Daniel came to our program at the peak of many obstacles he was facing in his personal life, including having difficulties in school and having some behavioral outbursts in his home life. Since joining M+, Daniel has been placed on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for support in school to help him manage his learning, keeping him on-track with all assignments, quizzes, and tests. Despite all challenges he has had to endure at his young age; he shows up to program every week eager to learn and explore new activities and conversations with others. Daniel is 12 years old and is currently the youngest youth participating in the program. Daniel is a bright young man, who we are extremely happy to have with us each week. Outside of M+, Daniel spends much of his time with his younger siblings, and enjoys listening to music, watching videos and has stated that he really likes the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game. Daniel has recently been matched with his first Life Coach at M+, and the two have really seemed to click. We are so proud of this youth and all he is working towards.
Mentoring Plus is entirely funded by donations and some private Grants. Funds have been generated by an annual Seeds of Hope Award Banquet in the Spring and an end-of-summer golf outing. (9/27/19 at A.J. Jolly golf course.) This year, M+ will also present a Music Festival at Southgate House with 18 to 20 acts, featuring the popular local party band, The Leftovers, and guests, veteran local recording artists, The New Lime, who were on Columbia Records in 1967 and had several charted singles on Top-40 radio air waves and were inducted into the No.Ky. Music Legends Hall of Fame in 2013, playing their last performance ever.
Special guests from Nashville will also be on the bill, including Mike Reid, former All-Pro Cincinnati Bengal defensive tackle, chosen in the first round of the NFL draft in 1970, who is also now a Grammy-winning songwriter, pianist and recording artist, having won Best Country Song for Stranger in My House, recorded by Ronnie Milsap, and Best Single for I Can’t Make You Love Me, recorded by Bonnie Raitt. Mike has also written over 20 #1 country music singles, including one he released and sang himself in 1991, Walk on Faith.
Also from Nashville will be Jeffrey Seeman, a slide guitarist who has released two recent solo albums on acoustic 12-string slide guitar, and was the electric slide guitar player for Wheels, a Cincinnati band with a successful album in the late 1970’s and backed up singer/songwriter Craig Fuller when he left Pure Prairie League, in the early days of country-rock. Seeman recently performed at the Ludlow Garage 50-year Reunion, and worked at Ludlow Garage as a teenager.
The concert includes G. Miles and the Hitmen playing R & B with the 20-piece NKU Big Band horns and the Dave Webster/Gary Devoto Band, Lost Henry, Electric Indigo, and the up and coming teenage band, Trauma Illinois, as well as NKU’s jazz combo and jazz guitars upstairs.
The back bar acoustic stage features the Bromwell-Diehl Band, with Elaine Diehl (formerly of the Biscaynes and WNKU) and Paul Bromwell, once voted the best rock guitarist in Chicago back in the 1970’s. Also on the acoustic stage are Ben Walz, his brother, Jake Walz, pianist/vocalist Cliff Adams, the all ladies’ trio, Raison D’etre, Carter New and the Diversions, a duo.
The event will be emceed by veteran DJ, Ernie “Fatman” Brown.
Tickets are $35/$40 day of show at ticketweb. VIP seats next to the stage, which include dinner, are $100 by contacting Mentoring Plus. For more information go to: mentoringplus.org or contact Mickey Foellger at 859-653-6772
There are so many good things happening at Mentoring Plus this month, we couldn’t stop with just one youth highlight. All three of these students have had impressive summers, and are ready to get back to school. One was hired for his first job. One celebrated the one-year anniversary at his job. And one has made a great first impression as a new youth in the program.
Youth Ricardo G.
Ricardo is a bright young man who has been through so much in his young life. Ricardo spends much of his time with his younger sister when he is not participating in our Mentoring Plus program. He is a great role model for his younger sister. Ricardo has demonstrated a true sense of what we here at M+ like to focus on, caring for others and building them up through support and compassion. Ricardo has spent his summer staying involved in our program here at Mentoring Plus and was recently hired for his first job. We are so proud of this youth and all he is working toward. Ricardo has already set a goal for what he would like to do with his first earnings and is demonstrating the understanding of budgeting his earnings.
Good luck in your first job, we are proud of you!
Youth Damion J.
We are so proud to announce that through much hard work and persistence, Damion will be entering the 12th grade of high school this month. He is a true example of dedication, pushing forward through tough circumstances, and he’s a mirror of what hard work can look like despite facing barriers in one’s life. Damion is a bright, talented, and kind young man who successfully kept a job for over 1 year and is currently waiting on a much-earned raise. Keeping on a straight path and working through difficult situations as they arise are all things that Damion is continuing to do.
