When kids come to Youth Villages, they’re in need of a place for healing.
The nonprofit is dedicated to helping children who experience emotional and behavioral issues and disorders, abuse, substance use, or suicidality.
The Youth Villages facility in Douglasville doesn’t look like a stereotypical psychiatric resident facility; while there, children will enjoy 1,200 acres of experiential therapy services, schooling, animal therapy with horses and dogs, ropes courses, a lake for canoeing, and much more. The most impactful part of their time at Youth Villages, though, may come from the facility’s mentorship program.
“When you’re experiencing mental health challenges alone, it can be a very lonely feeling,” Katrina Word, the Mentor Program Supervisor at Youth Villages Georgia, told Georgia Voice. “There’s something about a volunteer who has chosen to mentor you and shares their experiences with you and encourages you through the changes you’re going through that can’t be replicated anywhere else.”
Mentors visit with their mentees for four to six hours a month, taking them out for activities like the zoo or the movies, and generally support them during their time at Youth Villages – and the relationship makes a huge difference in the mentees’ lives. According to data provided by Youth Villages, 93 percent of participating youth reported grades of C or higher, 87 percent reported non-involvement with the law and no suspensions or expulsions from school, 92 percent reported no use of illegal drugs or alcohol, and 92 percent felt the mentor relationship was beneficial to them.
With several of the more than 130 kids currently at Youth Villages being LGBTQ+, the organization is currently in need of more LGBTQ+ mentors.
“We do have youth that are gender fluid or gender questioning or trying to discover themselves where they belong in this world, and they’re looking for really open and nonjudgmental and trustworthy, kind adults to support them throughout this process,” Word said. “You can share [your] wisdom with someone who might be experiencing the same challenges that you faced when you were younger. There’s something about a youth knowing, ‘My mentor has been through what I’m going through. My mentor has experienced what I’m experiencing, and they’re telling me that it gets better.’”
TES, an award-winning motivational speaker and advocate for suicide and bullying prevention, has been a part of Youth Villages’ mentor program for the past two years. She had a mentor when she was younger who changed her life and called it an “honor” to offer similar support to today’s generation.
“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for having a mentor or just having somebody who saw more in me when I didn’t see more in myself,” TES told Georgia Voice. “When I had the opportunity to become a mentor after I’d been a mentee for so long, it was monumental to me to be able to pour that back into the next generation.”
TES encourages other people to become mentors, not only to make a difference but for the opportunity for necessary connection.
“Now more than ever, we need connection – not just to our generation, connection to all generations,” she said. “If you’re finding it hard to connect with the younger generation who you could be potentially hiring [or working with], I highly recommend becoming a mentor to understand the challenges that these kids face, to understand the music they’re listening to, to understand who they are, to understand their inside jokes, so when you do finally hire [or work with] them, you can see them. You’re not talking at them, but you’re able to talk to them heart-to-heart instead of on a subordinate level.”
People who are interested in mentoring, open-minded, consistent, and can commit to supporting their mentee throughout their time at Youth Villages can apply here. After you apply, Youth Villages will conduct a background check and an interview before a three-hour training, then you will be paired with a mentee whose personality and needs align with you.
There’s so much knowledge to be gained from working with these kids,” Word said. “They’re just amazing human beings, and the fortitude, the ability to overcome obstacles in their lives and the ability to find joy in each day and trust an adult even when their history indicates that they maybe can’t trust adults, it’s wonderful.”
Learn more about Youth Villages at youthvillages.org.
