Help at the Holidays: Garden Pathways improves lives through mentors
| Wednesday, Dec 16 2009 12:10 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Dec 16 2009 12:14 PM
Bakersfield is a generous community, particularly during the holidays. To help readers find new ways to give back to neighbors and friends, The Californian is featuring a wide array of non-profit organizations this season.
Find out more about Garden Pathways and its programs at:
www.gardenpathways.org and www.facebook.com/gardenpathways
HOW TO HELP
You can become a mentor or volunteer through Garden Pathways to help your community in the following ways:
* Attend training to become a mentor and be willing to commit one hour a week of your time for one year to mentor at-risk youth or adults one-on-one, as a group, or as part of a team.
* Commit to becoming a "mentoring consultant" to train or support mentoring participants or mentors in your field of expertise.
* Volunteer your services in your area of expertise (such as marketing, technology, construction, education).
* Assist the mentor coordinator in recruiting, training and supporting mentors.
* Mentor a youth in the arts.
* Teach art, music, dance, or drama to preschool or elementary school children.
* Tutor at-risk youth or adults in reading.
* Read to preschool children.
* Sponsor a mentoring event or enrichment experience for at-risk youth.
* Donate financially to support mentoring and education.
For information on how to get involved, contact:
Karen Goh, executive director, Garden Pathways
(661) 633-9133
Images
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Family to Family mentoring is one the programs at Garden Pathways. Michelle Burdine, second from right, and her children Elizabeth, 16, and Meiko, 18, ended up in the Bakersfield Homeless Center in April 2009. They soon became involved in Garden Pathways Family to Family mentoring and met Darlene Cecil who became their mentor and friend.
"I was working almost 70 hours a week. We were making good money," Michelle Burdine recalls about her life in Florida with her children, Meiko and Elizabeth. "But when I got laid off, that was it. Everything fell apart."
She never thought she would end up homeless or in Bakersfield, but after leaving Florida and staying in Michigan for awhile, she and her family ended up in Bakersfield, out of work and living in the Bakersfield Homeless Center in April.
"We stayed at the shelter for seven months," Burdine said.
Things started looking better when she was referred to Garden Pathways, a community based non-profit that works on changing lives through hope and building relationships.
After going through a two-week Family to Family program at Garden Pathways, Burdine was introduced to her mentor, Darlene Cecil, in June.
"It's like a big weight comes off your shoulders, just knowing someone is there," Burdine said of her mentor. "It's just amazing that she really cares about you."
Family to Family Mentoring is one of several programs under the Garden Pathways umbrella that provide services to the Kern County community.
The others are:
* The Garden Christian Preschool nurtures readiness for success in school and in life.
* E3 Performing Arts provides families a creative alternative to childcare by using the arts, academic enrichment, physical activities and character education in after-school and day camp programs.
* The Gate provides young people a safe place to listen and perform music under wholesome mentoring influences.
In 2008, more than 200 mentors and volunteers donated to their community through Garden Pathways and more than 1,900 participants were served through Garden Pathways' mentoring and education programs.
No longer homeless, Michelle Burdine reflects on what Garden Pathways Family to Family mentoring has done for her and her children.
"I wouldn't be where I am today," she said, sitting in the living room of her house.
Recently Burdine was able to share the good news with her mentor, Darlene Cecil, that she had landed a job working five days a week. Meiko also got a job in Yosemite.
"The mentoring is a wonderful program, it really is," she said.
She hopes to become a mentor one day.
