Become a Mentor: Friends for Youth

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Friends for Youth was founded in 1979 and has helped nearly 2,000 youth-in-need reach their full potential. Serving youth-in-need in San Mateo and Northern Santa Clara Counties, our mentoring program matches youth with adult volunteers. The youth in our program are referred by teachers, counselors, therapists, social workers, and other youth professionals. Our underserved youth may be facing problems at home with their families, struggling at school, or experiencing issues in their neighborhood.

1:1 mentoring is our long standing program that we have ran and perfected for over 40 years. We serve communities in the Bay Area from South San Francisco and Daly City down to Sunnyvale and San Jose. We match trained mentors with at-risk youth and they meet for 2-3 hours weekly for 1 year. Schedules are on a case-by-case basis and are coordinated by the Mentor, the Mentee, and the Mentee's family.

Our school-based group mentoring program is done at local high schools and middle schools in Los Altos, Redwood City, and Burlingame. The structure of the program consists of the mentors and staff meet with the group of mentees at their school. Sessions meet weekly and last for about an hour. Our program is supported by our social-emotional based learning curriculum, which allows us to focus on a certain topic for each session. We aim to have 2 mentors to every 5 kids, and the average group size is 10 kids.

These young people are need a positive and supportive adult in their lives. Volunteer mentors serve as a friend and role model, making a significant and measurable difference in a young person's self-esteem, social skills, school performance, and decision-making skills.

At Friends for Youth being a mentor means being a positive adult role model and a friend for youth in need. Mentorships do fun things together in their community. It does not take any specific skills or degree to be a mentor. Mentors receive training and consistent support while in the program, as well as resources for learning and activities.


Seeking Female Volunteers: Yes

Seeking Male Volunteers: Yes

Minimum Match Commitment (in months): 12 months or longer

Type of Mentoring: One-to-One, Group, Team

Youth Population Served: Academically At-Risk, Adjudicated/court involved, First-Generation College, Foster, Residential or Kinship Care, Gang At-Risk, Gang involved, General Youth Population, Homeless/Runaway, Incarcerated Parent, LGBTQ Youth, Low Income, Mental Health Issues, Physical Disabilities/Special Care Needs, Pregnant/Parenting, Recent Immigrant/Refugee, School Drop-Out, Single-Parent Household, Special Education, Youth with Disabilities

Mentoring Program Goals: Career Exploration, Education/Academic Support, Friendship/Socialization, Healthy Behaviors, Reduce Recidivism

Ages of Youth Served: 8-10, 11-14, 15-18