Mentoring Program for Children with Incarcerated Parents

Project Avary is a non-profit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Project Avary provides mentoring and leadership development services to children with incarcerated parents. Project Avary intervenes early in the life of a child, between the ages of 8-10, and we make a long-term 10-year commitment serving children until the age of 18. Children move up through the Children's Program where there engage in a year-round continuum of group and individual mentoring activities. At age 14, all youth go on a 5-day wilderness backpack trip as a rite of passage marking their entry into the Teen Junior Counselor Program. As Junior Counselors, youth are trained to become mentors for the younger children in the program. After graduation, many youth remain involved as adult mentors and staff. 

Primary Activities: 150 youth with incarcerated parents will receive individual and group mentoring. Each youth, on an annual basis, will engage in a robust offering of group mentoring activities including: 4 adventure day outing, 1 6-session online support group, a summer camp, and a winter retreat. Each youth will also receive weekly 1-1 mentoring. Throughout a youth's participation in Project Avary, caregivers are supported through the Family Unity Program, which include support groups, a Spring Picnic, and a Holiday Party.