GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — January marks National Mentoring Month and, as it comes to an end, FOX 17 is talking with someone who spends his time helping students – showing the meaningful impact mentors can have and the benefits kids get by working with them.
Xavier Martin has been a lifelong member of the Boys and Girls Club in Grand Rapids.
Now, at 31 years old, he is a mentor and educator at the Paul I. Phillips Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids.
“I grew up literally on the southeast side on Eastern and Burton. The nearest Boys and Girls Club is the Steil Center, which is the Seidman Center that is over on Madison, towards that area,” Martin said.
First, Martin and his mentees start with affirmations – words he hopes will stick with them well after they leave the club.
“I want them to close their eyes so they can visualize the words, the affirmations that we say which are, ‘you’re great. You are important. You do mean something,’ and ‘you are phenomenal,’” he shared.
Then, Martin asks them to share something good before moving on to educational games.
After that, it’s free choice – when kids get to choose the activities they want to enjoy for the rest of the day.
Martin, or “Mr. X” as they call him, gets to guide the kids by encouraging and supporting them.
“Coming from an environment where it’s hard to find people to look up to, in a sense, due to, you know, some people with situations, you know, mistakes and things like that,” Martin explained. “But for children to have a place [where] they have nothing, but people that are cheering for them that are just, they just want to see them grow.”
Martin says he has an opportunity every day to make a positive impact on a child’s life – no matter their situation outside of the walls of the club.
Inside the walls, each kid has someone who not only wants what is best for them, but also wants to help them become their best.
“It’s a beautiful thing because it’s like, it’s literally like watching a flower blossom but you never know what the flower may blossom into, as long as you are feeding and nurturing,” Martin added. “So, for them to actually know that they have a safe haven to be able to talk to somebody to be able to know that they have advocates, to be able to know that they have true supporters that really want to see their best interests at hand every single step of their lives – it’s a great medicine for what the world needs today.”
Young people who meet regularly with a mentor are 40% more likely to graduate on time and 55% more likely to enroll in college, according to the Boys and Club.
Click here if you’re interested in becoming a mentor.
Check out our list of community resources available to help in West Michigan.