Dear Staff and Members of The Wesley Foundation at The University of Iowa,

I am pleased to announce that the Community Corrections Improvement

Association has expanded Children of Promise, a mentoring program that

serves youth who have a parent who is incarcerated or on probation/parole,

and is collaborating with the new One-on-One Mentoring Program to serve

families in the Johnson County.  Children of Promise has a proven track

record of successfully serving this distinct group of at risk youth in

Linn County for over 4 years and is certified by the Iowa Mentoring

Partnership.  The program, which will be housed in the Broadway

Neighborhood Center, plans to successfully match 35 youth, age 12 to 17

years old, with a caring adult mentor by summer 2010.  The One-on-One

Mentoring Program is sponsored by the Sixth Judicial District Department

of Corrections and is geared towards adults.  Specifically,  providing

probationers and parolees positive role models from the Johnson County

community to  support them with educational needs,  developing skills to

seek and maintain employment, and assisting the clients with developing

productive interpersonal skills (such as parenting and/or relationship

skills).

The expansion of Children of Promise has been made possible through

funding from the Iowa Department of Public Health, Johnson County Juvenile

Justices Youth Development Program, and the Community Foundation of

Johnson County, who along with CCIA, recognize the need to provide

positive adult role models to the youth of incarcerated parents residing

in the Broadway neighborhood. Over the past 12 years, the Broadway

Neighborhood, which provides affordable housing options for many of Iowa

City’s low-income families, has faced an increasing need for services, as

the area has seen an increase in drugs, domestic violence, child abuse

reports, and gang activity.

The One-on-One Mentoring Program has developed through a grant from the

AmeriCorp program and seeks to provide eligible probation and parole

clients from the 6th District Department of Corrections with positive role

models from the Johnson County and surrounding communities.  Mentors are

sought to assist clients with help on high school diploma and G.E.D.

completion, job skills, and fostering healthy interpersonal skills.

To maximize the positive impact that Children of Promise Mentoring Program

and One-on-One Mentoring can have on our community, we are seeking mentors

and sponsors from a variety of agencies, organizations, and groups here in

Johnson County.  Mentors will be trained and supported throughout their

term of service (4 hours per month); they will have the opportunity to be

a role model who has a significant impact on the life of a youth.

Sponsors may help host a fundraising project and or donate any resources

to the program that might positively enhance the mentee-mentor

relationship.   Children of Promise can provide your members with a

fulfilling relationship with a child who is in need of a positive role

model in their life.

We hope to set up a brief presentation about our mentoring program with

your organization in the upcoming weeks.  Please feel free to contact us

via phone or email, and again, we look forward to the opportunity to

collaborate with the Wesley Foundation in our efforts to help improve the

lives of families in the Johnson County community.

Respectfully,

Angie Blanchard-Manning

Children of Promise Mentoring Program

Coordinator

Community Corrections Improvement Association

Angelina.Blanchard-Manning@iowa.gov

Sarah Wittig Galgano

One on One Mentoring Program

Coordinator

swittigg@andrew.cmu.edu