There is no cost for the ongoing Journeymen mentoring program.
The age requirement is 12 to 17 years. Since we have found that mixing boys younger than 12 with young men ranging to age 17 can place unnecessary stress on the younger ones, the beginning age of 12 is a mandatory requirement.
In some instances we have accepted young men into the program who are 18 or 19, but as legal adults they must pass through our background screening process in order to be admitted. Our aim is for these young men to become fully functioning staff and mentors to the younger ones, as passing the torch to the younger generation is central to our purpose.
The first step in the process is for a parent or guardian to contact us. Then we connect over the phone and follow up with an in-home visit. For in-home visits we endeavor to bring two mentors to visit with the parent or guardian together with the boy. We have an open-ended conversation about the program and answer any and all questions that arise. In addition to informing and answering questions, the purpose of this meeting is to spark the interest of the boy to experience Journeymen.
The next step is for the parent or guardian to fill out a Mentee Application and submit via email, fax or mail. There is also a portion of this form that is for the boy to complete so we can learn a little more about him.
Once we receive a signed and completed mentee application, the young man is able to join our mentoring meetings and outings.
There is s separate form for new boys to initiate in our rite of passage adventure weekend, and for returning J-Men to staff the weekend. These forms are made available when we schedule dates for the events.