We look forward to you completing your 12th grade year in high school, and continuing growing into the positive, kind-hearted young man that you have demonstrated to all your fellow peers within the M+ program.
Youth Haley B.
Haley is one of the new youth who has started our program. She recently finished our beginner night and will soon be moving into our main program night with her newly acquainted life coach. We are so happy to have her as a part of our program, and have already seen much growth from her in a short amount of time. She is currently learning new ways and techniques to build peer relationships, and communication with others in a positive and healthy manner. She has demonstrated dedication in our program, showing up each week and continuing to build positive relationships with fellow students. When faced with a tough situation or hardships in her life, she has demonstrated resilience. Haley continues to break out of her shell each week and show how sweet and caring she truly is towards all the youth and staff in the M+ program.
We are very happy of you Haley! Keep pushing forward each week in program.
Story by Lisa Esterkamp,
M+ Case Manager
Amy is one of our youth who has been active in Mentoring Plus program for years and has accomplished so many things throughout her journey with us. Along working beside staff at Mentoring Plus, her Life Coach and many others such as her family and friends; Amy has been able to blossom into the bright and caring young lady that she is today. That lady is smart, brave, courageous and very talented. She loves soccer and has accomplished much throughout the years of working with our program.
Among her accomplishments is that she has successfully finished high school, this past school year 2018-2019. Graduating high school is a huge accomplishment for any youth, but not only has she graduated but she did it with all A’s. It takes someone who is truly dedicated to make change in their life and do the best they possibly can. She has demonstrated dedication and a can-do attitude each week in program at Mentoring Plus, and we are very proud of her.
I have not had the pleasure of knowing Amy very long, but through stories and the eyes of my coworkers I have been told of the kindness in Amy. One colleague shared with me that Amy has loved to play soccer throughout high school and is very good at it. Looks like this youth is finding things that she is passionate about while spending time doing useful things and building skills for her future. We would like to recognize Amy for her hard work, effort, and dedication to doing well in school, doing homework when she needed to get it done, and perseverance to finish her high school career with such beauty and grace. To graduate with all A’s is a huge accomplishment, and Amy has set the bar high. As a case manager at Mentoring Plus, I am very proud of Amy. This is an accomplishment, beyond words, one that shows dedication, hard work, and a true drive to overcoming many barriers, challenges and obstacles. Amy did not let challenges stand in her way of finishing a goal she set out to accomplish, and she mastered it. Amy is someone the youth within the Mentoring program can now look upon and see first hand what hard work and decimation can do.
Great Job Amy… You did it!!!!
Want to learn more about Amy? Interested in learning how you can contribute to the next M+ youth success story? Get involved today!
Once again, the dark clouds opened up and the sun poked through the dense early-morning fog, across the lake at Campbell County Park, and the rains stopped, and 130-plus golfers enjoyed coffee and donuts and teed off simultaneously at 9:00am on September 28 to compete for having the best time at the Annual Mentoring Plus golf outing at A.J. Jolly Golf Course.
After a week of rain, it was fitting to have a beautiful day where almost 200 people opened their hearts and wallets to support the disadvantaged teenagers who call Mentoring Plus their alternative family. It was also fitting that the winning team at 14 under par was a “ladies team” comprised of three women, Blaise Prost, Sarah Braun and Mary Watts and one gentleman, Irv Watts. Two “men’s teams” tied for second at 13 under, and Joe and Gary Devoto’s team got the prize (a dozen Mentoring Plus good golf balls) via a card playoff.
Blaise also won the ladies’ longest drive contest, and Sarah won closest to the pin. Real golfers, I suppose. Wayne Berryman won the men’s closest to the pin (on #8), and Brook Reeves won the men’s long drive on 11. All the winners were eligible to win the brand new Chevy Camaro convertible from Kelsey Chevrolet (for a weekend) and Danielle pulled Wayne Berryman’s name out of the hat!
There were two skins for the day (lowest score on a hole not matched by any other team) and both were worth over $300. One was won by Anthony Laup and his wife, Leslie, along with Ryan Turner and Adrian Cabrera. I believe it was a Birdie on the difficult par 3, #6, and the other was an Eagle on #18 by Skip Hicks, Milt Horner, Charlie Barr and Paul Winkler. The asterisk to that is that we sold “skirts” this year instead of mulligans, meaning that for $10 a man could tee off from the ladies’ tee, a sizable yardage advantage, and Milt Horner drove the green (from across the pond) and made a 30-foot putt for an Eagle 2.
