Milagro Center Receives Major United Way Grant to Become Mentoring Host Site

The grant, which totals $110,000 per year for up to three years, will greatly expand and enhance Milagro Center’s existing mentoring program.

By: Jan. 17, 2022
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Milagro Center Receives Major United Way Grant to Become Mentoring Host Site

Milagro Center has received a major grant from United Way Palm Beach County to become South Palm Beach County's Mentoring Host Site for 11- to 18-year-olds who are directly involved with or at-risk of entering the Juvenile Justice or Dependency system, the organization announced.

The grant, which totals $110,000 per year for up to three years, will greatly expand and enhance Milagro Center's existing mentoring program to better serve at-risk children and teens in the most economically challenged neighborhoods of South Palm Beach County, according to Barbara Stark, President and CEO of Milagro Center.

"At Milagro Center, we have seen first-hand that mentoring can have an extremely powerful effect on the life trajectory of at-risk youth," said Stark. "It is our goal to ensure that each one of our students has the opportunity to build a positive, trusting relationship with an adult mentor to set their lives up for continued success in school and beyond."

According to "The Mentoring Effect," a national study conducted for The National Mentoring Partnership, "The consistent, enduring presence of a caring adult in a young person's life can be the difference between staying in school or dropping out, making healthy decisions or engaging in risky behaviors, and realizing one's potential or failing to achieve one's dreams." The problem is that a significant mentoring gap exists - especially for at-risk youth. The study reveals that more than one in three young people - an estimated 16 million - never had an adult mentor while they were growing up.

"Studies show that when structured mentoring is used as an intervention strategy, young people are 81% more likely to participate regularly in sports or extracurricular activities, 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities, and 55% more likely to attend college," Stark pointed out.

The Mentoring Host Site (Hub) Program launched on December 1, 2021 and will be in full swing by the beginning of 2022.



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