Blueprint 58 is a non-profit mentorship program focusing on youth from the Adair Park and Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Atlanta. The focus of the organization is on the youth ages 9-18, and individuals who are influencing them.
Blueprint 58 was born from a realization of the need for individuals to positively influence the youth of a specific community. While working at Vision Atlanta, we built relationships with dozens of youth. However, it was the relationships with two specific children since 2006 that have transformed our lives and led us to move in to the Adair Park neighborhood. My role at Vision Atlanta as the director of mentoring allowed me to attend mentor trainings and visit mentoring organizations across the nation. Our goal is to get to know our community in order to more fully understand their specific needs while building relationships and gaining trust.
Our first six months as an organization will be completely devoted to building relationships with the community, its leaders, and Gideon Elementary School. This enables us to work together as a community to influence youth, rather than an “expert” coming in to the neighborhood to “change” the community. During visits to mentoring organizations we found that partnering with the schools allows us to have a greater impact on the community. Our partnership with Gideon Elementary School will enable us to build relationships with the teachers and administrators who educate the youth of our community, and come alongside the mentored children to help with school work and behavior issues.
Every student we serve will be partnered with a caring adult who will be trained to focus on instilling positive values, self-worth, and a sense of purpose. Our pilot program will kick off in September with ten 3rd grade children. The mentors are required to meet with their mentee twice per month for at least one year duration. Our goal is to have the mentors commit to walking with their mentee through high school.
