The Children’s Mentoring Connections of Hancock County gained a new home at The Family Center, 1800 N Blanchard St., in Findlay. The nonprofit celebrated the new location with a celebratory ribbon cutting ceremony.
Volunteer mentors are paired with children through this nonprofit organization. The organization was originally founded as a Big Brothers Agency in 1974, with the Big Sisters program added in 1978 and officially becoming an independent organization in 2004.
Through this program, volunteers help a child age six through 14, or a small group of children in this age group with their personal growth. Be it schoolwork, new hobbies, or introspective searching, children paired with the volunteer adults can receive whatever help they need.
Prior to the new office space, the Children’s Mentoring Connections of Hancock County operated out of a small space on East Lincoln Street by the Findlay YMCA. Now, the office is on North Blanchard Street, home to many other nonprofit organizations.
After hitting a snag during the coronavirus pandemic like many other organizations and businesses, the Children’s Mentoring Connections program is beginning to see the school-based mentorship program grow again.
Part of the growth comes from the new office space, which serves as a centralized location for the staff, volunteers and students to experience some consistency.
The staff encourages any students who are looking for help or an after-school program to reach out and get involved. On the opposite side, too, the Children’s Mentoring Connections program wants to encourage anyone interested in volunteering to check out the volunteer opportunities on its website.
If people are not interested in the school-based mentoring program, there are other programs to choose from like traditional mentoring, family mentoring, 2-2-1 buddies, and couple mentoring.
All volunteers must live or work in Hancock County and have good communication skills. To volunteer for the school-based mentoring program, you must be a high school student or older, display maturity and make an academic year commitment (28 sessions). To volunteer for the other programs, you must be 18 years or older with a valid drivers license, make a six month commitment and average two to three visits per month.
For more information or to volunteer, visit cmchancock.org or call 419-424-9752.
