WSM Grants and Initiatives

Mentoring At-Risk Youth Project (MaRY)
The centerpiece of this research project is a set of twelve grants to community-based mentoring providers that will serve up to 3,000 youth over the course of five years.  The purpose of the project is to:

•    Increase the number of high-risk youth receiving mentoring services in Washington State by a minimum of 1,100 and up to 3,000 youth.
•    Learn more about the effects of mentoring at-risk youth and the conditions under which mentoring is most effective for this population.
•    Build the capacity of county-level mentoring partnerships (Roundtables) in the counties served through this grant.

Mentoring High-Risk Youth (MHrY)
The core of this project is a set of five grants to community-based mentoring providers that will serve up a minimum of 150 high-risk youth and up to 400 youth over the course of five years.  The Mentoring High-Risk Youth project complements the ongoing larger Mentoring At-Risk Youth research project. MhRY goals include:

•    Increase the number of at-risk youth who have a mentor in a formal mentoring program.
•    Learn about the conditions under which mentoring high-risk youth is most effective.
•    Increase mentoring organizations’ program and evaluation capacity.

Bank of America Initiative (BAMI)
Washington State Mentors is partnering with Bank of America to support quality mentoring organizations that serve youth from low income households.  As one of the largest corporate contributors in the United States, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation wanted to expand its support of mentoring for children living in poverty across Washington State especially in small and rural communities that are all too often overlooked.  The grants support a wide-range of both traditional community-base mentoring and school-based mentoring programs, including: one-to-one mentoring for high-risk youth incarcerated in Washington’s juvenile corrections facilities, innovative organic farming-mentoring programs for youth with disabilities in a rural community, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and intensive career internships for high school students. 

School Based Mentoring Initiative (SBMI)
The School Based Mentoring Initiative (SBMI) was designed to support collaborative efforts between schools and mentoring organizations.  Projects pursued a variety of individual-level outcomes including increased school bonding, reduced truancy, and improved self-efficacy among participating youth.  As a result of the success of Washington State Mentors’ inaugural Conversations on Mentoring Event in 2005, $50,000 was raised for the SBMI.  Organizations were awarded two-year grants in support of their impressive programs.

National Mentoring Month Mini-Grants
During January, National Mentoring Month (NMM), Washington State Mentors supports local mentoring coalitions or roundtables by offering $250 mini-grants.  These mini-grants allow the mentoring coalitions/roundtables to celebrate NMM in a variety of ways, whether it’s a movie night with a local cinema, marketing materials or organizing a recognition event.