More Than Tutoring, It’s About Hope

The elementary years are a crucial time in a child’s development, and mentoring programs can provide support and encouragement as well as academic tutoring. Students in Fort Worth ISD have access to several mentoring and tutoring programs, such as Kids Hope USA.

Kids Hope USA began in 1995 with the somewhat daunting idea to transform lives, one child at a time. Founder Dr. Virgil Gulker reached out to sociologists, educators, health care professionals, law enforcement, and child development specialists, who agreed that there was a need to fill the relational void in children’s lives. Thus, the idea of “one child, one hour, one church, one school” was born.

Kids First USA’s mentoring begins with local churches committing to a relationship with an elementary school in need of mentors. The churches provide caring adults who agree to meet with a child for one hour a week.

In Fort Worth, several churches participate in Kids Hope USA. First United Methodist Church joined the program in 2005 and has maintained a close relationship with T.A. Sims Elementary School for the past 18 years. In 2017, they extended their program to include students at Charles Nash Elementary School.

While the program is faith-based in that individual churches are in a relationship with individual schools, providing mentors and resources, religion is never discussed with the students. Rather, a mentor demonstrates the characteristics of their faith. By maintaining consistent and unconditional relationships with a child, they prove to that child that they are worthy of effort, of help, and of love.

Gay Ingram was the Kids Hope USA Coordinator at First United Methodist Church for 16 years. She said her favorite part of the program was seeing the relationships built between students and mentors. The students light up when they know it’s their day to meet with their mentor, and they are so excited to participate in activities like holiday parties hosted by the church. The love and dedication of volunteer mentors were always an inspiration to her.

Although mentors focus on reading and helping their students with assignments and homework, the real purpose of the program is to foster the relationship between mentor and mentee. Each session ends with a game and a snack which encourages the duo’s connection and demonstrates to the child that this adult truly cares about them and looks forward to their time each week. Many of these children have never experienced such a relationship. They crave the one-on-one attention, and they thrive on it.

For some mentors and students, the relationship extends past the elementary years and beyond the walls of the school. The children benefit from having a caring, consistent adult in their lives who is a role model, but mentors often find that they also benefit greatly from the relationship.

One Kids Hope USA participant [name withheld by request] has extensive experience with the program. Her younger siblings and two of her children are former mentees. While she and her husband are very involved parents, she always appreciated the role that mentors played in her children’s and siblings’ lives. The children’s mentors “became family to us, and we always knew that we could count on them.”

The children’s mentors learned that the family needed a washer and dryer, and the mentors’ Sunday school class provided these necessary items. They helped connect the family to resources to resolve guardianship issues. The mentors were invited to participate in many family parties and were thrilled to be a part of their students’ quinceañera celebrations, as well as their high school graduations. Although the children are no longer receiving mentoring services, the two families are forever connected and maintain a loving relationship as they support each other through life’s ups and downs.

When it comes to Kids Hope USA, building that trust and creating a stable relationship with the students is what it’s all about. Both the mentors and the students receive tremendous gifts from participation in the program. The students learn that they are worthy and that there is at least one special adult out there who truly cares for them, no strings attached. The adults learn that even small gestures and volunteering for such a brief amount of time can make a huge impact on a child. Sometimes, they even gain a whole new family!