National Mentoring Month

January is National Mentoring Month. At Friends Austin, we’re celebrating the power of mentorship and the lasting impact it has on young lives. As professional mentors, our Friends walk alongside youth facing the greatest challenges, building trusting relationships, providing guidance, and empowering them to thrive – no matter what.

Read on for some reflections from our Friends about their journeys as professional mentors:

“Being a mentor is crucial for fostering relationships and being a constant presence in my youth’s life, proving that iron sharpens iron. It’s witnessing them come into their own that makes it all worth it.”

-Hector G. Garcia, Jr., Friend

“I’ve had the privilege of working in different positions throughout my career, from supporting older youth and teens in foster care to tutoring reading skills in an elementary school. I found myself wishing that my work could’ve started sooner or could continue for longer than the time we were given.

I chose to become a mentor because of the gift of providing meaningful, long-lasting 1:1 time to support our kids: 12 years, no matter what. It’s incredibly meaningful to me to be a part of a child and family’s life in such an intimate and long-lasting position.

As a relatively new Austinite who moved here in 2022, my favorite part of being a mentor is exploring the city with my mentees, sharing my love of places such as swimming at Barton Springs, picking out books to read on the garden terrace at the Austin Central Library, seeing the animals at Austin Nature and Science Center, watching them play at the Alliance Children's Garden, admiring culture and history at The Blanton Art Museum, taking the riverside walking trails by Lady Bird Lake, and many, many more. I also love when my kiddos get to take me somewhere I've never been, like Delmy's in Riverside which now holds the top spot for my FAVORITE pupusas in town.

Besides all the cool places we get to go, mentoring in Austin includes logging a ton of miles in car rides across town. This past summer, I had the opportunity to take one of my girls to Kalahari with a group of mentors and our older youth. On our way home, it was about 11 PM, which felt incredibly late; I usually don't stay with my kids past sundown, but this was a special occasion!

As we were driving down I-35, listening to our custom playlist for her, exhausted after a long day of fun and socializing, she sat up with a spark and started taking pictures of the skyline. She made a comment about how she doesn't get to see the city like this often. I drive downtown on the same highway almost every night after work, but since that night I feel like I appreciate the view a little more: the reflections of the buildings in the Colorado River, the constant upward motion of new construction, the speckles of lights in the structures representing the unique lives of those around us contrasting against the dark sky. It's a joy to get to see Austin through their eyes: a beautiful city that they call home.”

-Mary Isabel Sales, Friend

“My path to being a professional mentor will be like others, finding a new career or change of pace, but my mission has always been the same: to serve my community, my neighbors, my city in a way that impacts the kids who live here. The kids who have the strongest potential and opportunities to mold this world we share. Knowing that I can serve the same neighborhoods I grew up in, that I see myself in the kids we support, and that I have a team that strives to support them as well, has been my favorite and most fulfilling part of being a Friend.”

-Freddy Vigil-Zavaleta, Program Manager & Friend