Volunteers Needed for Pilot Mentoring Program

2009-07-20 03:43:50 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Dallas, News)

Wired PR News reports North Texas volunteers are needed for a pilot mentoring program.

A program to help foster kids with life skills is in need of volunteers.

Press Release Service – Wired PR News – A program designed to help kids in foster care transition into adulthood is in need of volunteers. As reported by the Dallas Morning News, Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas has been provided up to $240,000 in state grant funding, which will help support a program for teens 14 and older who may need preparation for leaving the foster care system when they become of age.

As noted in the report, the organization is working with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to provide mentors for as many as 200 youths as part of what is said to be the first program of its type that focuses on foster children. As many as 25,000 young adults are said to age out of foster care annually nationwide, according to statistics, with many ending up homeless, incarcerated, or without a high school degree.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas President and CEO Charles Pierson is quoted in the report as stating of the program’s need, “I know I need a support structure with family and friends… To not have that at any age, let alone at 18, I can’t imagine what that would be like and feel like.”

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