Great success for the Pro-Kids Foundation: Their mentoring project "Chance for the Future" was selected by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs as one of 25 model projects in Germany. This includes funding of 5,000 euros.

This funding is part of the “Growing together – strengthening educational sponsorships, promoting integration” campaign. The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, in cooperation with the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, is supporting existing sponsorship projects for young people with an immigrant background and encouraging the establishment of new projects.

The ProKids mentoring project is a prime example of the support provided to young people in this country. Nicole Hommerberg, the project coordinator, is delighted: "Being among the top 25 is a great boost for the work of our mentors." The ProKids mentors work with mentees from secondary schools. Here they provide voluntary support to students who are struggling to finish school and enter the workforce. The mentors look after their protégés over a longer period of time if necessary. They ensure that things go better at school, support the application process and, if necessary, also the first few months of their protégé's vocational training.

The life and professional experience of older people offers young people the support that their parents cannot give them and the orientation they need to make the most of their chance for a good future. The need is great: over 50,000 young people started out in life in Germany without even having a secondary school certificate. Internships, support measures, training - in the end, poorly paid jobs and unemployment often alternate. 

Meanwhile, there is also a lively demand for the ProKids mentoring offer in Villingen-Schwenningen. In Schwenningen, the school cooperates with the primary and secondary school on Deutenberg and in Villingen with the Karl-Brachat secondary school. They have long recognized the value and benefit of volunteer student mentors and now want to provide numerous students with supervisors. More, in fact, than the non-profit foundation can currently provide. "We are urgently looking for mentors, especially men," says Nicole Hommerberg. This is because there are numerous male mentees to be supervised.

"The mentoring project is a central component of our foundation's charitable work," explains Joachim Spitz, ProKids founder and chairman of the foundation's board. "We are delighted that it is now one of the 25 best funding models in Germany." He sees this as a nice recognition for the work of the volunteer mentors and at the same time a confirmation of the concept.

The "Growing Together" campaign is the most important support program for civic engagement in this country. It is designed to raise awareness of model projects such as ProKids mentoring and to get more citizens involved in helping others. Joachim Spitz makes it clear that the work of the mentors not only benefits the young people who are being looked after, but also companies that are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their need for qualified trainees.

Sabine Braun, head of the youth work and civic engagement department in the city's family, youth and social affairs office, sees it the same way. Here, too, she assures us, they were extremely pleased about the great success of ProKids. "The successful completion of vocational training brings not only personal benefits for the young person, but also profits for the company and the municipality and thus for society," she says. The ProKids mentoring project "Chance for the Future" has an "extraordinary significance" in Villingen-Schwenningen. Sabine Braun hopes that the selection by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, which officially promotes ProKids mentoring as a top German project, will give the initiative in Villingen-Schwenningen new impetus and lead to ProKids being able to recruit more urgently needed mentors.

Info:

Anyone interested in becoming a mentor at “Chance auf Zukunft” can contact Nicole Hommerberg, Steinkirchring 34, 78056 Schwenningen, phone 07721/206 16 78, n.hommerberg@prokids-stiftung.de or Sabine Braun, City of Villingen-Schwenningen, Office for Family, Youth and Social Affairs, Justinus-Kerner-Str. 7, Telephone: 07721/82-2158