Be the Change: HATAS offers mentorship to at-risk teens

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

--Winston Churchill

Next time you go out for coffee, think about how easy it would be to invite someone else along. You would sit down, talk, listen, sip your cappucino, and maybe even laugh a little, and just that one hour a week can make a huge difference in that person's life--and yours.

Mentorship is an important part of recovery for high-risk teens, said Natasha Pernicka, Program Coordinator with the Homeless and Travelers Aid Society (HATAS).(Located at 138 Central Avenue) Mentors can teens move toward healthy productive lives, just by helping them see past the challenges of their childhood. With this in mind, HATAS has started a new mentorship program, MATAS, "Mentoring Adolescents Transitioning to Adult Services," to provide support and guidance for kids moving into adulthood.

MATAS will deal strictly with high-risk teens and adolescents, Pernicka said. "It's challenging because they're not the cute eight-year old," Pernicka said. "They've had a difficult life and they're in very tenuous situations, and a lot depends on this." But, Pernicka continued, just two hours a week with a mentor can be the lifeline they need.

The program began this month, and there are currently three mentors up an running and 10 youths that still need adults. Mentors will receive full training, and will be matched with teens based on shared interests. Pernicka said. The mentor visits don't have to be elaborate, Pernicka said. They can just be a walk, or a visit to the coffee shop, or a tour of a college campus, anything that exposes the teen to different perspectives. "We want this to be a fun program for them," Pernicka said.

The mentors are not caseworkers, Pernicka stressed. The teens have caseworkers, and they are already receiving counseling and career services. Instead, mentors will be friends to these teens, offering them a "fun and positive adult to be around," Pernicka said.

The program requires mentors to make a one-year commitment because it takes a while to build trust, she said. Mentors can spend 1-2 hours a week with teens or just four hours a month, she said. To learn more about the program, email info@hatas.org or call (518) 463-2124.