Befriend Mentoring Progam

Ground-breaking in its design, the Befriend Mentoring Program is an outreach ministry of Oasis Counseling that has joined faith-based principles with a family-oriented mentoring program. We seek to match “at-risk” families and individuals in our community with caring and capable mentor families from area churches.

Support for Families and Individuals

The Befriend Mentoring Program was developed to offer an additional level of support for families and individuals going through the counseling process. Although the original focus of Befriend was to serve those in counseling, Befriend has since expanded to accept referrals for all considered “at-risk” in our community.

The staff of the Befriend Mentoring Program seeks families and individuals to meet for at least one hour a week with a family or individual experiencing challenges. The match is to last for six months but may extend longer if both parties would like. Since Oasis is faith-based, the mentor is encouraged to invite the mentee to join with them in an additional level of support, a local church.

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The Befriend Mentoring Program rests on three foundations: the local church, the community, and the mentoring relationship.

The Local Church

Local churches provide outstanding resources that are often overlooked — they foster strong marriages, encourage caring parents, and help grow healthy families which is foundational to our community.

The Community

Befriend creates a community of healing and promotes healthy families, which means: neighborhoods with active and informed citizens, thriving economies and commerce, and declining crime rates and poverty.

The Mentoring Relationship

Relationships are key. The real relationships that are formed by the Befriend Mentoring Program are what will sustain hurting people as they strengthen and grow.

Why Should I Consider Being Involved?

The Befriend Mentoring Program is a bridge that brings hurting and healthy people together. Through your help, Befriend can make a difference in this community, one family at a time.

Mentoring is a Popular Cultural Idea

For thousands of years, all over the world, religious groups have encouraged people to share their lives with each other through mentoring. They called it discipling. In recent years, mentoring has become more widely accepted as a method of providing support services to at-risk families and individuals. Various studies have come to the conclusion: when hurting individuals are mentored before, during and after professional counseling services, their chances for success greatly increase and they achieve success more quickly than if they would have received professional counseling services alone.

How Can I Get Involved?

There are several ways you can be involved in the Befriend Mentoring Program:

Mentors
We need mentors. If you love people and are willing to share your life, teach others, learn new things, and take part in a unique program, this could be just for you! It takes only one hour a week for six months.

Mentees
Do you think life could be better than it is? A mentor might be able to help. Consider the possibility of one hour a week for six months to spend time with a mentor who will be a support for you, be a resource to learn from, and help you live life well.

Befriend Mentor Training
Befriend Mentoring Training (BMT) is available through our program. If you wish to mentor or just want to sharpen your relationship skills and know more about available community resources, BMT can equip you to be effective in these areas. The training offered is a free resource to the community.

Financial Giving
The guidance, training, background registry checks and ongoing support for the Befriend Mentoring Program are offered free of charge to all Befriend participants. We do, however, welcome financial donations to the program to assist in the cost of employing a coordinator, for administrative expenses, and to help us to continue offering this program as a valuable tool for those experiencing challenges in their life.