by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Mayor John Peyton was joined in his office Tuesday by more than a dozen mentoring coordinators to witness him designate January “Mentoring Month” in Jacksonville. The mayor also proclaimed Jan. 25 will be “Thank Your Mentor Day.”
The City’s focus on mentoring began last march when “Mentor Jax” was started to encourage people to become mentors and make a positive difference in a young person’s life. The initiative was funded with $425,000 from the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and the mayor’s Office of Faith and Community Based Partnerships.
Since then, the effort has grown outside Jacksonville to include all of North Florida and has even spread into south Georgia, said Cindy Harpman, executive director of Kessler Mentoring Connection.
“We’re are responsible for screening and training all of the mentors,” said Harpman, who is also the outgoing chair of Mentoring First Coast, the expanded organization.
“Last year, we trained 1,500 new volunteers but we still need more mentors,” she added. “There are 45,000 children in Jacksonville’s public schools alone that we feel would benefit from a mentoring relationship.”
Peyton agreed and said mentoring is an integral part of “The Jacksonville Journey” initiative that has brought community leaders together to reduce violence and crime in neighborhoods.
“This is not something the mayor has to do or the sheriff has to do. Everyone has to chip in on The Jacksonville Journey,” said Peyton.
“One of our biggest challenges is reaching the youth in our community so they realize having an education and a career leads to opportunity and freedom,” he added. “Putting an adult in a young person’s life can help them connect how today leads to tomorrow and tomorrow leads to the future. Hearing that message from someone other than a parent is important.”
Peyton also confirmed he has invited Rev. Eugene Rivers to come to Jacksonville to offer his experience and guidance to help reduce violence in the community.
Rivers is a former gang member who was later educated at Harvard and is the pastor of Azusa Christian Community in Boston, a Pentecostal church in the inner city. He is also co-chair of the “National Ten Point Leadership Foundation” which works to build grassroots leadership in inner-city neighborhoods by building coalitions between clergy, law enforcement and government officials.
Rivers will be in Jacksonville Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 for meetings with The Jacksonville Journey participants. The City will pay Rivers a $15,000 fee plus travel and other expenses for his appearance.
Peyton said the Feb. 1 meeting will be held at the Main Library and added, “I’m asking everyone I know to get involved. I think mentoring will be one of our most valuable tools on The Jacksonville Journey.”
The mayor also proclaimed the week of Feb. 17-23 “Engineering Week” and took care of two issues from last year, signing the proclamations for “World Diabetes Day” (Nov. 14, 2007) and “World AIDS Day” (Dec. 1, 2007).