Profile #6 – Athletes For Kids

Athletes For Kids is not about sports.  The program is focused on building supportive mentoring relationships between high school athletes and children who have disabilities and special needs of all kinds.

UNIQUE MENTORSHIP MODEL

AFK serves children in 1^st-12^th grades who have disabilities and special needs of all kinds.

They carefully match each child with a qualified high school athlete, who commits to mentoring a child for one to three years. Once a mentorship is formed, the pair meets two to four times a month.

Mentor candidates are referred to our program by other AFK Mentors, coaches, teachers, Athletic Directors, and community members. Every applicant must pass a thorough screening and background check before being accepted into our program. Once selected, they are required to attend an intensive training, followed by monthly group meetings where they receive ongoing training and support from our Program Manager. The training topics are all based on evidenced based best practices for mentoring.

Youth First- Every decision we make is based on how it will affect the youth we serve.  Attention to safety, growth, wellness, leadership, and learning necessary life skills is our focus.

Community- We build connections and collaborate with other partners to complement existing resources to accomplish more. We help strengthen our communities through education and engagement.

Relationship – We believe that having a compassionate and supportive relationship outside of the family has the power to restore hope in a child’s life. Many mentorships turn into friendships which improve a child’s quality of life, happiness, confidence, and self-esteem.

Inclusion- We promote kindness and acceptance while celebrating, respecting, and including the rich diversity that make up our AFK family.

Integrity- We conduct business in a way that is honest, transparent, and ethical so that we continuously earn our donors, stakeholders and the public’s high regard. We hold ourselves accountable to being good stewards of the resources bequeathed to us.

Excellence- Our experienced, knowledgeable and passionate staff are committed to providing the highest quality of service to the youth and families we serve.

AFK now serve over 350 youth annually, and have served over 1,500 youth since our founding.