Meaningful mentoring

In the dead center of winter, January may bring gloomy weather, but it also brings a chance to celebrate a source of hope for many young men and women, with National Mentoring Month. Inaugurated in 2002, the month is about spreading the importance of mentoring and having a mentor. That message’s impact is felt everywhere.

“I always look at mentors as an extra set of hands for the parents,” said Craig Logan, middle and high school coordinator for North Charleston-based Metanoia, a non-profit community development corporation “that works with the residents of communities that have experienced decline due to lack of investment and capital flight,” according to the group’s website.

“We’re not parents, but we’re not friends,” added Logan. “We’re in that fine medium, where we’re able to offer sound advice, we’re able to offer influential decisions and choices for the kids. They’re able then to make sound, strong, great decisions in school and outside of school.”

Metanoia offers many mentorship opportunities through its after school and summer programs. According to a press release, the organization targets kids in need in the southern neighborhoods of North Charleston, a zip code with the state’s highest concentration of child poverty. Their mentoring programs have about 20 volunteers from all across the region, including Daniel Island.

“We started originally in 2005 and from that, we were able to work with kids,” said Logan. “The biggest thing that the families want in their community is a safe haven for their students. From that, we developed the after school program and it organically grew to a middle school program and our high school entrepreneurship program.”

The average day at Metanoia, according to Logan, starts as any standard after school program.

“We always give them time to unwind because we understand they’ve been in school for eight hours that day,” said Logan. “So they have down time, time to interact and socialize with their peers. We always give them a healthy snack option, as well. From that, they go into homework and the academic work that they may have to knock out that day. Then, we jump right into our curriculum.”

Metanoia offers two separate curriculums. The first is provided by an outside source, an entrepreneurship education program called Corpus Callosum.

“He [Corpus Callosum creator Dave Smith] comes in and he works with the students on those business savvy skills,” Logan described. Smith teaches Metanoia students the business minutia like products, orders, and inventory.

The second course is centered around social justice issues, referred to as the leadership curriculum.

“We’re talking about things like peer pressure, we’re talking about things like bullying, we’re talking about things like police brutality, we’re talking about the injustices within the community, and really ways for them, as young people, to initiate change within their schools and, from the schools, within the communities,” Logan stated.

College of Charleston sophomore Allison Moore is a mentor at Metanoia and acts as a liaison between the two institutions.

“It’s very noble to want to volunteer on a large scale, but I think a lot of times, people get bogged down in all of that and it’s really easy to miss the community that’s around you,” commented Moore. “North Charleston can use a lot of help.”

The student said that building a relationship with the kids at Metanoia is one of the most valuable parts of the mentorship.

“The other half is more about connecting with them,” she stated. “They’re able to ask about our lives and we’re able to connect with them, too. It’s a good way to build rapport. A lot of times, they’re motivated, but they just don’t have all the resources that everyone is gifted with.”

“By playing a role in it and by helping encourage these kids, they kind of have a say in how their community changes around them,” she added.

Moore said that the growth she sees in students is often subtle.

“If I’m speaking of change in the students from when I first met them to now, they are more able to open up and talk to me,” she mentioned. “A lot of times, they have the skill set, but they lack confidence, because that’s not being reinforced always at home.”

Metanoia’s programs were developed by fusing lessons on leadership, social skills, and young entrepreneurship skills.

“We’re all about developing progressive, community-oriented adults,” said Logan. “Adults who are going to be able to give back to their community once they reach the age to do so.”

Logan believes that the ideals taught through a mentor can be maintained through adulthood, as well.

“Having a good mentor at any phase in life I think is key,” he said. “I don’t think it’s just for kids. Even as adults, we have to realize that mentorship is great. As adults, we need mentors. We need people who are going to push us, mold us into the right direction, and challenge us in the ways that we need to be challenged.”

To inquire about becoming a mentor at Metanoia, or for more information, visit http://pushingforward.org/volunteer/ or call (843) 529-3014 and ask for Tabatha Wilbert or Stacy Brown.