ABOUT HOPE MENTORING

Hope Mentoring is a faith-based organization that was established with the desire to give hope and support within the Panola County community through youth intervention. Hope Mentoring will support the social-emotional and cognitive development of youth by providing mentorship through creative awareness, role-modeling, counseling, and fostering unity within their schools and community. This support will positively impact the homes, schools, and communities in which they live. We strive to empower at-risk youth in our community to make positive life choices that enable them to maximize their personal potential.

Hope Mentoring Organization is a partnership of local mentors, who have come together to become mentoring organization. Nine local youth advocates came together to hold a series of community meetings, attended by more than 30 community leaders, and concerned parents. This founding board consisted of Terry Townsend, Patrina Townsend, Courtney Pride, Dewayne Chapman, Christopher Townsend Sr, Earl Jones, Marcus Dudley, Dameon Cunningham, Miley Davison, and Jimmy Hines. We formed our organization applied and became a nonprofit IRS 501(c)3 corporation, December 11, 2018, in Batesville, MS. We came together with a common belief that many youth ,in our community lacked meaningful mentoring and community guidance.

Since opening our doors, Hope Mentoring Organization has forged strong partnerships with the local business community, media, school districts, fraternities, sororities, and other youth–serving organizations in the community. We have been able to use a 12-year mentor program to provide awareness, acknowledge unity and to be active in our community through sports, shared events, and mentoring support. We have provided sports leagues, social events, and a safe place that allow our mentors/mentees to develop into their full potential, to become capable of making informed, and responsible decisions as involved members of our community to. We empower a community in which every youth experience nurturing one on one relationships and community support, which in turn allows the coach to mentor teen, teen mentor junior high/middle age youth.

Hope Mentoring Organization has expanded our vision and scope of program services. We currently offer L.I.F.E. Plan mentor program, tutoring services, literacy reading program, community service, recreational and educational outing. We hold meeting at resource centers at two local church youth centers in Batesville and Sardis. Since our inception, Hope Mentoring Organization has served over 500 youth and is currently expanding its scope of services to include a mentoring program for youth 8–24 in five locations in Panola Couny. “Iron sharpened iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17