Become a CfY Mentor

Why mentor with Community for Youth (CfY)?

At its best, Mentorship has countless benefits for youth in the Seattle community. Mentorship can:

  • Bolster academic success

  • Provide support to students experiencing depressive symptoms

  • Promote positive relationships and feelings of connection

  • Connect students with employment opportunities

  • Create a safe space for students to learn and practice skills

Our mentoring model is data-driven, based in racial equality, and prioritizes youth voices. When you mentor at CfY, you are an important cornerstone of critical programming that allows Seattle high school students to reach their full potential.

Every year, new individuals decide to become mentors in our community, and each one brings their own unique experiences, perspectives, and talents to our mentoring program. It is this diversity and the commitment of our mentors that make each year a truly distinctive and enriching experience for our mentees!

For an enriching, in-person experience, we highly encourage incoming mentors to join our core program, Learning Community. Mentors who are unable to join our Learning Community may be eligible for our more flexible option, CfY Duos.

What does it take to be a CfY Mentor?

As a CfY mentor, you are dependable, patient, flexible, and open to learning. Above all else, you are committed to the success of every student in our community!

Our programming is student-centered. We are youth advocates who meet our students where they are and inspire them as they navigate their journey of transformation. We ask mentors to see youth not as broken or deficient, but as dedicated, committed, and powerful.

We utilize Critical Mentoring as described by Dr. Torie Weiston-Serdan. This means that we position our youth and adults are partners and collaborators in working to disrupt inequity and oppression for personal and social change. To empower this partnership, we introduce and encourage cultural humility, critical consciousness of the inequitable systems we live in, and intersectionality within the mentoring relationship.

This partnering leads to transformation in our students, mentors, and community.

Our commitment to CfY Mentors

A foundational value of our organization is integrity, meaning that we speak and act with integrity to build and maintain trust, and we bring our best selves to this work because it matters.

Relationships take work, and Mentorship is no exception - which is why we always act as resource and source of support in your mentoring journey. We provide an initial two-part mentor training prior to matching, and then provide several Mentor Workshops throughout the program year, where mentors can connect with each other in-person, provide peer support, and learn about important concepts in youth mentoring. Program staff members check-in with matches regularly throughout the year, and remain easy-to-reach points of contact from Enrollment to Completion Ceremony.

The “Community” in Community for Youth is real - you are never alone in your mentoring journey, and we are committed to your success!

Eligibility Requirements

  • Be at least 21 years of age.

  • Reside in the greater Puget Sound area.

  • Be willing to adhere to all Community for Youth Mentoring Program policies and procedures and follow the CfY Code of Conduct.

  • Complete the screening procedure.

  • Have access to reliable transportation.

  • Have a current photo ID or driver’s license, auto insurance, and good driving record.

  • Have never been accused, arrested, charged, or convicted of child abuse or molestation.

  • Not use illicit drugs.

  • Not use alcohol or controlled substances in an excessive or inappropriate manner.

  • Not be currently in treatment for substance abuse. If a substance abuse problem has occurred in the past, the applicant must have completed a non-addictive period of at least five years.

  • Not have falsified information during the course of the screening process.

  • Be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Program Year at a Glance

  • New and returning mentor applications are due on September 30. Following application review, a member of our Program Staff will schedule an interview with you. If our program is a good fit, you will be asked to complete a background check. Applications are coming soon!

  • New mentors will attend two orientation sessions: a session focused solely on new mentors, and a session including both new and returning mentors.

  • Following an initial orientation, we'll head off to YMCA Camp Colman in beautiful Longbranch, WA for a weekend of community-building. Camp Launch Weekend is a time for students and mentors to form connections over games and group activities in our spectacular PNW surroundings.

  • After a weekend of joy and connection, it's time to make matches! We'll have one more connection-focused workshop called Search Night, followed by Match Night, where matches will be revealed!

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  • The entire Learning Community (consisting of all students and adults in the program) will meet once-a-month for a Community Workshop. At these workshops, participants will be able to connect with all of our community members, play community-building activities, and explore a critical topic together.

  • During Match Night, mentors and students will be assigned to a Family Group. Your Family Group will consist of 4-6 other mentoring pairs, who you'll meet with once-a-month for a fun group outing.

  • Of course, matches between students and mentors live at the heart of CfY programming. As a CfY mentor, you'll be asked to meet with your student once-a-month for 2-3 hours for an activity agreed on by both parties.

Ready to apply? Fill out an application or our interest form below.

TIP: Fill out the “New Mentor Application” if you are ready to apply and have not mentored previously with CfY.

TIP: Fill out the “New Returning Mentor Application” if you have already mentored with CfY and you want to continue mentoring with CfY.

TIP: Fill out our Mentor Interest Form if you are interested in mentoring with CfY, but need more information or have questions. A staff member will be in touch shortly!