HELP USA Announces National and International Expansion Plans for Mentoring USA

Mentoring USA pairs at-risk youths across the country with inspirational adult mentors who can guide them in developing better self-esteem, creating healthy relationships, and making positive life choices.  The program serves young people, ages 7 to 21, in public schools, foster care agencies and community centers at the US and European sites.  Mentors are trained at HELP’s Mentoring USA Training Institute where the curriculum incorporates the important elements of B.R.A.V.E. (Biased Related Anti-Violence) diversity training, financial literacy, and healthy lifestyles and self esteem.  Participants learn about best practices in mentoring, including: the role of a mentor, building relationships with mentees, and the importance of communication. Similar training is given at Mentoring USA Italia’s international sites across Europe.

Matilda Cuomo, Founder of Mentoring USA and Former First Lady of New York, said of their expansion, “The continued growth of Mentoring USA, especially in a time of increasing instability and need, shows our unwavering commitment to our children and their futures in cities across this country and beyond its borders.”

 The growth of HELP’s Mentoring USA program is an indication of the mentoring movement sweeping the nation and the world.  Please visit http://www.mentoringusa.org/ to learn more about the organization and mentoring in the US and abroad. 

About Mentoring USA:

Mentoring USA, founded by former first lady of the state of New York, Matilda Raffa Cuomo, is an effective, early-intervention mentoring program to prevent school dropout. By providing mentors at schools, community centers, and foster care agencies, Mentoring USA helps children, ages 7 to 21; improve their self-esteem, through financial literacy training, nutrition and wellness, and bias-related anti-violence education. The Mentoring USA model has proven to be effective in helping a child to reach his or her full potential. When each child is matched with a trained, caring, adult volunteer mentor on a one-to-one basis, the child's grades improve, school absenteeism minimizes, and children gain confidence and hope for the future.  To learn more, please visit http://www.mentoringusa.org/

About HELP USA:

HELP USA is building better lives as one of the nation's largest providers of homes, jobs and services for America's homeless and low-income earning families. More than 200,000 men, women and children have been served by HELP USA since 1986. Believing that more than bricks and mortar are necessary to rebuild people's lives, in addition to building clean, safe, and affordable housing, HELP USA invests in the future of its clients by providing vital human services needed to address the underlying causes of homelessness. HELP USA provides a wide range of programs and services, including Mentoring USA, Street Soccer USA, employment readiness and job placement. To learn more, pleas