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Saji Johnson, Board Member
AFC MentoringIt can be hard enough for a child to move between schools, communities, and friends during his or her life. Much harder, still, is having to move between families. With all the hardships foster children can face, it's good to know that Adoption & Foster Care Mentoring (AFC) is dedicated to help provide a solid footing for their future. Since, AFC has been serving the greater Boston area's foster children with 1-on-1 and group mentoring, internships, and much more. The wisdom and constancy provided by AFC goes a long way towards making life more positive and self-enabling, and for that, they are distinguished as this week's Non-Profit Spotlight.
Non-Profit
AFC Mentoring
Founded
August 2001 as a pilot program
Website
www.afcmentoring.org
Name
Saji Johnson, Board Member, 26
Hometown
Kerala, India until age 7 / Boston Suburbs
Current residence
Waltham, Massachusetts
Education
Boston University
American Real Estate Academy
Past companies
MIAA, CTO, current (emerging NYC music technology start-up);
Mobilise, Founder, current (early stage Boston start-up);
SkyWorld, Inc., CTO;
Fiabra, LLC, Co-Founder/COO;
Boys & Girls Club of Boston, Dir. of Technology;
Nokia Corp., Wireless R&D
Ethnicity
Malayalee -- Kerala
About the Non-profit
BUSINESS DEFINITION:
AFCM is in the business of creating and sustaining supportive mentoring relationships and growth opportunities for foster and adopted youth in the New England area.
MISSION
AFCM's mission is to empower foster and adopted youth in Massachusetts to flourish through commited mentoring relationships.
Most notable milestones
Ongoing development of an experience, diverse and dedicated board membership.
The mentors we work with say their relationships with their mentees have positively changed their lives in ways they had never imagined. Mentees social workers say that AFC mentees consistently exceed expectations, and create strong bonds with their mentors, even after being labeled as no longer able to attach to adult role models.
AFC Mentoring's first mentoring match is still active, and a great example of the potential results of a mentoring program. Prior to her involvement with AFC, Jane had little consistency in her life. During her time as a mentee, she has been jostled around to four residential and two psychiatric placements. This young woman was expected to remain in highly restrictive residential care and schooling until age 18. Now, at age 15, and largely because of her relationship with her mentor, Jane has moved to a less restrictive placement.
Of our matches, 85-88% last at least one year. In other leading mentoring programs, only 60-75% last that long. Of matches that pass the one year point, 60% last for at least 2 years. Although more than 1/3 of the children with whom we work change placements during their match, and most change placements multiple times, no match has ever ended because a child moved.
The Boston Celtics have recognized AFC Mentoring's founder through their Heroes Among Us program. AFC Mentoring received the A. Keith Brodkin Award from the Home for Little Wanderers for our work in child welfare. The Boston Globe, The Boston Metro, The Arlington Advocate, and the newsletters for MARE, the American Adoption Congress, NACAC, ODS, and other local and national adoption/foster care non-profits have run stories about us. Recently, the local television show Chronicle featured our work.
We recently held our online auction fundraiser which raised several thousands of dollars. More about this event can be found at www.afcmentoring.com.
What's the niche?
How we are different: AFCMentors is the only Massachusetts mentoring program exclusively serving foster/adopted youth that meets the Mass Mentoring Partnership standards; both Team AFC and AFCInterns are the only programs of which we know of their kind. We are unique among Massachusetts programs in the degree to which people who were or are in foster care or similar situations have a leadership role; this makes us a uniquely grassroots organization. We are unique in the degree to which we focus on showing youth that they are not alone in their experiences, by introducing them to others from similar backgrounds. Finally, AFC is unique in the degree to which we are seeking to leverage our programs to help each other.
What's the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenges which arises in a non-profit entity largely lies on the task of developing financial sustainability, in conjunction with the ever continues task of grant and fund generation. All other variables of a non-profit rely on this one independent variable and can grow, maintain operations, or break a non-profit. Financing is what enables us to attract members, recruit staff and mentors, develop better and better training, continues background checks for members, facilities utilization, and brand recognition.
Who would you like to be contacted by?
Any individual or organization which is willing to invest, grant, or fund for the financial sustainability to power and continue AFCMs business definition and core mission.
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Guiding principle of the organization
AFCM's mission is to empower foster and adopted youth in Massachusetts to flourish through commited mentoring relationships.
We believe that all foster/adopted youth can flourish and realize their full potential with caring supportive relationships, and the right supports.
Yardstick of success
Long-term: There is lower need for foster care, because we have broken the cycle of care in families. (i.e. the percentage of the child population in care is lower, because of the reduced need)
Shorter-term: Foster/adopted youth report having more and more positive relationships with caring adults and peers. They feel more positive about themselves and the future and have more realistic goals for the future. They enjoy school more, attend more, and have are getting in trouble less.
Goal yet to be achieved
To actively meet and exceed or recent strategy plan in regards to adding more then 111+ members, developing larger financial grants/donations, and growing the overall operations of AFC by 2011.
Best practical advice
Believe in the abilities of all youth.
Supportive words from a family member or friend on your venture
"Help those who need help" ...simple but effective saying my Momma told me a long time ago...
Mentor
Just my previous mistakes, those mistakes have made me learn as I go in life.
What motivated the people who started the organization?
Justin Pasquariello, the founder and Executive Director, was himself in foster care, kinship care, and the care of his birth mother before his family adopted him when he was nine years old. He became a mentor while at Harvard. During his senior year there, he took a class in community organizing, and he wanted to do something to help foster/adopted youth. He learned that there was a real need for mentoring for this population, so he began the work to provide that. With some funding awarded by the end of his senior year, he began the work.
What keeps your organization motivated today?
The stories of our mentors and mentees inspire us. Having AFCInterns in the office also inspires us; these are foster/adopted adolescents who do great work and remind us why we are here.
What do people in the organization like best about it?
It is a very friendly relationship-based organization that makes a real impact.
Biggest pastime outside of work for most people in your organization
Nearly half of the board members, and more than half of the staff members, also are volunteer mentors. Outside of mentoring, our interests are very varied; we have a staff member who loves languages, and is working on becoming fluently trilingual (while also having studied at least 3 other languages), and another staff member who would like to be a minister. Many people associated with AFC love to travel.
Person most interested in meeting and why
We would love to meet Oprah Winfrey, because she personally had similar experiences, and could be very inspiring. We also would like to give mentors, mentees and interns an opportunity to attend her show. We want to put together a fundraiser that will be like an awards show, and we would love to present her with an award at that show. We also would love to invite her to help us to plan it.
Leader in business most interested in meeting that would be beneficial and why
Our Executive Director loves the book the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and would like to meet Stephen Covey, so they could collaborate to share these ideas with foster/adopted youth.
Three interesting facts about the organization
- We are very focused on having foster/adopted people help foster/adopted people. We required our mentors to have had personal foster/adoption experiences at first. While we now welcome others to be mentors, to help meet the needs of the children we serve, we continue to seek people with those personal experiences.
- We are at 727 Atlantic Avenue, and the number is a lucky one for most of our staff people.
- Our legal name is Foster and Adoption Mentoring and Enrichment, Inc., but we are working on changing it to Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring (we can do business as AFC Mentoring).
Three characteristics that best describe the organization
Relationship-oriented, Strengths-based, Passionate
Favorite cause (outside of yours)
Favorite cause would is working on ramping up both Miaa and Mobilise to revenue generating stage.
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