Mentoring Spotlight – Ben and Dennis from The Mentoring Project on Vimeo.
The Mentoring Project is providing mentors for fatherless boys through local churches. We have programs in about seven churches in Portland, but around 200 on a waiting list. Besides being a blast, mentoring changes lives. The infrastructure is there, and the mentors are there, we just want to provide the resources and training to change an entire generation through these important relationships.
This video focuses on one of our Hero Mentors, Ben, and his mentee, Dennis. Two great guys! Feel free to share their story on your blog, or on Facebook. Thanks everybody, and thanks Ben and Dennis. You guys rock.
The mentoring relationship between Ben and Dennis began about 6 months ago when Ben began hanging out at an after school program in SE Portland. After being at the school for a while, Ben thought it would be fun to build a model car with one of the students. The program coordinator then mentioned that Dennis liked to build things. That next week, Ben and Dennis met. There was an instant connection.
Although Ben and Dennis have done many fun activities together, it is the confidence with which Dennis spoke as he described these activities that struck us most. During the filming of this video, it was amazing to see how this shy boy came alive as he spoke of the ways in which he was able to give back to his mentor. There seemed to be an ownership of the relationship that has proved to be reciprocal more than anything else. Dennis says that since hanging out with Ben, he has gained more confidence and has felt like he can accomplish more than he ever thought he could.
Often in mentoring relationships there is an expectation and an almost nervous anticipation about what the mentor is to give the mentee. Ben says he is only trying to empower Dennis, a boy he describes as smart and imaginative, to live in to the incredible potential he sees. For Ben, being a part of The Mentoring Project has been more than he expected. He has found that mentoring is not just about what he can give to his mentee. “Dennis,” he says, “is ten years old and is changing my life every time I see him.”
* This article was written by two of our summer interns, Julian Sayler and Shawnte Hines. We will miss you guys. No, we will ache and grieve and perhaps never get over your absence! Thanks for your amazing contribution this year.
