Mentors for older teens and young adults offer more than emotional support. They provide guidance in learning life skills as youth transition from foster care to an independent living.

Did you know how to apply to college? Who helped you shop for your first car? Was there someone to teach you about budgeting? How to balance a checkbook? Did someone help you set career goals? Look for a job or an apartment? 


The mechanics of daily living – things that seem so straightforward to you now – are often a mystery to a young person with no caring adult to guide them or teach them.

There is a critical need for mentors for youth in foster care who are 18 and older. Teens age out of the foster care system when they turn 18. While the state provides some financial assistance for housing and other needs, a future that includes homelessness or jail is likely for those young people without a caring adult to guide them.

The number of ways mentoring can help a teen in foster care are as diverse as the people themselves. Take a look at our mentoring success stories to see how mentoring works.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor to a child in foster care, please take the next steps to learn more.