Arkansas PBS > Engage > Pressroom > 'Mentoring Youth' invites viewers to help make positive change in Arkansas communities
Posted 11 Aug 2011
Mentoring Youth, a live call-in program about the importance of providing positive role models for youth in Arkansas communities, will premiere on the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) Wednesday, Aug. 24, at 8 p.m.
Mentoring Youth will feature highly-motivated individuals from various organizations that represent the iBelieve Community Coalition, including Centers for Youth and Families, Let Our Violence End (L.O.V.E.), and Goodwill, among others, who are developing creative ways for involving volunteers, mentors and tutors to improve the lives of youth in Arkansas communities.
Panelists include: Pam Plummer, program manager of Prevention Services/ The Parent Center, Centers for Youth and Families; Renee Burks, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas; Robert Holt, executive director of Let Our Violence End (L.O.V.E.); Cindy Doramus, CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Arkansas; Sergeant Willie Davis, Little Rock Police Department O.K. Program Coordinator; and Leifel Jackson, executive director of Reaching Our Children and Neighborhoods (R.O.C.A.N.). Pamela Smith of KATV Channel 7 hosts.
Viewers are encouraged to submit questions during the program via phone, 800-662-2386, or email, paffairs@aetn.org.
The campaign slogan iBelieve that 4 hours a month can change a life….forever. speaks to the power of mentoring, which is being promoted by this coalition of key leaders in health, education, juvenile justice, law enforcement, the community, churches, businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Prior to the live program, AETN will air U.N.I.T.Y. at 7 p.m. This 60-minute documentary features a group of gang-affiliated inmates in an Arkansas maximum security prison reinventing themselves to reach beyond prison walls to keep teens from following the path to incarceration. Along the way, viewers meet anti-violence advocates around the state who are trying to slow the tide of juvenile bad choices, violence, gang affiliation, incarceration and death.
iBelieve works to help build safe communities and healthy opportunities for youth to realize their hopes and dreams. The coalition is seeking community members to join alongside kids to teach them how to become successful and productive members of society, beginning with their own families, schools, worksites and neighborhoods. iBelieve is partially funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention through the Department of Justice. Additional information is available at www.ibelieve.us.com.
Major funding for U.N.I.T.Y. was provided by the Charles A. Frueauff Foundation. Additional funding was provided by the Morris Foundation Inc., the Munro Foundation and the Jane Howard Foundation.
The Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) is Arkansass statewide public television network that enhances lives by providing lifelong learning opportunities for people from all walks of life. AETN delivers local, award-winning productions and classic, trusted PBS programs aimed at sharing Arkansas and the world with viewers. AETN depends on the generosity of Arkansans and the State of Arkansas to continue offering quality programming. For more information, visit www.aetn.org, or follow the AETN blog at www.aetn.org/engage. AETN is broadcast on KETS (Little Rock), KEMV (Mountain View), KETG (Arkadelphia), KAFT (Fayetteville), KTEJ (Jonesboro), and KETZ (El Dorado).