Chaffee County Mentors Manager, Eleanor Fahrney: 719-530-2581

Chaffee County Mentors Coordinator, Heather Barron: 719-530-2582

Chaffee Mentors PLUS Manager, Menessah Nelson: 719-530-2580

The old hospital has been renovated and will be the new home for many county and city offices

Soon we will be moved in to our new Salida office at the Touber Building (formerly the hospital).  This is an exciting time – our new location will allow greater collaboration with other county services, more meeting spaces, larger offices, increased communication between volunteer mentoring and Mentors Plus, and more!  We’ve certainly enjoyed our three+ years at 124 East 2nd Street.  Yet, we know that we can’t even anticipate all the good that will come out of this change.  We hope you will embrace the change with us and come visit us after we get settled in.

We start packing up our Salida office this Thursday, February 25th, and then will begin moving in the old hospital – now called the “Touber Building” – on Monday, March 1st.  With the change will come a new phone number yet to be determined.  In the meantime, please call the Buena Vista office (719-395-7006) if you can’t reach us in Salida.  We also may be out of internet service for March 1st and 2nd, but should be able to check email once a day in Buena Vista.  Although our physical address is changing to 448 East 1st Street, we will keep the county PO Box – all mail should be sent to Chaffee County Mentors, PO Box 1007, Salida, CO 81201.

Thanks for your patience through our transition.

Heather (right) with Manager, Eleanor (left), at Monarch in Jan. '09

Chaffee County Mentors Program Coordinator, Heather Barron, has announced that her last official day with our program will be April 30^th. 

We are sad to see Heather go – she has brought great gifts of listening, creativity, vision, laughter, and open-mindedness to our program.  We know that she will bring these gifts and more to all who cross her path in the future.

We are seeking applicants for the new Program Coordinator job.  The Program Coordinator position will be running Youth In Action half-time and supporting matches the other half.  Program Manager, Eleanor Fahrney, will focus on supporting matches and managing the program.  We hope to have the new coordinator start April 1^st so they can shadow Youth In Action and get training from Heather.

Job Posting:

Chaffee County Mentors seeks full time Program Coordinator who is a highly organized and personable individual capable of managing multiple program activities and office duties. This individual must take initiative and spearhead projects independently, including running Youth In Action – peer mentoring that empowers middle school students as mentors and reading buddies to pre-school children.  Other duties include: supporting adult-youth mentoring matches; recruiting, screening, and training volunteer mentors; running monthly group activities; budget management; grant reporting; and fundraising.  Desirable skills include: background in education, demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse youth in mixed-age groups, demonstrated ability to work in a strengths-based fashion with parents and families, volunteer and staff training and management, proficient computer skills, graphic design, strong verbal and written communication skills, and ability to travel county-wide and work evenings and some weekends.  While direct service skills are critical, organization is key as the position is half-time paperwork.  College degree required.  Position is based out of Salida Family & Youth Initiatives office.  Salaried position with benefits.  $32,000 to $35,000 based on experience.  More info and complete job description online:  www.chaffeementors.org.  To apply, please submit cover letter, resume, and two letters of reference by 5pm on 02/16/10 to Eleanor Fahrney, Program Manager, Chaffee County Mentors, 124 East 2nd St, Salida, CO 81201.  Position starts 04/01/10.

Click link below for a complete job description:

CCMCoordinatorJobDescription-Feb10

Chaffee County Mentors is incredibly grateful to all the mentors pictured and not pictured for the time they give every month to offer youth in Buena Vista and Salida valuable one-on-one time.  They are truly an extraordinary group of people and most have been mentoring for over two years. 

Chaffee County Mentors currently has 30 matches and plans to make 15 more by June 2010.  Help us serve our local youth by becoming a mentor!  To find out more about volunteering, click here.  With a little time, YOU could make a BIG difference – and help us celebrate National Mentoring Month!

Youth In Action celebrated our last month of 2009 with meeting artists and working with different media.

In Buena Vista, Evelyn Baker, owner of The Trailhead and an accomplished stained glass artist joined us at the pre-school and taught the kids how to make a tile mosaic. The first week everyone designed a trivet with mini colored tiles glued onto larger tiles (donated by Beth MacNab with High Valley Furniture). We finished the project the last Monday we met in December when Evelyn taught us how to grout. Parents joining us for our End of Month Parent Showcase, helped seal the trivets so they would last at home for many holiday meals. Buena Vista matches also made a visit to Alf’s Blacksmith Shop where they learned about the age-old art of metal working. After watching a demonstration of heating and shaping metal into a hoof pick, we learned how to bend wire into shapes. Then, pre-schoolers tried their hand at shaping cold clay by pounding it against an anvil. Meanwhile, middle schoolers tried the same with soft pewter.

In Salida, our December started with a visit from painter Sally Mather. Sally’s beautiful landscapes decorate the Family & Youth Initiative office at 124 East 2nd Street, so we were excited to hear some of her artistic wisdom. She taught YIA about line and had us practice making different line shapes with our bodies. Then, pre-schoolers and middle schoolers mimicked the use of pastels using chalk, water, and black paper. Sally played music and encouraged us to make one continuous line. All the kids created masterpieces. The next week, we got an art show from our own high school staff, Katie Pugh, who was recently elected student of the month by her art teacher. Then Jenny Spiller, one of our pre-school teachers, showed charcoal portraits to the youth. Matches used charcoal and colored pencils to make portraits of their buddies. We wrapped up the month with a visit from Maverick Potter owner, Mark Rittman. After a demonstration of the kinds of things he makes out of clay, the kids went to work with their own clay, making cut-out ornaments and more! After Mark showed one of our pre-schoolershow to make a pinch pot, Kellen proceeded to make 9 more pots.

