Build a Relational Bridge in Your Community

Live into your passion for missions through a partnership with your local elementary school. With a Kids Hope USA one-on-one mentoring program, your church members become active participants in building life-changing relationships with children, one at a time. Through this intentional, time-tested program, you’ll empower students to grow and thrive while serving your community beyond the walls of the church.

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WALKING TOGETHER IN ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

At Kids Hope USA, we believe that all kids matter to Jesus. We believe that the local church is uniquely called to care for children in their community who would benefit from another caring, reliable relationship. These proven church-school partnerships invite volunteer mentors to stand alongside parents, teachers, principals and counselors to ensure kids are valued and loved. Each week, volunteer mentors from your congregation meet with one student for one hour, one day a week during the school day. This consistency and encouragement of a mentor can be an important ingredient in helping children thrive in and out of school.

“Kids Hope USA has created a higher bar of commitment for our church. The program makes it as easy and clear for you as possible, but you’ve got to have some skin in the game. This higher bar of commitment has helped us, and maybe even raised our level of commitment in other areas.” – Kids Hope USA Pastor

CONGREGATION IMPACT

In addition to empowering students to thrive in and out of the classroom, a Kids Hope USA mentoring program also makes a significant impact in your church community. Through consistent engagement of your volunteer mentors, your church can experience:

Visible outreach opportunities in your community

Pathways to engage with other ministries, especially school-based programs

Way for new volunteers to get involved in the church community

Spiritual growth for mentors and prayer partners

Relationship-building with teachers, staff and parents from the school

Deepened commitment to local missions

of mentors said mentoring has helped them live out their faith (Greenway, 2023).

of mentors said they are more committed to their church because of their involvement with Kids Hope USA (Greenway, 2023).

HOW IT WORKS

Kids Hope USA helps you connect with your partner school and gets you started in cultivating meaningful relationships with children in your community. Here are a few essential steps in establishing and supporting a Kids Hope USA program.

Connect with a school – Kids Hope USA will help connect you with your local elementary school, providing structure, training and support.

Choose a director – Select a program director to lead volunteers. The director will complete extensive training, with the help of Kids Hope USA staff.

Recruit and screen volunteers – Invite volunteer mentors and prayer partners to serve local students. All mentors complete several screening steps and training to ensure safety of the program.

Mentors and students are matched – Working with the school, the program director prayerfully pairs mentors with selected students.

Mentoring begins! – Supported by a prayer partner, mentors and students meet each week for one hour, playing games, reading and building relationships.

Serve students in your community through one-on-one mentoring.