Wanted:  Mentors
January 19, 2007, The Dunn Daily Record (North Carolina)

By REECE MURPHY

Sometimes all it takes to help a child get on, and stay on, the right track is a little patience, understanding and a good example. That's where mentors come in.

Defined as a "wise and trusted guide and advisor," a mentor can take children headed down a path of destruction and redirect them onto the pathway of success, by teaching them to use their full potential.

January is National Mentoring Month, and in celebration, the state's Governor's One-on-One Volunteer Program, an initiative dedicated to promoting and developing mentorship, is asking for the public's help by becoming mentors.

"We want to provide a structure for court-involved youth through mentorship and court guidance," said Shirley White-McNeill, program director for Harnett County Governor's One-on-One.

"Most important, we want to try and improve the child's attendance in school, their character, as well as their social and leadership skills," she said. "We try to reduce juvenile delinquency, undisciplined behavior and to try to increase the county's awareness of and involvement in the problems of the youth who are served in the juvenile system.

"In short, we want to help the kids achieve a more structured life," she said. "We want to help them become a more productive citizen of society."

John Woods, a counselor at Harnett Primary School in Dunn, has been mentoring kids for about five years. He said it was a mentor who made a difference in his life.

"I grew up without a father, so I know how many of these kids are feeling," he said. "When I was young man, I was a very angry young man.

"When I was in the military, I was trained as a crew chief for a C-130 aircraft," he said. "I had a trainer, his name was Humphrey, everybody called him 'Big Hump,' and he took me out behind a hanger one day and told me, 'Look, I've never had anyone fail under me, and you're not going to either.'

"He scared me to death, but he also helped me not only not fail, but he helped me become a man," Mr. Woods said.

Mr. Woods now mentors a child who is a student at Wayne Avenue in Dunn, 10-year-old Shawnathan Chance. Besides doing other activities together, Mr. Woods often visits Shawnathan for lunch at school.

"Sometimes we go to Chuck E. Cheese, and one time we went to see a plane at Pope Air Force Base," Shawnathan said. "It was cool because I always wanted to see a plane up close.

"The thing I like is because we get to go a lot of places," he said. "He's like my father because my real dad's not around."

"I come up and eat lunch with him about twice a month," Mr. Woods said. "We sit and talk. I think it helps him in his school work, in his home life, just all around."

Be A Friend

Donna Autry, an administrative assistant with the Dunn Parks and Recreation Department, said she became a mentor after Mrs. White-McNeill convinced her she was already doing it.

"She spoke with us here about it and I saw the need," Ms. Autry said. "You may say, 'I don't know how to do it.' But there are a lot of things that people are doing and they don't really even know they're mentoring.

"You just want to try to be their friend, and encourage them," she said of the youth. "You want to try and build up a trust between the two of you so you can offer them guidance."

Dunn Recreation Director Perry Hudson said he also has been doing that for years, and after speaking to Mrs. White-McNeill decided to sign up for the program officially.

"Those of us who have stable homes, clothes, people who love us, often take it for granted," he said. "There's many children who don't have any of those things. I think that's where mentoring comes in.

"We're blessed and you want to show that to the child," Mr. Hudson said. "You want someone to help them do homework, encourage them, take them to a football game. You won't be able to do that with every child, but you can for some.

"I can't help but think the program is going to help everybody, because these kids are going to be better members of society in general," he said.

Mrs. White-McNeill said the program is looking for as many adults to mentor children as are willing sign up.

The commitment is two hours a week for a year, spent doing anything positive and productive with the child. Volunteers will undergo training before being matched with the children.

"Both the child and the volunteer fill out paperwork that includes their likes and dislikes," Mrs. White-McNeill said. "I try to match them together using their interests as a guide."

Mrs. White-McNeill said the program has 30 to 40 children county-wide between the ages of 6 and 19, many of whom are waiting to be placed with a mentor.

"I have kids waiting to be mentored," she said. "Some are very eager and can't wait to be matched - every time I see them they're asking, 'Did you find anybody yet?'

"But I don't have enough mentors," she said. "This is National Mentoring Month and if you've ever wanted to help make a difference in a child's life, this is a good time to start."

For more information on mentoring a child, contact Mrs. White-McNeill at 893-3101.