Mentor North Launches Campaign To Support Youth

DULUTH, Minn. — A new initiative to support youth in the Twin Ports started up Monday.

Mentor North a Duluth based non-profit has a new campaign called March into Mentoring. The organization believes in community-based mentoring and is hoping this recruitment will be the push they need for more adults to help the kids. They are looking for 100 nominations by the end of the month. Mentors will spend 4 hours a month for one year with someone between the ages 7 through 17.

An advocate says a mentor helps kids with having better self-esteem and better mental health.

“We’ve seen kids who would never have thought about auditioning for a play, audition and get a role in a play because they feel more confident and strong. We’ve seen trans kids who have never had another trans person in their life be matched with a trans mentor and suddenly feel this connection to someone and included and a sense of belonging that they wouldn’t necessarily have had,” said Nicki Seibert, Duluth Program Advocate for Mentor North.

Mentor North makes sure to team up an adult and kid who have similar interests. And the learning is not just for the youth as adults grow from them as well.

“Adults gain great strides and great things from this program. Whether that be experiencing something new with their mentee or just hanging out and teaching a kid something. And you don’t have to be an expert, that’s what so, everyone thinks the word ‘mentor’ you have to be an expert in what you do. No, you just have to have time and the desire to just hang out with a kid,” said Seibert.

There are around 50 kids waiting to find their perfect match. If you would like to nominate someone or are interested yourself you can reach out by calling Mentor North’s general number (218-722-3600), emailing them, or checking out their website.