You've reviewed the information on how mentors and mentoring programs work. You understand the benefits of mentoring and you want your child to have a mentor. What do you do next?

There is no one set way to locate a mentor or mentoring program for your child. Effective mentoring must fit the unique needs of each child.

If you are trying to locate a mentor for your child, you can begin your search by:

• Searching for a mentoring program in MMP's online database. Enter your ZIP code to see a listing of the mentoring programs serving your area. The directory includes contact information for each program.
• Contacting MMP to find out about local programs in your area: 1-866-MASS-MENTOR.
• Asking whether your child's school runs a mentoring program during or immediately after school.
• Contacting your place of worship or a nearby faith community and asking if they have a mentoring program. All faiths have a long history of instilling spiritual values and moral strength - key elements in mentoring.
• Calling your city or county government, or local youth center to see if they offer formal mentoring opportunities.

If your community doesn't offer any formal mentoring opportunities for your child, you might look at informal mentoring options.

• Think about finding an individual who could informally mentor your child by serving as a good role model and friend.
• Consider a family member, such as an uncle or cousin, who might be willing to take on this new role.
• Ask a clergyperson to recommend someone who might serve in this special role.
• Approach the person and share your idea with them. You could suggest visiting this web site together to learn about mentors and mentoring.
• Try looking at out-of-school programming options. A great resource for this in the Boston area is BOSTONavigator.

For more resources on important things to know and questions to ask when finding a mentor for your child, visit MENTOR's web site.