Title
To honor and congratulate the Franklin County Children Services College Bound Mentorship Program on 25 years of committed service to the youth served by Franklin County Children Services.
Body
WHEREAS, Franklin County Children Services has a special appreciation for mentorship programs; the organization has been providing volunteer and mentoring services to enrich the lives of children being served in Columbus and Central Ohio for more than 50 years - youth mentorship programs help young people to improve their self-esteem and enhance their relationships with family members and peers, ultimately helping them to feel a greater sense of connectedness with their community and their schools - caring mentors offer youth valuable support, guiding them toward making positive, healthy life choices - mentoring programs also offer effective student interventions, improving student attendance and behavior, academic performance, increased high school graduation rates, and in a significant number of instances culminate in college attendance; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin County Children Services College Bound Mentorship Program was founded in 1996 in response to the community’s request to create positive, meaningful connections for youth in the agency’s custody; the program develops long term, structured, trusting relationships with youth, while providing support, guidance, instruction and advocacy to youth as they prepare for their careers; mentors teach youth about the many options that life holds for them and help youth to create strategies to achieve their goals; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin County Children Services College Bound Mentorship Program provides one on one mentoring services to the thousands of children who are under the care of Franklin County Children Services; program volunteers serve youth who may have experienced abuse, neglect or difficult conditions at home; the mentors serve as a positive force in the lives of the youth at a time that it is most needed; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin County Children Services College Bound Mentorship Program is one of the few programs of its kind housed within a child welfare agency - the program provides youth with life-changing experiences, moving them from a state of being at-risk to lives of promise, all through the power of relationships; College Bound Mentors begin serving agency youth at the age of 15; and
WHEREAS, Franklin County Children Services has expanded its scholarship opportunities for agency youth to now include the Alvin Hadley Scholarship, the CME Scholarship, and other Merit Scholarships; these funds provide additional opportunities for agency youth to pursue their dreams of higher education and receive support from college bound mentors from the community; and
WHEREAS, August 15, 1996 marks the anniversary of the founding of the College Bound Mentorship Program; Franklin County Children Services, in collaboration with the agency’s Citizen’s Advisory Board, authorized funds to develop the Jack Donahue Scholarship honoring the retired deputy director of the agency; College Bound mentors are assigned through the Volunteer’s Department; mentors are chosen from the original members of the FCCS Friendship Program; improving the opportunity for the success of the scholarship recipients; these mentors serve as liaisons to the Scholarship Committee as well as help youth navigate the higher education path; College Bound Mentors also serve as advocates - lending their voice of support to youth preparing for the transition into adulthood; their compassion and commitment serves our communities most vulnerable populations; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council does hereby honor and congratulate the Franklin County Children Services College Bound Mentorship Program on 25 years of committed service to the youth served by Franklin County Children Services.