Community 50/50, LLC is a mentoring/community outreach program geared toward the betterment of youth and families in the Richmond metropolitan area and surrounding localities. Our programs service youth ages 5-18 and their families. The lack of organized youth-centered activities in urban neighborhoods, the rise of single-parent families and families with two working parents have reduced the number of positive adult role models in the lives of our children. Today, twenty-five percent of children live with a single parent, and over one-half of children will live with only one parent before they are eighteen years old (Tierney, Grossman and Research NL*).

Our program was created to provide these role models and help children develop socially and emotionally. Our mentor’s help youth learn to understand and communicate their feelings, to relate to their peers, and to develop respectable and appropriate relationships with other adults.

We believe that youth mentoring works best when goals focus on developing trusting relationships with peers and adults. Programs with solely behavioral goals, such as achieving better grades or resisting drug use, are less successful. It is our goal to pair the two endeavors to bring about the most successful outcomes for our participants to assist in making them well-rounded, goal-oriented individuals.

PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT

COMMUNITY 50/50 strives to help each child develop socially, because social skills benefit the child in other areas of his or her life. Parental involvement is essential to reaching this goal. Our programs strive to engage parents in a way that does not threaten the youth-parent relationship, however, shows the children that their parents care and want to be involved in their development. While children do need time to play alone and with other children without adult intervention, research shows that interaction with parents is also important for overall healthy dynamics and growth.

Children crave time with parents.  It makes them feel special.  Parents are encouraged to find time to spend interacting with their kids on a regular basis.  This should include one to one with each child and group time with all of the adults and kids in the home.   Interacting with kids builds a bond that will last forever.  It lets the child know he or she is loved and appreciated.  It opens the door for sharing problems and concerns when the need arises.  It helps the parent get to know and understand the uniqueness of each child.  This also improves parent-child communication and reduces behavior problems.  It is also a great stress reducer for overworked parents.

For one reason or another, some children do not develop social skills as easily as others. They may earnestly seek peer relationships and then, having endured rebuffs, if not downright cruelty, retreat to the safety of home, family, and their own company.