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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — As a young seminary student in Denver, Bob Moffit worked with high school students in trouble with the law. He attended a court hearing for Johnny Cordova, arrested for robbing a Safeway store.
When the judge asked Cordova who he was with, Cordova replied, “My partner.”
The judge turned to the “partner” and said, “OK, this is what I want, three hours a week, and a one-year commitment to this kid.” Moffit left the seminary and, along with businessman Bill Mitchell, started the mentoring program for at-risk youths known as Partners.
Moffit, 64, now lives in Phoenix, and Cordova, his junior partner 40 years ago, is a 55-year-old artist living in Santa Fe, N.M.
Moffit and Cordova came to a 40-year anniversary celebration of Partners in Denver last year, where Mesa County Partners Director Joe Higgins met up with them.
Higgins has been hooked on Partners ever since he first became a mentor with Partners as a college student in Denver in the late 1960s.
“It’s important because it works,” Higgins said. “Both youth and adults have positive experiences. There’s something magical about mentoring.”
Various agencies, including the school district and the Department of Human Services, as well as private counselors identify children in need of an adult friend or role model for referral to Partners. Ninety-four percent of junior partners are from single-parent homes and poverty-level households. Others have a family member who is or has been incarcerated, or abuses drugs or alcohol.
Omni Research in Denver shows kids who participate in the Partners program have more self-confidence, decreased delinquency, are less inclined to use drugs or alcohol, and have better attitudes regarding their futures.
There are currently 130 active partnerships in Mesa County. Eighty-five children are on a waiting list. Boys often wait up to two years for an adult partner.
Volunteer mentors must have transportation and be 16 or older.
Volunteers go through standard background checks, an interview process and are asked to commit to spending three hours a week for a year with their junior partners.
Ongoing, consistent contact between a mentor and junior partner are necessary to be effective, Higgins said.
“It’s important that the child knows you think he’s a worthwhile person and worth spending time with.”
After the one-year commitment, 75 percent of partnerships continue as friendships.
“Most of the time they grow up and move on,” Higgins said.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
When the judge asked Cordova who he was with, Cordova replied, “My partner.”
The judge turned to the “partner” and said, “OK, this is what I want, three hours a week, and a one-year commitment to this kid.” Moffit left the seminary and, along with businessman Bill Mitchell, started the mentoring program for at-risk youths known as Partners.
Moffit, 64, now lives in Phoenix, and Cordova, his junior partner 40 years ago, is a 55-year-old artist living in Santa Fe, N.M.
Moffit and Cordova came to a 40-year anniversary celebration of Partners in Denver last year, where Mesa County Partners Director Joe Higgins met up with them.
Higgins has been hooked on Partners ever since he first became a mentor with Partners as a college student in Denver in the late 1960s.
“It’s important because it works,” Higgins said. “Both youth and adults have positive experiences. There’s something magical about mentoring.”
Various agencies, including the school district and the Department of Human Services, as well as private counselors identify children in need of an adult friend or role model for referral to Partners. Ninety-four percent of junior partners are from single-parent homes and poverty-level households. Others have a family member who is or has been incarcerated, or abuses drugs or alcohol.
Omni Research in Denver shows kids who participate in the Partners program have more self-confidence, decreased delinquency, are less inclined to use drugs or alcohol, and have better attitudes regarding their futures.
There are currently 130 active partnerships in Mesa County. Eighty-five children are on a waiting list. Boys often wait up to two years for an adult partner.
Volunteer mentors must have transportation and be 16 or older.
Volunteers go through standard background checks, an interview process and are asked to commit to spending three hours a week for a year with their junior partners.
Ongoing, consistent contact between a mentor and junior partner are necessary to be effective, Higgins said.
“It’s important that the child knows you think he’s a worthwhile person and worth spending time with.”
After the one-year commitment, 75 percent of partnerships continue as friendships.
“Most of the time they grow up and move on,” Higgins said.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
Be a partner
An orientation for those interested in mentoring will be held Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the Partners building, 1169 Colorado Ave., at noon (lunch will be provided) and again at 5:30 p.m. For more information: 245-5555, or www.MesaPartners.org
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