Mentoring an at-risk youth can be an extraordinary way to share your knowledge and experience while positively influencing the life of a child. Boulder County Partners helps facilitate these relationships through its one-to-one mentoring program.

Mike and Rebecca Fellows, who have two grown sons, have volunteered through Boulder County Partners to be a senior partner to a junior partner. Rebecca mentored her junior partner for seven years, and Mike has mentored his junior partner, Josiah, for five years. “I wanted a girl in my life,” Rebecca said. “(She) needed a female role model, so it worked out well.”

Each partnership varies in the activities the partners share, but each has the common goal of providing the junior partner with stability and nurturing.

For Mike, the challenge was relearning how to talk with a young man and resist the temptation to give advice. “What they really need is someone who will just listen to them,” Mike said. “Watching Josiah grow up and become just a little more mature in his approach to things has been very rewarding.”

Mike also appreciates how the time spent with Josiah never feels like a job. Rather, it gives him an opportunity to spend time doing something he might not otherwise do by himself or with Rebecca. “Even though you cannot change the world, you can make a big difference in the life of one child,” Mike said.

The experience has been equally rewarding for Rebecca. One of the most poignant moments happened when her junior partner submitted a creative writing piece to a statewide competition. “(She) wasn’t even sure about submitting it, but she ended up qualifying and was invited to Denver to read her piece,” Rebecca said. “We all went and made a night of it.” “The program has dramatically changed my life,” Rebecca said.

For information about volunteering with Boulder County Partners or other agencies, call the Volunteer Connection at 303-444-4904, or go to our Volunteer Central.