We are incredibly grateful to the generosity of Evelyn Baker, Alf the Blacksmith, Sally Mather, Jenny Spiller, and Mark Rittman for sharing their talents, their materials, their love for art, and their time with Youth In Action.

This month in Youth In Action, we met people in the food industry in Buena Vista and Salida and got a little taste ourselves of how to be cooks.  Our book of the month was Eric Rohmann’s A Kitten Tale - a book that reminded us the value of taking advantage of new opportunities and the fun that can bring to our friendships.

In addition to making tortillas from scratch and assembling and eating pizza, Youth In Action November adventures included:

A trip to The Eddyline Restaurant in Buena Vista – including a behind-the-scenes tour by Ryan McFadden, middle schoolers making pizzas for the pre-schoolers, and everyone getting a certificate and coupon.

A visit from Eddie Sandoval, owner and lead chef of The Asian Palate in Buena Vista – Eddie taught all the kids how to make a vegetarian sushi roll and a lettuce wrap.  After making the delicacy of their choice, matches shared their dishes with their parents.

A trip to Mountain Phoenix Roastery in Salida – including a tour by owner Bryan Joslin and hot cocoa for everyone!

A feast at The Country Bounty in Salida –Kids squeezed whipped cream onto chocolate moose, grated chocolate, spread cream cheeses onto bruscetta, built “chicken slider” sandwiches, and assembled veggie and dessert platters –all with the help of Chefs Mike Conway and Alicia Rampy.

Youth In Action is incredibly grateful to these local businesses for their support!

Hey Mentors! You are AMAZING, and we want to know how to support you best! From everything you tell us, the Coffee Talks are “really important,” “so helpful.”

However, the past 3 months we have had a steady decline in attendance with only three folks in July and one in August. We want to be sure that this is a service that still fulfills the original desire of our mentors: to have time with other mentors to learn and share ideas and tips on mentoring.  Please take a few minutes to complete an anonymous survey that will help us create the mentor support YOU want.

We will be assembling the data from this survey in December and deciding whether to resume the Coffee Talks. Please take the survey by NOVEMBER 30th.

Thanks!

Go here: Coffee Talk Survey

Lawton and Jelissa at last year's party!

Everyone in the community is invited Saturday, October 24th, to the 5th Annual Family Halloween Party & Dance sponsored by Family & Youth Initiatives in collaboration with Salida Recreation, Arkansas Valley Music and Dance, and the Salida Circus! 

This fun event will include a haunted house for the little ones (ages 10 and under) created by the older ones (ages 14 and up), a dessert potluck, live old-time music by Millcreek (Megan, Amanda, and Jacob Smith), dances taught and called by Eleanor Fahrney, and, of course, a costume contest.  The party is FREE, so put on a costume and bring your friends and family members of all ages to the Salida Scout Hut on Saturday, October 24th, from 6:30-9:00pm. 

This is the October group activity for Chaffee County Mentors, so mentors are encouraged to bring their mentee to the festivities.  Perhaps you’ll want to carve a pumpkin before hand and bring that to help decorate or bake some cookies together to bring to the dessert potluck.  Teens and their mentors may want to help with the haunted house.  You must sign up to help by calling Kelly at 530-9955.  We also need some teens and mentors to take photos.  Call Eleanor at 395-7006 if you’re interested.

A bus from Buena Vista will be provided and is meeting at 6:00pm at Avery-Parson’s Elementary.

Buena Vista Youth In Action

Youth In Action (YIA), a branch program of Chaffee County Mentors, enrolls middle school youth and pre-school children each September to participate in cross-age peer mentoring. Meeting weekly after-school, Youth In Action focuses on supporting the social-emotional and literacy development of the pre-schoolers while also providing a unique opportunity for middle-school aged youth to take on responsibility and use leadership skills in a fun and supportive environment. Middle schoolers volunteer their time, participate in six hours of training, and are rewarded with fun field trips a couple times during the year.

The budding mentors could barely contain their excitement last week when we went to the pre-school – they were going to meet the little ones for the first time. The first two weeks of YIA involve meet-and-greet activities in which mentors and mentees get to know one another and then name the people with whom they particularly connected. Next week, the youth will be “matched” based on their choices. The Match Day is a special time when the youth plant the seed for friendships to build through the rest of the school year.

More mini-golfing fun for a good cause!

Due to the generosity of Rocky Mountain Mini-golf and the rain-out of this past Saturday’s “Glow-in-the-Dark Mini-golfing,” the offer below has been extended through Saturday night September 19th! Come out and support the Chaffee County Mentors while having fun! We are grateful to Rocky Mountain Mini-golf and to the support of the community. We know many of you were excited to join us for the Glow-in-the-Dark party this past Saturday until the storm clouds stole our thunder!

SPECIAL OFFER: Rocky Mountain Mini-Golf is graciously donating 50% of all admission charges to the Mentors Program.

DATES: Tues., 9/15 through Sat. night, 9/19

TIME: 10am-9pm

LOCATION: Rocky Mountain Mini-Golf, located on Hwy 50 in Salida, next to Country Bounty Restaurant

YOU MUST MENTION THE MENTORS PROGRAM

MENTOR MATCHES GOLF FOR FREE!!! So just grab a few folks to come along and make it a fun family outing! Tell your neighbors, your family and your friends tell EVERYONE to come out!

Please feel free to contact us with any questions: 539-2630 or Rocky Mountain Mini-Golf: 539-3140