Lower Hudson Journal

Mentoring program helps teens, young adults

By SUZAN CLARKE
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 17, 2006)

NYACK

Some of the teens and young adults who had gathered at the Nyack Center one recent Thursday evening were there to hang out with their friends, watch television, eat pizza and drink sodas, and receive much -needed adult mentoring.

They are part of Adults Caring for Teens, or A.C.T. Inc., a nonprofit program founded in 2005 by Penny Jennings to provide free adult mentoring to 13- to 21-year-olds, particularly those who have been in jail or have had run-ins with the law, or who are at risk.

"A lot of people are offended by the term 'at risk,' but I submit that all children are at risk because of the society that we live in," said Jennings, a New York City Transit Authority employee who lives in Pomona.

As a teen mother, Jennings saw firsthand that a father's absence could affect a child's development.

A.C.T. aims to pair teens and young adults with adult mentors who can spend time with their charges at the Nyack Center (where the program is based) or out in the community.

The program's first mentee was an 18-year-old from Nyack who attended Rockland Community College part time and worked part time.

"So I said ... well, why do you want a mentor? You seem to be doing the right thing," Jennings recalled. "He said, 'I've been raised with a single mother.' He said, 'I have five brothers and sisters. I'm the oldest.' He said , 'I just never had a man to do anything with me.' He said, 'I've never had a man take me fishing.' This kid had never been to a baseball game. Never been to any sports game ever."

Tina Grant, 20, lives in Nyack Plaza.

An unlikely mentee, she came to Jennings to get program information for her younger sister. She ended up talking to Jennings, who asked her if she wanted to be part of the program. She decided to try it.

Jennings' positivity got through to Grant, who had dropped out of Nyack High School as a result of what Grant herself said was a lot of hanging out with the wrong crowd and marijuana-smoking. Her weekly meetings with Jennings, their telephone conversations and Saturday morning breakfasts or lunches, have helped change her outlook. She had never thought about going to college but has now registered at RCC.

"Right now my life is OK," said Grant, who got her general equivalency diploma and has two part-time jobs. "I take care of my grandfather, I go to work, and after that just sit home doing nothing, not going anywhere or anything. So I'm like, 'Maybe I do need to go to school. I need something to fill that gap.'

"I don't want to live this life," added Grant, who wants to study criminal forensics. "I don't want to live in the ghetto. I don't want to be labeled as, you know, ghetto and poor and all that. I want more out of life. I don't want to live here for the rest of my life. I want to travel and do things."

County legislators, including William Darden, D-Spring Valley, have been supportive of the program, Jennings said.

A $100,000 grant from state Sen. Thomas Morahan, R-New City, allowed A.C.T. to get started.

"They do a worthy program, and the senator recognized the importance of this one-to-one mentoring," Ron Levine, Morahan's spokesman said, adding that A.C.T. was being considered for additional funding.

Such funding would allow Jennings to provide activities like trips to fine restaurants, baseball games and museums, not to mention a paid staff. Until then, the administration and mentoring are on an all-volunteer basis.

James Young, a Cortlandt resident, volunteered to become a mentor in part because he knew what it was like growing up in a dysfunctional household.

"I could have used a mentor," he said. "I could have used some positive adults in my life, and I did eventually have some, and I think there's a part of me that wants to give back."

Mentors must be able to pass a background check and be willing to invest at least two hours per week for a year, Jennings said.

"They don't need to have any particular career path," she added "They need to be positive, socially adept individuals, good upstanding citizens."

Jennings said she believes her program is unique because it accepts even teens and young adults who have been in trouble with the law. They come from various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

One of her eight clients has been in jail. Another was referred by the county's Department of Probation. One has a PINS, or persons in need of supervision, designation from Family Court.

"Once kids get in trouble, nobody wants to touch them," said Jennings. She said she started the program in part because of her own son's past challenges with the law.

Jennings, who holds an undergraduate degree in business and a master's in social policy, said she believes strongly in the power of positive role models.

She said she believes she is a classic example.

When Jennings was 15 years old, her mother died, leaving four young daughters without their primary caregiver.

"Look at me," she said. "I should have failed. I had nobody to raise me from 15. I should have failed. People were willing to mentor me. Women from the church I grew up in were willing to mentor me. So I have a responsibility to do it for somebody else. It's wonderful to be picked up, but if you see somebody else down, you better pick them up."

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