Beat the Odds® Mentoring Program
Each year approximately 15 Beat the Odds awards are provided to juveniles who have overcome significant adversity to achieve social and academic progress. Their biographies have a common thread of neglect, abuse, or other functional chaos that often defined their home environment. The goal of our program is to not only recognize the significant progress made by the young people who have beaten the odds against their success, but to provide support and assistance towards continued success and reduce recidivism.
In 2007, The Prince William County Bar Foundation launched a new initiative, the Beat the Odds Mentoring Program, designed specifically to provide feedback on the status and progress of the BTO recipients and give them assistance in administering their scholarship funds, preparing job applications and other transitional needs. Dedicated attorneys from the PWC Bar Association come forward each year and volunteer to be mentors for the individual award recipients to provide ongoing guidance, information, and resource referrals. In the few short years since the inception of the Beat the Odds program in Prince William County, we have discovered:
- That Beat the Odds recipients desperately need guidance and information to facilitate their academic or vocational goals and many are "aging out" of foster care and other stable environments.
- That Beat the Odds recipients need reminders that the Foundation and the community have resources to offer and they should seek out the help they need.
- That Beating the Odds is an ongoing, life-long process for many young people who grew up in at-risk environments and continued support as they transition to independence as young adults is crucial.
In recognition of these needs the Foundation's Mentoring program was born. Mentors are volunteers in good standing with the Prince William County Bar Association working through a committee of the Prince William County Bar Foundation. The program is not intended to establish any attorney-client relationship between the volunteer mentor and our BTO recipient.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor contact Kathy Farrell at kfarrell@FarrellandCroft.com.
