Montezuma County Partners, although still regrouping after funding cuts and a total rehaul, was able to help about 700 homeless children and their parents in 2011.
One year after Fred Blackburn stepped up as Montezuma County Partners' executive director, he admits it's difficult to keep the organization afloat.
While local and state governments and the private sector are suffering cutbacks, the homeless problem for children continues to rise, he said.
“Our new game plan is to do less with less,” Blackburn said. “It's stressful, the county lost the Towaoc shelter, and we lost the nutrition portion of our mentor program.”
But the nonprofit won a city grant this year that allowed them to keep Partners' mentor program to help prevent homelessness before it starts.
“Prevention is key,” Blackburn said.
Montezuma County Partners took Thursday's fundraiser as an opportunity to emphasize the importance of the Partners' mentor program led by Crescent Rossiter.
Rossiter pairs children who are struggling with a variety of issues, including abuse or neglect, with a volunteer mentor. Mentors are volunteers, aged 18 and older, who have passed an extensive background check.
“They have to have a clean driving record and go through a finger-based screening,” Rossiter said.
The volunteers are then provided with training and spend at least three hours a week for one year with the children. The pair can do many things they deem fun, like going to the movies, cooking dinner or job shadowing, she said.
“As a case manager, I'm in touch with these partnerships to make sure they're having fun, and they're not having any problems. And if they are, I am there to help,” Rossiter said.
The program also coordinates service projects, like gathering Christmas gifts and putting together care packages through the Make-A-Wish foundation. And the group will visit senior centers this winter to offer snow shoveling.
And although the program is beneficial to the 50 children who are currently being mentored, there are 50 more children on the wait list who are still needing guidance.
“We are very short on mentors,” Blackburn said. “Essentially, if we fail for mentoring match, the risk of that kid going into the diversion program or the next level is the multi-misdemeanor felony offenses — that risk increases,” Blackburn said.
Montezuma County Partners works with youth at three levels via mentorship, diversion and juvenile justice and delinquency programs.
Montezuma County Partners is subcontracted out by the government to mediate and encourage discussion between defendants and plaintiffs in juvenile courts.
Its diversion program, led by Kathy Ragland, is for first- and second-time court offenders ages 10 to 17 who have the opportunity to work with Montezuma County Partners for six months to a year.
“If the children are able to graduate from the diversion program, their charges are deferred, and they won't have a criminal record,” Ragland said.
Montezuma County Partners' or its restorative justice program encourages discussions to help defendants understand how they can either have a positive or negative effect on the community. A mediation phase allows a contract between a young offender and plaintiff to work out an agreement and can often become a success story, Blackburn said.
“For example, if they spray paint on a building, they can then repaint the whole building themselves,” he said. “If we're doing our job right, we're not getting kids further into the lock-up process. And, in the end, a lot of cases end up with the youth being hired.”
Montezuma County Partners is a nonprofit organization that helps Cortez in a variety of ways, in accordance with the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act under Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974.
November is the National Awareness month for Runaway Homeless Youth Program because it coincides with cooler weather in the United States. Late October is also when The Bridge, Cortez' homeless shelter, opens its doors to people who need help.
For more information about Montezuma County Partners, visit montezuma countypartners.org.