruit mentors and leverage reseach and healing-centered practices. We support and strengthen the leadership capacity of our affiliate network through monthly group teleconferences, weekly one-on-one support calls, dedicated staff support and annual all-affiliate training conference, which was held at columbia university in nyc in 2024. United by our principles and mission, our leaders across 58 u.s. Cities effectively recruit adults to serve as mentors and deploy them to schools and youth-support organizations that are in need of black volunteer mentors. Cultural competency is embedded in all affiliate activities and is necessary for volunteer engagement, education, and retention, and supported via community wellness and wealth-building circles (community circles).community circles provide a compassionate place for reflection and connection, where our mentors and other community leaders can learn to relieve the debilitating stress too many of us shroud in silence. With increasing training requests from other national youth-serving organizations and corporations, national cares continued to deliver workshops and professional development sessions at the national conferences of the boys & girls clubs of america, jack & jill of america, and at corporate employee resource group convenings in select u.s. Markets. These community wellness and workforce readiness gatherings facilitated the introduction of our group mentoring framework and practices.in 2024, we launched a partnership engagement piolt with delta sigma theta sorority, inc. In 14 u.s. Cities. Working with higher ed insitutions, employee resource groups, alumni associations, and other strategic partners, local cares affiliate leaders engaged, trained and deployed approximately 2,947 volunteer mentors to serve our children and parent learners, virtually and in-person, throughout our network.

University for parents:the university for parents (u4p) is designed to assist parents in overcoming systemic and self-imposed barriers to self-sufficiency and sustainability. The university for parents is a curricula-based, workforce-development and healing initiative that provides spaces for parent-learners to process trauma, re-awaken hope and learn a variety of skills that enhance their ability to secure fulfilling jobs with livable wages and engage in transforming their community. U4p works with community and corporate partners to provide wraparound services to parent-learners and their families and enrichment classes in literacy, parenting, money management, entrepreneurship, computer training and civic engagement. By participating in u4p, parent-learners develop job skills and are connected to programs that advance their ability to become employed. In 2024, over 220 parents enrolled in the virtual program, allowing us to reach more participants. And 80% of parent learners in the workforce development achievement track successfully obtained new or improved employment, allowing them to earn liveable wages. Signature events such as the annual empowerme conference, and classes for confidence, facilitated by sephora provided additional professional developmemt capacity building for parent learners.

The hbcu rising: a community schools-campus stem initiative: the hbcu rising aims to fill the pipeline of jobs which use stem skills, for which the representation of african american participation is by far the lowest of any ethnic or racial group. The three-tiered mentoring program uses corporate volunteers in stem-related professions to coach college students from historically black colleges and universities (hbcus), who in turn, mentor middle and elementary school students. The program helps to propel them toward social and economic mobility and instills critical-thinking skills, discipline, self-confidence, and a love for learning. Over 600 students, in atlanta, were served both in person and then virtually. Additionally, wellness mentoring circles and referrals to mental health resources were provided to the college-student mentors to help them to manage the stress created by the pandemic. A new program partnership with southern university-new orleans (suno) allowed us to recruit college mentors and pilot our hbcu rising programmatic expansion.

Expansion Projects