A major success for the Pro Kids Foundation: Its mentoring project "Chance for the Future" has been selected by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs as one of 25 model projects in Germany. This includes funding of over 5,000 euros..

This funding is part of the "Growing Together – Strengthening Educational Mentoring, Promoting Integration" initiative. Through this initiative, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, in cooperation with the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, supports existing mentoring projects for young people with a migration background and encourages the establishment of new projects.

The ProKids mentoring program is a prime example of how young people in Germany are supported. Nicole Hommerberg, the project coordinator, is delighted: "Being among the top 25 is a fantastic boost for our mentors' work." The ProKids mentors work with mentees from secondary schools. They volunteer their time to support students who are struggling to graduate and enter the workforce. The mentors support their mentees over an extended period, if needed. They help improve academic performance, assist with the application process, and, if necessary, provide support during the first few months of their mentee's vocational training.

The life and professional experience of older people offers young people the support that their own families cannot provide, and the necessary guidance to seize their opportunity for a good future. The need is great: Over 50,000 young people in Germany started their lives without even a secondary school leaving certificate. Internships, support programs, training courses – in the end, poorly paid jobs and unemployment often alternate. 

Meanwhile, a strong demand for the ProKids mentoring program has also emerged in Villingen-Schwenningen. In Schwenningen, they are cooperating with the Deutenberg primary and secondary school, and in Villingen with the Karl-Brachat secondary school. Both schools have long recognized the value and benefits of volunteer student mentors and now want to provide mentors to numerous students – even more than the non-profit foundation can currently offer. "We are urgently seeking mentors, especially men," says Nicole Hommerberg. This stems from the fact that there are many male mentees to be mentored.

“The mentoring project is a key component of our foundation’s charitable work,” explains Joachim Spitz, ProKids founder and chairman of the foundation’s board. “We are absolutely delighted that it is now among the 25 best support models in Germany.” He sees this as a wonderful recognition of the work of the volunteer mentors and, at the same time, confirmation of the concept.

The "Growing Together" initiative is the most important funding program for civic engagement in Germany. It is designed to raise awareness of model projects like the ProKids mentoring program and to encourage more citizens to get involved in helping others. Joachim Spitz makes it clear that the mentors' work benefits not only the young people they mentor, but also companies that are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their need for qualified trainees.

Sabine Braun, Head of Youth Work and Civic Engagement at the city's Office for Family, Youth and Social Affairs, shares this view. She assures that they, too, were incredibly pleased with ProKids' great success. "The successful completion of vocational training brings not only personal benefits for the young person, but also profits for companies and the municipality, and thus for society as a whole," she says. The ProKids mentoring project "Chance for the Future" holds an "exceptional significance" in Villingen-Schwenningen. Sabine Braun hopes that the selection by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, which officially promoted ProKids mentoring as a top project nationwide, will give the initiative in Villingen-Schwenningen new impetus and enable ProKids to recruit more urgently needed mentors.

Info:

Anyone interested in becoming a mentor at “Chance auf Zukunft” can contact Nicole Hommerberg, Steinkirchring 34, 78056 Schwenningen, telephone 07721/206 16 78. n.hommerberg@prokids-stiftung.de Please contact Sabine Braun, City of Villingen-Schwenningen, Office for Family, Youth and Social Affairs, Justinus-Kerner-Str. 7, Telephone: 07721/82-2158