Mentoring Program

Inspired by the story credited to Alan Cohen,  They Are Singing Your Song, the Brigade Youth Program helps your child discover his or her own unique song. Through one-on-one mentoring, we help children discern and learn to sing their own songs. Once it is discovered, we teach each child’s song to the community of peers, friends, parents and teachers. Mentors are trained to be a non-anxious presence and to create an atmosphere of a mutual trust.  We believe, in the words of Rachel Naomi Remen, that “We do not serve the weak or the broken. What we serve is the wholeness in each other and the wholeness in life. The part in you that I serve is the same part that is strengthened in me when I serve. Unlike helping and fixing and rescuing, service is mutual.”

The Brigade Youth Program helps your child discover his or her own unique path, finding that special, guiding song inside that will help him or her face challenges, nurture spirituality, and celebrate individuality within loving unity. Using a customized, innovative, holistic approach — called the Individualized, Educational, Spiritual, and Social Plan (IESSP) — the Brigade will create a circle of spiritual, educational, and social mentors to help your child grow into a confident, spiritual, and caring adult.

Individualized: No child is the same. We will design a customized, individualized, integrated plan to guide each child toward success, taking into account individual backgrounds and experiences and then laying out concrete goals and benchmarks.

Educational: No child learns the same way. We will work with each child to overcome academic challenges by building on his or her inner knowledge, supporting strengths, and providing tools to triumph.

Spiritual: No child is alone. We will help each child discover inner spirituality, moral discipline, and Christian values within a community of caring adults.

Social: No child is without community. We will support each child to develop love and responsibility for themselves and others, and to realize themselves as part of a loving community.

Plan: We work with each child to implement a plan to achieve these goals.