This program brought two sets of at-risk youth together for a mutually beneficial program. "The Youth Mentoring Initiative" trained youth age 11 to 17 from an impoverished community to be engaged in meaningful community service by working with preschoolers from the same neighborhood.

The program began in 2002 with a small grant from the State of Michigan to work with middle and high school students from Van Dyke Public Schools. These students participated in a six-week training program where they learned how to interact with preschoolers, how to teach computer skills, how to read to aloud and also basic first aid and safety. Once trained, the mentors began working with preschoolers on an after-school basis.

The preschoolers flourished under the program. Young children love to interact with older children. But, the teens involved in the program were also positively impacted.

By 2004, the program was one of only five recipients in the country to receive a National Head Start grant of $50,000 to continue the program. Today, more than 250 preschoolers and nearly 40 teenagers have been involved in the program in the south Macomb neighborhood where it began.

For more information, click Macomb County Community Services Agency (MCCSA)