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 5,000 euros..

This funding is part of the "Growing Together – Strengthening Educational Sponsorships, Promoting Integration" campaign. 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 sponsorship projects for young people with an immigrant background and encourages the establishment of new projects.

The ProKids mentoring project is a prime example of supporting young people in this country. Nicole Hommerberg, the project coordinator, is delighted: "Being among the top 25 is a fantastic boost for the work of our mentors." The ProKids mentors work with mentees from secondary schools (Hauptschulen) and intermediate schools (Realschulen). They volunteer to support students who are struggling to complete school and enter the workforce. The mentors supervise their protégés for an extended period of time if necessary. They ensure that their protégés' academic progress improves, support them in the application process, and, if necessary, even during their protégé's first few months of vocational training.

The life and professional experience of older people offers young people the support their parents can't provide, as well as the guidance they need to seize their opportunity for a bright future. The need is great: Over 50,000 young people in Germany begin their lives without even a secondary school diploma. Internships, support programs, training—they often end up alternating between low-paying jobs and unemployment. 

Meanwhile, a vital demand for the ProKids mentoring program has also emerged in Villingen-Schwenningen. The program cooperates with the Deutenberg Elementary and Secondary School in Schwenningen and with the Karl-Brachat Secondary School in Villingen. They have long recognized the value and benefits of volunteer student mentors and now want to provide numerous students with mentors. More, in fact, than the non-profit foundation can currently provide. "We are urgently looking for mentors, especially men," says Nicole Hommerberg. This is because there are numerous male mentees to be supervised.

"The mentoring project is a central component of our foundation's charitable work," explains Joachim Spitz, ProKids founder and chairman of the foundation's board. "We are 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, a validation of the concept.

The "Growing Together" program 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 encourage more citizens to get involved in helping others. Joachim Spitz emphasizes that the mentors' work benefits not only the young people they mentor, but also companies that are increasingly struggling to meet their demand for qualified trainees.

Sabine Braun, head of the youth work and civic engagement department in the city's Office for Family, Youth, and Social Affairs, agrees. She assures them that they were also incredibly pleased with ProKids' great success. "The successful completion of vocational training brings not only personal benefits for the young person, but also benefits the company and the municipality, and thus society as a whole," she says. The ProKids mentoring project "Chance for the Future" has an "extraordinary significance" in Villingen-Schwenningen. Sabine Braun hopes that the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs' selection of ProKids mentoring as a top German project 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, phone 07721/206 16 78, n.hommerberg@prokids-stiftung.de or contact Sabine Braun, City of Villingen-Schwenningen, Office for Family, Youth and Social Affairs, Justinus-Kerner-Str. 7, Telephone: 07721/82-2158