The City of Portland has received a grant of approximately $74,000 for a new youth mentoring program at East End Community School.

The City’s Parks, Recreation & Facilities Department has started up the program thanks to a grant from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) to build an evidence-based youth mentoring program that serves youth who are living in communities impacted by substance misuse.

The City received the grant funds to pay for additional staff, translation costs and to purchase an evidence-based curriculum that has been used to build a structured positive youth mentoring program at East End Elementary School. The program is held every other Wednesday afternoon during early release time. Currently, there are nine children participating in the program, and they have been working with Parks staff to build new benches to give to the school.

The program is led by Christiana Viney, East End Community Center leader, and Bart Donovan, Portland Community Policing. The program focuses on the SPARKS (Speak to the Potential, Ability, and Resilience inside every Kid) curriculum that helps build the foundation of emotional well-being, resiliency and community engagement. Through games, experiments, community projects and discussion, the students connect wisdom, creativity, and confidence to discover their unbreakable SPARK inside and a better understanding of themselves and others. Participants of this program plan family nights that are held for parents/caregivers so the youngster can share what they are learning and what community project they have chosen.

“This grant has enabled us to enhance our youth mentorship programming and be part of the solution to build resilient youth,” said Ethan Hipple, Director of the Parks, Recreation and Facilities Department. “Our staff are often involved in cleaning up the hazards and impacts in our parks and public spaces, so it gives us hope to be focusing on root causes and prevention, rather than simply cleanup and mitigation. We hope to be able to expand enrollment next year.”

While the grant was awarded by the NRPA –- the leading nonprofit dedicated to building strong, vibrant and resilient communities through the power of parks and recreation –- the funds were awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

With support from NRPA, the City’s Parks, Recreation and Facilities Department is collaborating with Portland Public Health, the Portland Public Schools, and Portland Police’s Community Policing staff to develop and implement mentoring practices that prioritize youth who have historically faced barriers to positive youth development opportunities.