 Former foster child starts mentor program WASHINGTON — Courtney Stewart was shocked at what he saw while delivering cleaning supplies to a school here in 2005: loud and disrespectful students, only half of whom wore the required uniform. "I went to the director and said, 'You need a lot of help,' " says Stewart, owner of Stewart's Cleaning Service. He began volunteering as a mentor to students and decided to do more to help the kids in the neighborhood where he grew up in a foster family. Eager to help others stay out of trouble, he came up with a business plan for a mentoring program. He gathered four friends in his basement to craft a mission statement, file incorporation papers and brainstorm the organization's name, Mentoring Works 2. The "2" represents the two people, adult and child, in a mentoring relationship. His program offers a safe place for kids to go after school to eat, play games and get help with homework. He has about 40 volunteers, many of them students from nearby Howard University. "He's helped to get some of the kids to stop jumping people and beating them up," says Darren Jones, head of the Pleasant Plains Civic Association. Eric Aull, 10, says he started going to the program because "I had nothing to do." With the group, he went swimming, visited Six Flags, served food to the homeless and learned to inline skate. Stewart says he's not good at fundraising, so he uses his own money to cover 80% of the expenses, including $2,000 monthly rent and $200 weekly for food. "It's definitely a sacrifice," he says, "but it's one I can make, up to a point." By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2010-03-08-sharing-sidebar_N.htm |
