Help youth connect with mentors and learning in non-school programs

I've been involved with volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs since 1973 when I first connected with Leo Hall, who was in 4th grade at that time.

Leo's now over 50 years old and has two sons in college. It's this history that makes me so committed to helping well-organized, mentor-rich programs grow in all high poverty areas of Chicago and in other cities. 

Every August for the past 40+ years I've used whatever media was available to me in an effort to draw volunteers and donors to the programs I led in Chicago. In 1993 I created the Tutor/Mentor Connection (since 2011 the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC) to build a master database of Chicago tutor and/or mentor programs and a public awareness campaign that would draw more frequent attention to programs throughout Chicago, and as a result, help each program attract volunteers and donors.

Tramaine Ford and Dan at
Tutor/Mentor Conference in late 2000s

Today another former student, Tramaine Montel Ford, shared a video on Facebook, showing what an educator is doing at a school in Brooklyn, NY, to "Disrupt the School to Prison  Pipeline".

I hope you'll take a look.

This could  have been me talking about the programs I led,  or it could have been the leader of one of many other youth tutor/mentor programs talking about their own efforts to help kids through school.

These programs don't exist without a constant flow of support from volunteers and donors.

These are just a few who
can be found on Twitter.

So, please, browse the list of programs I show in my Chicago Programs Link, and pick one, or several, to offer your support.

You can also find some of these programs on my Facebook list and in my Twitter list. Some do a  much better  job than others in telling their story so there's an opportunity for volunteers with communications and web design backgrounds to help them in this area.

I recorded a short video to show where this link is on the Tutor/Mentor Connection web site.

While I'm trying to help youth tutor/mentor programs grow in Chicago and other cities, I need your help if I'm to keep doing this work and keep some of the resources on-line.  Please visit this page and support my "go fund me" campaign.