Published on January 22, 2015
MENTORS NEEDED! We need enthusiastic and caring men and women to be mentors for children with an incarcerated parent through our Cornerstone Kids initiative – 27 children are awaiting a mentor! Call 341-0989 if this could be you!
Photo by Beth Donze/Clarion Herald
John Messenheimer said he would never have known how much fun assembling a basketball hoop could be, were it not for the 10-year-old boy sitting next to him, anxiously awaiting the hoop’s completion.“I can be pretty theological and abstract – always looking for the difficult questions, the difficult answers – but he helps me keep it simple,” said Messenheimer, who mentors the boy through Catholic Charities’ Cornerstone Kids initiative, which matches responsible adult mentors to boys and girls aged 4 to 17 who have one or both parents incarcerated.Cornerstone’s men and woman mentors, who can be single like Messenheimer, or married with children of their own, are asked to spend at least four hours a month with their mentees in the recreational or social settings of their choice. All mentors are expected to fulfill a minimum one-year commitment, with men matched with boys and women with girls. “Our goal is to place a responsible adult in the child’s life, with the hope that that adult will become a friend to help that child build self-esteem and confidence in himself,” said Leo Jackson, who has directed Cornerstone Kids out of Catholic Charities’ Office of Justice and Peace since 2008. – Continue reading at The Clarion Herald
