Professional Mentor - Detroit

Professional Mentor - Friend

Friends of the Children is a nonprofit that is impacting generational change by empowering youth through relationships with professional mentors. We do this by providing children facing the most obstacles with a long-term, salaried, professional mentor, who we call a “Friend,” from kindergarten through high school graduation, 12+ years – no matter what. We are currently seeking an extraordinary professional to embark on a new career journey as a Friend at our Detroit Chapter.  

At Friends of the Children we put children first and use our values to change the way the world treats and views youth facing great barriers. As a Friend you will nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love, acceptance, and culturally informed practice. Do you want to help eight of our youth discover their limitless potential, by fostering their internal resiliency?  Are you ready to help build relationships within the communities of our youth and families to strengthen social networks and provide bridges to new opportunities?  If so, the impactful role of a Friend might be for you.  

Job Description:

We are currently seeking a mentor for our Childhood program (Kindergarten to 5th Grade) to serve as a positive adult role model to eight elementary children and develop loving, caring, and sustained relationships with each child. For each child, a Friend will set positive expectations; nurture and promote each child’s strength, talents, and abilities; help ensure physical and emotional well-being; teach life and academic skills; provide enrichment activities; and model responsible behavior. A Friend will fully document activities and participate in the ongoing evaluation process. Friends will work primarily one-on-one with their children, while also building trusting supportive relationships with parents/caregivers. A Friend must know, understand, honor, and support the organization’s mission, vision, values, and principles, and be able to clearly articulate the organization’s function.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Develop and sustain a long-term, caring, protective, and loving relationship with each child.  
• Spend time with children, one-on-one. 
• Partner with parents/caregivers to provide concrete and social emotional supports for the family.  
• Set realistic expectations and goals based on each child’s strengths, talents, abilities, and needs. 
• Teach life skills and help develop a talent/skill/area of interest with each child. 
• Provide enrichment resources and activities that include opportunities for identity development. 
• Develop positive relationships with families, teachers, and others involved in each child’s life. 
• Reinforce basic academic skills. 
• Maintain a 40-hour work schedule that includes afternoons, evenings, and weekends (normal working days are Tuesday through Saturday with Sundays and Mondays off). 
• Maintain spending within budgetary guidelines. 
• Complete, distribute, and collect time summaries, activity journals, short-term plans, expense reports, and evaluations materials accurately and in a timely manner. 
• Attend and actively participate in team meeting and staff functions. 
• Maintain First Aid/CPR certification. 
• Transport children in personal vehicle as required for mentoring activities. 
• Provide information and support to the development and executive team on related activities. 
• Fulfill other responsibilities as requested. 

The ideal candidate will have the following Education, Experience, and Abilities: 

•  Associate degree, Bachelor's degree preferred;  Alternatively, at least seven years’ progressive experience working with children and families will be considered in lieu of a college degree  
• Experience with reading literacy coaching/training is a plus
• Willingness to commit for a minimum of three years.  
• Advocate to secure additional resources, opportunities, and services for youth as appropriate  
• Assist with systems navigation in schools to secure conditions for optimal academic success  
• Strong interpersonal skills  
• Demonstrated ability to work with children in varied capacities and settings  
• Ability to develop trusting relationships with children, families, teachers, and others involved in each child’s life  
• Ability to work independently and as a team player  
• Ability to manage several concurrent issues and solve problems effectively  
• Strong written and verbal communications skills  
• Strong organizational and time management skills  
• A sense of humor is a plus  

We have a four(4) step interview process that includes: 1-A phone screening from HR, 2-An interview with our Program Director(PD) and Program Manager(PM), 3- A panel interview to include the Executive Director and a staff person from our National office and 4- An observation with you and one of the children in our program engaging in a fun activity, which you will select from some options shared by our PD.  A full background screen including a drug test will be performed. 

Salary Range

$55,120 Annually

Benefits

Comprehensive

Working Hours:

This is a full-time position. Due to the nature of a Friend's role, the work hours are non-traditional, and include late afternoon, evening, and weekend work. We recognize that each Friend's daily work schedule will vary due to the uniqueness of the role and the needs of the individual children being served. Each Friend is expected to exercise appropriate discretion in this regard. The Program requires that you see each of your assigned children both in and outside of school on both weekday and weekends, for an average of four hours each week, although how you accomplish that is at your discretion within established Program guidelines. Our Program team alternates between two schedules throughout the year. 

School Year Schedule: Tuesday – Saturday 11AM-7PM 

Summer Schedule: Monday – Friday 9AM-5PM

Professional Level:

Professional

Minimum Education Required:

2-year degree required. 4-year degree preferred. 

Location: Detroit, MI 

Friends of the Children is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to addressing discriminatory practices, and to working toward racial equity. The equal employment opportunity policy of Friends of the Children provides fair and equal opportunities for all employees and job applicants regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, disability, or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law. Friends of the Children hires and promotes individuals solely based on their qualifications for the job to be filled.

Friends of the Children is growing rapidly as communities across the country are experiencing the power of how “One” changes a child's story: One Friend. One Child. 12+ years. No matter what. #ThePowerofOne