MONDAY, JANUARY 10,2011 B9

READING EAGLE, READING, PA.

Goodwill mentor program helps teensMore than 70 BerksCounty youths areparticipatingBYERINNEGLEYR E A D I N G EAGLE

It took a mentor to helpCarlos I. Rodriguez get on theright path as a teen.

Now Rodriguez, 27, of Read-ing is a dance instructor whoalso is studying psychologyat Reading Area CommunityCollege.

And he's taking time tomentor a Reading HighSchool sophomore and leada dance class for teens in theGoodGuides Youth MentoringProgram, organized by Good-will Industries InternationalInc.

Besides dance moves, Ro-driguez wants to show teensthat anything is possible. As ayouth in Rochester, N.Y., Ro-driguez had a mentor who wasinfluential in his life.

"I thought this was a greatopportunity to share that wis-dom," he said.

For a year, the mentoringprogram has matched morethan 70 Berks County teenswith adults and peer mentorsto help the youths adopt per-sonal and.career goals.

Volunteers spend at leastfour hours a month with theteens talking about careerchoices and serving as rolemodels.

Goodwill funds the pro-gram with a $300,000, two-year grant from the federalDepartment of Justice.

Goodwill Keystone Area,with an office in Shillington,is looking to add at least 30more mentors by Februaryto apply for funding beyondthe two-year grant. The grantrequires 100 matches.

"We want to extend the pro-gram for three more yearsand reach 250 youth," said

READING EAGLE: BEN HASTY

GoodGuides Youth Mentoring Program volunteer Carlos I. Rodriguez, Reading, leads a salsa danceclass in the Berks County Community Foundation headquarters in Reading.

Seeking volunteers •Goodwill Keystone Area is looking for volunteer mentors for

its GoodGuides Youth Mentoring Program in Berks County.Adult volunteers must be at least 18. Peer mentors are ages

16 and 17 and should be good role models.Volunteers need to complete six hours of training and agree

to spend at least four hours a month with a youth for at leasta year.

The agency also is seeking youths ages 12 to 17 in need ofmentors.

For more information or to sign up, visit www.yourgood-will.org or contact Zylkia Rivera at 484-638-6630 or zrivera@yourgoodwill.org.

Zylkia R. Rivera, programmanager.

"Our mission is to helppeople with disabilities anddisadvantages to live full andproductive lives," said Jen-nifer Ross, Goodwill seniordirector of marketing andpublic relations. "This pro-

gram fits into that mission.We want to see teens have fulland productive lives."

Since the program starteda year ago, Goodwill has re-cruited youths ages 12 to 17who have some disadvantageor disability, such as low in-come, limited English pro-

ficiency or being first-timeoffenders in the juvenile jus-tice system.

Teens have been referredfrom Reading and acrossBerks County.

Goodwill organizes weeklygroup activities for mentorsand teens. Also, every monththe teens are required to vol-unteer and spend at least twohours exploring careers by do-ing something like shadowingsomeone at work.

Teens also meet individu-ally with their adult mentorsand are supposed to keep incontact by phone, e-mail ortexting.

Peer mentors, who are olderteens, also spend time withthe younger participants andserve as role models.Contact fain Negley: 6IO-371-S047 orenegley@nadingeagte.com.