Prasada Mentors are here to help with many of the areas below and much, much more:

Emotional Support
Mentors offer a safe space for youths to express their feelings, concerns, and frustrations. By providing understanding and empathy, they help youths manage emotions, build resilience, and feel valued.

Guidance and Advice
Mentors share their life experiences and knowledge to help youths make informed decisions, whether it's about school, friendships, or personal growth. They act as trusted advisors to offer perspectives that the teen may not have considered.

Role Modeling
A mentor serves as a positive role model, demonstrating behaviors, values, and attitudes that a youth can learn from and emulate. This may include demonstrating good communication, responsibility, problem-solving, and ethical behavior.

Goal Setting and Encouragement
Mentors help youths set realistic goals and work towards achieving them. This could involve academic goals, career aspirations, or personal development. They offer encouragement, motivate progress, and celebrate achievements along the way.

Community Engagement and New Opportunities
Mentors can introduce youths to new expriences, networks, or resources that may open doors for future opportunities. This can be invaluable for personal or professional growth, particularly in areas like education, careers, or extracurricular activities.  Mentors can help youths become familiar with and engage with their local community.

Building Confidence and Self-Esteem
Through consistent support and validation, mentors help youths develop a stronger sense of self-worth. By highlighting their strengths and achievements, mentors empower youths to believe in their abilities and make positive choices.

Building Social Skills
Through interactions with mentors, youths can learn important social skills such as active listening, empathy, teamwork, and effective communication. These skills are essential for developing healthy relationships and thriving in social environments.

Fostering Independence
While providing guidance, mentors encourage youths to become independent thinkers, problem-solvers, and decision-makers. A mentor helps a youth trust their own judgment and develop a sense of responsibility for their actions.

Providing Accountability
A mentor can help a youth stay on track by holding them accountable for their goals, behaviors, and commitments. This structure helps youths develop discipline and the ability to follow through on their responsibilities.

Working in collaboration with the youth and/or guardian, 2 to 3 of the following areas will be documented as broad goals for the Mentor and Youth to work toward during their time together.

• Emotional support
• Goal setting
• Community engagement
• Confidence / Self-esteem
• Social Skills / Communication
• Fostering independence and life skills

Age Groups	Children Adolescents
Treatment Services	In-Community Services Mentoring Treatment Setting In-Person
Payment Types	NJ Children's System of Care Self Pay
Language Spoken	Spanish
Areas Served	Bergen County Hunterdon County Ocean County Somerset County Warren County

Last Updated: 03/10/26