viro at a Time

Jewish Family Service mentors and
children help each other grow.

DON COHEN

Special to the Jewish News

r

i or Richard Cherkasky, June 1 was a very

special day. Not only did he become a
grandparent for the first time, welcoming
Rachel Hannah into his family, but it was also the
ninth birthday of Max, the child he has mentored
for two years.
"Max has brought a lot of light into our lives,"
says Cherkasky of Franklin, co-chair of Jewish
Family Service's Mentor Connection advisory board.
"I got tired of doing committee work," he says,
rattling off a long list of organizations he has been
involved with over the past 10 years. "I wanted
some instant gratification and to be able to reap the
benefits of what I'm doing more personally."
Like two-thirds of current JFS mentors, he
learned about the program from a friend. But Max
hooked him on mentoring.
"When I first met Max, I totally melted,"
Cherkasky says. "We've been really good buddies
ever since. We do all kinds of things together, and
most of them are really low-key everyday things.
Sometimes, he just comes to my house and hangs
out. I like to try to keep things simple, and there is
nothing more simple."
Building a relationship can be simple compared to
putting together a solid mentoring program.
Though JFS has been matching mentors and youths
for more than a decade, they didn't
have the staff and funds to meet the
needs they identified. That changed last
year when they were one of just 165
programs nationwide, and one of six in
Michigan, to receive a national mentoring grant
from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of
Safe and Drug-Free Schools. The grant provides
$490,675 over three years to provide mentoring
services for Oakland County youth grades 4-8.
"It was absolutely thrilling; we were the only

Max and his mentor Richard Cherkasky of Franklin are ready for fun.

Jewish agency in the country to receive a grant,"
says Susie Leemaster of Franklin, who, together with
Cherkasky, co-chairs the advisory board as well as
being a mentor. "The grant has allowed us to move
ahead in a way that is so substantial. We've worked
to make it more professional and expand our reach
to help more kids."
Now reworked, retooled and recently
renamed, the Mentor Connection plans
to create 30 new community-based
matches each year (now there are 28) as
well as four school-based programs to
reach an additional 40-60 children. The non-sectari-
an program has 43 mentors, 40 of whom are Jewish,
and 43 youths, with 28 of them being Jewish.
While currently on track to meet its goals, the
program is limited in growth by a lack of mentors,
particularly males. Mentors of both sexes and a vari-

ON THE COVER

ety of ages are constantly being sought, but the
most-needed mentors are male empty nesters. There
is never a shortage of kids seeking mentors.
"Many of the kids have low self-esteem, are miss-
ing one or more adult role models or can use help
with peer relations," explains Mentor Connection
Program Director Michelle Melamis, who works
from the West Bloomfield office of JFS. "But most-
ly, they have the same needs as all children."

Getting Involved

Potential mentors are screened using an application,
a face-to face interview and a full background check
with the FBI and the Michigan Family
Independence Agency. The check includes every-

MENTOR on page 56

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2005

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