Community Resource Spotlight:                              Brookings County Youth Mentoring Program

Brookings is very lucky to have so many great nonprofits in its corner. McCrory Gardens, Habitat for Humanity, Children’s Museum of SD, Brookings Regional Humane Society, Rotary Club, Brookings Art Council, and Brookings Summer Arts Festival are just a few of the wonderful nonprofits taking Brookings’ generosity and turning it into good. Since January is National Mentoring month, the Club wants to highlight Brookings County Youth Mentoring Program (BCYMP) which started in 1998, but did not officially receive non-profit status until 2002.  

WHO IS BCYMP?

BCYMP’s mission is to provide trained youth mentors for K-12 students in Brookings County in order to Change Lives through positive developmental relationships. Staff include Darla Biel, Executive Director and Katie Goosen, Volunteer Coordinator. Recently, Cassie Juba was with the organization, but began Personalized Learning Adventures for Youth (PLAY), which is located beneath the Carrot Seed Kitchen Company on Main Avenue in downtown Brookings. Club VISTA, Laura Hoiten, also joined the team as the Fundraising and Marketing Intern.

BCYMP strives to increase the resilience of young people in Brookings County. They do so by adding protective factors against trauma by building and supporting additional, consistent, and encouraging relationships with trained, caring adults. Youth meet 1:1 for one hour per week with his/her mentor in the community. Although school-based mentoring is not common for BCYMP, the organization collaborated with Avera Behavioral Health in the last year to pilot a school-based program. For four weeks last fall, BCYMP and Avera Behavioral Health partnered to pilot a school-based group mentoring program at Dakota Prairie Elementary and Camelot Intermediate Schools. Kanbi Knipling, who is a Counseling Intern with Avera and a BCYMP Mentor, met with groups of 4-6 students to build trust, relationships, and practice social/emotional skills. Like its 1:1, community-based mentoring program, the focus is on the development of positive relationships between adults and young people.

"Research tells us that each positive developmental relationship youth have with an adult increases children's ability to weather the ups and downs of life and to come out stronger and more resilient," said Darla Biel, BCYMP's Executive Director. The school-based mentoring program will continue this spring at Dakota Prairie and Camelot. The team is looking to add groups at Hillcrest Elementary as well.

"In addition to building more relationships that help kids in our community," Biel said, "the school-based groups provide mentoring opportunities for adults and college-aged volunteers whose schedules or access to transportation might prevent them from mentoring through the community-based program."

HOW ARE THEY CELEBRATING NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH?

During January, every Monday morning from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., BCYMP’s very own Darla will be at Kool Beans on Main for Coffee’s on Us!  Community members can stop by for a FREE cup of coffee to talk about the organization’s mission, learn about mentoring, how to become a mentor, and ask questions about BCYMP.  If Mondays do not work, then call 605.697.0444 to schedule another meeting time to learn more about BCYMP.

At BCYMP Night with the Jackrabbits, the Brookings Home Team will be providing tickets for Mentors and Mentees to attend, MetaBank is sponsoring t-shirts for the group to wear, and SCSA Diagnostics will be providing popcorn and a commemorative cup of soda for all Mentoring Pairs.

Besides basketball games, mentors do a variety of other fun activities with mentees for free! BCYMP supports Mentoring Pairs' ability to enjoy fun activities in the community by providing things like movie tickets, passes to the Children's Museum, art classes, movies, and even free Nick's Hamburgers!

"The relationships Mentors and Mentees build is far more important than the activities to do together," Biel said, "but our donors and grants help make sure that the cost of mentoring is never a barrier."

Another way BCYMP is celebrating National Mentor Month is by giving away 20 Trips in 2020. The first 20 donors to join or level up in the Monthly Mentor Support Squad have the opportunity to receive a trip! Those first 20 donors must commit to giving $10, $25, $50, or $100 per month and must be 21 or older. Donors can choose from a 3-day/2-night family fun trip or a 3-day/2-night Las Vegas trip, which are donated by Shane Anderson from Brookings Home Team, Powered by Century 21, Krogman & Co. To find more details about the 20 Trips in 2020 you can visit BCYMP’s most recent blog at: https://bcymentoring.org/monthly-mentor-support-squad/

WHY IS BCYMP IMPORTANT TO THE CLUB? WHY & HOW CAN I HELP?

Like the Club, BCYMP is creating a long-lasting positive impact on the youth in our community by making them feel loved and supported. Youth who feel valued do better in school, take care of themselves, and have increased chances to succeed. MENTOR reports that 37% of youth who have a mentor are less likely to skip school, 46% less likely to use drugs, and 55% more likely to enroll in college.

Both the Brookings Boys & Girls Club and the Moody County Boys & Girls Club offer mentoring to youth who staff feel could benefit from the relationship. Brookings has a mentoring program called OJP and Moody County’s is called STEM mentoring. Mentors help encourage personal growth while also benefiting from the relationship. Mentors gain a friend with a perspective unlike their own. Mentors can also receive fulfillment from mentoring and gain satisfaction from helping his/her community. Mentors can gain a new understanding on childhood experiences and what it means to be a child today.

In the last three years, BCYMP had grown from just over 50 active matches to almost 130 active matches. Even with such an increase in mentor numbers, there are still 47 youth on the waiting list looking for a mentor. Did you know that 44% of Americans are not mentors, but are considering mentoring? If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BCYMPMentorApp  to help one of the 47 youth waiting for a friend. With any questions, please go to BCYMP’s Facebook page or call 605.697.0444.

Follow the community resources below on social media to learn more about the great work happening in Brookings.

Community Resource Spotlight:

BCYMP

Facebook: Brookings County Youth Mentoring Program

Instagram: bcymp_youthmentoring

Website: bycmentoring.org

Email: bcymentoring@gmail.com

Other Community Resources:

Arts Council

Arts Festival

Brookings Regional Humane Society

Children’s Museum

Habitat for Humanity

PLAY

McCrory Gardens

Rotary Club