New Mexico Voices for Children

Helping children and youth discover positive solutions to the challenges in their lives by establishing a caring relationship with a mentor

Make a Difference in a Child's Life
Have an hour to spare for a child? We're expanding our Wise Men & Women (WM&W) mentorship program into Rio Rancho and Bernalillo public schools, as well as several charter schools in Albuquerque and we need volunteers! Caring adults are matched with kids aged 6 to 14 and can put in as little as 30 to 60 minutes a week for a period of one year. All meetings take place at the school. Click here to download the volunteer application in PDF format.

Send the completed application by mail to:
Robert Lucero
Wise Men & Women Project Director
2340 Alamo S.E. Suite 120
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106

or fax to:
(505) 244-9509
Attention: Robert Lucero

Purpose
To provide children with positive, dependable adult role models, who help them to:

Description
This school-based mentorship project pairs caring adults with boys and girls, ages 6 to 14 years of age. Volunteer mentors go through a short training session and background check, and then commit to spending time with at least one child for a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes a week, over the course of a school year. All mentoring takes place at the school, during or after school hours. No weekend commitment is required. Activities can be anything from playing checkers and drawing or reading together to shooting hoops or making craft projects. Although it is not a tutoring program per se, it generally results in improved grades.

Service Area
Currently, we run Wise Men & Women mentorship programs in Bernalillo, Hobbs, Los Lunas, Rio Rancho, Silver City, and Tome, and in several Albuquerque charter schools. In Bernalillo County, WM&W is run by Youth Development, Inc., (YDI). In Santa Fe, WM&W is now called Mentor New Mexico.

History
The Wise Men & Women (WM&W) mentorship program was founded by Ken Carson, Sr., in 1992. Having retired from a long career for the U.S. Postal Service, Ken found he had time on his hands. So he visited an Albuquerque school where he was asked to "talk to" a couple of the boys. He was asked to come back and the program grew from there. In 1996, acting as a fiscal agent, we initiated a statewide expansion. To date, thousands children have been paired with adults in positive mentor relationships.

Contact
NM Voices Director of Community Partnership Development Robert Lucero, 505-244-9505, ext. 19