Partners of Delta, Montrose and Ouray is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building one-to-one mentoring partnerships between young people and responsible, caring adults. The program began in 1987 and has served hundreds of youth and volunteers in our community. Youth with a mentor in the Partners programs benefit from increased self-esteem, academic improvements, and pro-social bonding. They are also less likely to become delinquent or experiment with substance use. Having a mentor opens a world of opportunities for a youth, shaping a successful future one experience at a time. Partners’ serves youth ages 6 -17 that could benefit from a positive adult role model.
The goals of CTC align with our work very closely. Having a trusted adult role model in the Partners program is a critical protective factor for a child. That said, youth served in the Partners program often need all the protective factors we can create. Hopefully the highly trained staff of Partners mentoring can make positive contributions to the work and goals of CTC.
Participation in CTC is also beneficial to the Partners program. Community-based youth mentoring requires many layers of collaboration to work efficiently. Youth participants in Partners are referred to our program from the very professionals who make up the coalition. While we work toward community-level impacts with CTC, Partners will be there to serve the young people who need the individual support of a mentor. Furthermore, the coalition is a group of active, caring individuals who may be able to assist with mentor recruitment allowing us to increase services and contribute to the CTC objectives.