'A relationship that will last forever': Program working with homeless U-46 students needs mentors

A mentorship program working with homeless kids in Elgin Area School District U-46 needs volunteers.

Fostering Success was founded last year by Danielle Valkner, a former CASA Kane County child advocate from St. Charles.

The group's mission is to provide meaningful connections with mentors and financial assistance to teens and young adults facing life's difficulties throughout their transition into adulthood.

"The challenges a lot of these kids are dealing with are overwhelming," Valkner said. "These kids are displaced. They don't have permanent housing. Many don't live with their parents. And for those that do, the parents tend to work a lot."

Fostering Success was initially going to focus on helping kids in the foster care system. But complications working with DCFS allowed it to shift focus to at-risk kids in the Project Access program of Elgin Area School District U-46. That program serves more than 1,000 homeless and displaced students in the district and works to ensure equal access to education and all programs while maintaining their dignity.

The mentorship program started working with 10 kids last May and recently added five more. Now the program is searching for more mentors to meet the growing need.

"It's going great, and we were really blessed with some wonderful mentors," Valkner said. "We were able to make some big impacts."

Mentors talk with their mentees by phone at least once a week and meet up with them a couple of times a month.

John Puglia of Carol Stream was one of the first group of mentors.

"It's very rewarding to help a kid that doesn't have anything like this in his life," he said.

Puglia's mentee is an 18-year-old with what he says is a slight form of autism. He said it took about six months to build a level of trust to get him to open up.

"Since then, it's been great," Puglia said. He's taken his mentee fishing and out to dinner, among other things.

"We've been doing things he's never done before," he said. "We gave him a big turkey at Thanksgiving, and he's never had a turkey in his life. He was just thrilled about being able to have a turkey dinner with his mom and sisters."

Mentors go through about 20 hours of self-study and training. After a background check, they're paired with a kid, most of whom are between 12 and 20 years old.

Valkner said there is an increased need for Spanish-speaking volunteers.

"A lot of these kids speak minimal English, and they're really struggling in school," she said. "They just need that extra support to kind of find their way."

School attendance is a major focus for the mentors.

"The kids are alone a lot, and there's not really someone to enforce them going to school," Valkner said. "So the mentors have been a really good, consistent influence in helping the kids realize how important it is to go to school."

The program developed an incentive program to help entice school attendance, setting up a point system that can ultimately earn them rewards. Points are given for achieving goals like showing up for school and communicating with their mentors. The points can then be used to get gift cards.

Fostering Success has also provided backpacks and school supplies for the mentees, as well as helped them with registration and transportation. The group has provided the kids with winter coats, food assistance and holiday gift cards. In one case, it assisted an 18-year-old who was evicted from a family member's house with emergency housing and rental assistance.

"Now he's got two jobs and is fully self-sufficient, and has kind of graduated out of our program," she said.

Mentors are asked for a one-year commitment to start. Puglia's experience has been so good that not only is he continuing with his mentee, but his wife is joining the program as well.

"If you're open-minded and want to help a kid that's in need, it's a great program," he said. "It's a year commitment, but it's a relationship that I think will last forever."