MALLEE Accommodation and Support Program is looking for volunteers to expand their Youth Mentoring Program to Swan Hill.
The program for Mallee youth pairs participants with adult mentors in their community for six months, concluding with a trek of the Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory.
MASP youth services co-ordinator Anita McDonald said being a mentor in the program was an experience she will never forget.
“When we finished the challenge I had a huge sense of achievement alongside my mentee, like ‘wow, I did this’,” she said.
“You watch your mentee become a whole new person by the end, as they break out of their shell.
“We are looking for people who want to make a difference in their community and have something to give back.”
In 20 years MASP have taken 240 young people and 270 mentors through the program, striving to re-engage youth experiencing difficulties in their community.
MASP manager of children, youth and family Andrew Ball said participants create lifelong connections.
“People who mentored 10 years ago are still in contact with their mentees, who before the program may not otherwise have crossed paths with,” he said.
“It’s a peer-to-peer connection; whatever job or title the mentor holds, all that is stripped back and they’re just an adult helping a kid in their community.
“While it is hard to track and measure the impact the program has on mentees, you see the gains in each individual that are unique to them and their situation.
“We’ve had kids go back to school on a regular basis, become more social, or take up something they are passionate about.
“It’s a holistic approach to reconnecting these kids to their community that makes that progress.”
Kokoda was the original destination until COVID restrictions, and since then the trip has been within Australia.
“You get to have a trip away to a destination you may have never been to undertake a mental and physical challenge,” Mr Ball said.
“It’s an adventure, sleeping under the stars and being in nature every day among a supportive group of people.”
Mr Ball is aiming to have five Swan Hill mentees and mentors participate in the 2025 Youth Mentoring Program.
“We want to expand the program to Swan Hill, and to make a real difference there needs to be support within the mentee’s community,” he said.
“That local connection can do more on an individual level than we can as an organisation to link mentees to services and support.”
Mentor training begins mid-March on Monday and Wednesday evenings to prepare for the trip in September.
For more information, requirements and applications contact Anita McDonald at amcdonald@masp.org.au or 0466 155 589.