Board Co-chair Ed Muntel (retired CEO of NorthKey Community Care) grilled hot dogs for lunch with Executive Director Chris Saunders and former ED Kevin Kennedy (retired supervisor for the Department of Juvenile Justice), with the help of volunteers like Joe Kling. There was an unlimited supply of beer, soft drinks and water to quench any thirst on the unusually hot, 85-degree day.
Texas Roadhouse again donated a wonderful barbeque and chicken dinner, and there were over 120 raffle prizes distributed to the golfers. Helping draw the raffle prize winners was M+ Alumnus, Danielle, who accepted the microphone and silenced the enthusiastic crowd with her powerful story of her unfortunate adolescence, including having two children before the age of 16. She captivated the audience with her sincere appreciation for her non-judgmental “family” at Mentoring Plus, who gave her the new confidence she needed to secure a job and to find a place to live.
And the grand finale was drawing the winner of a week’s stay at David and Marcia Hosea’s beautiful cabin complex (over a dozen buildings) that sleeps 12 or more in the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina, near Greenville and Clemson, which was won by Co-chair, Judge Mickey Foellger’s brother-in-law, Doug Schoepf. (Yes, there was a protest alleging some sort of nepotism fix, but trust me, Pure Luck.)
Just like Mentoring Plus. Lucked out with a beautiful day, and lucked out with a $20,000 financial gain to support the program (for at least another month). So, thank you to all who participated and helped to keep us moving along, especially our VIP Sponsors Texas Roadhouse and Hosea Project Movers, our Gold Sponsors like The Berger Law Firm and Cincinnati United Contractors, and our Silver Sponsors like Desmond Bros Insurance, Danis Construction, Champlin Architecture, Spiff Contracting and JD Distributors, and the hole sponsors: Riggs Hearing & Vision; Dobbling, Muehlenkamp & Erschell Funeral Homes; Dickey’s Glass; Fessler, Schneider & Grimme attorneys; County Attorney Steve Franzen; attorney Paul Hill and realtor Jennifer Hill; attorney Dean Pisacano; Judge Dawn Gentry; Judicial candidate Derek Durbin; Commonwealth Attorney candidate Justin Fortner; Benton, Benton & Luedeke attorneys; Jolly Plumbing; Oswald; Schoepf and Associates; and API Printing.
See you next year on September 27, 2019!
The future of social work is looking brighter, thanks to the students at Northern Kentucky University. This holiday season, Northern Kentucky area non-profits received thousands of dollars that were raised by students at NKU. From social work to marketing, students from across the campus ran various campaigns to support the local community, help those who are in need, and promote the non-profit organizations that serve the most disadvantaged people in the region.
The description of one such fundraiser read as follows: “Across the country, access to housing has become a major issue. Every day, families in Northern Kentucky are facing the potential of foreclosure, poverty, and homelessness. This not only impacts the adults who are struggling to make ends meet, but also the children whose learning and education is being affected by multiple moves and the absence of a stable home. These are complex problems that need all of us to work together before we can come to a solution.”
After addressing the problems, the students went on to do something about it: “We are a group of aspiring social workers hoping to come together to start to solve this problem in Northern Kentucky. Our class is associated with the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project, which seeks to educate students through giving by being grant makers in the classroom. Over the next few weeks, we will be working together to identify potential non-profits who also hold this issue central to their mission. We will then choose 1-2 of these organizations as our community partners.”
That group went on to raise $2000, donating half of those funds to Mentoring Plus in the form of the Mayerson Grant.
Additionally, David Raska, a marketing professor at Northern, challenged ten of his students to raise as much as they could for Mentoring plus for #GivingTuesday, with the promise that he would match their donation up to $1000. Student Haley Payne organized a GoFundMe page in the final days before #GivingTuesday, raising $575. Raska’s match brought their total to $1150.
But they didn’t stop there. Earlier in the year during the Spring semester, those same marketing students worked on a project for Kona Ice.
“Tony Lamb (CEO and Founder of Kona Ice), needed to gain insights into what branding and products should be used to appeal to a new target audience,” Raska explained. “As such, the project focused on testing new brand and product concepts via online sample survey conducted with over 800 Millennials living in Greater Cincinnati/NKY area. We then used the data to present the client with recommendations regarding what brand concept to use, what products to offer under that brand concept, and whom to target and where to reach them.”
After completing the project, the students were invited to the Kona Ice Konvention, and were awarded $2000. Going into the giving season, the group still had $1700 remaining, and elected to add that to their #GivingTuesday contribution, bringing their new total to $2850.
All-in-all, NKU contributed nearly $4000 to Mentoring Plus is just a matter of weeks. We wish to thank them for their continuous efforts to improve the Northern Kentucky community. We are especially grateful that they have recognized Mentoring Plus as the recipient of these funds, allowing us to continue our mission.