FINDLAY, Ohio — The Children's Mentoring Connections of Hancock County, a nonprofit that has been pairing children with adult volunteer mentors for decades, now has a new home at The Family Center in north Findlay.
The volunteers help the youths ages six to 14 through school, new hobbies or simply just being a positive adult figure in their lives.
After operating in the cramped quarters of its former home on East Lincoln Street by the Findlay YMCA, the CMC can now be found alongside multiple other nonprofits under one roof on North Blanchard Street.
"We try to cast a wide net of the programs and agencies that we host here and I think Children's Mentoring Connection is a great fit," Sterling Helms, the building manager for The Family Center, said.
The new location benefits people visiting The Family Center as well.
"We have clients that use things like the medical facilities, the (Women Infants & Children Clinic) and things like that," CMC Executive Director Stacey Shaw "It's a nice way for them to be able to do one stop and get their appointments done."
After the celebratory ribbon cutting of their new home on Monday, CMC caseworkers and volunteers are operating out of a more centralized and modernized workspace to continue serving local children.
CMC leaders say the school-based mentorship program has multiple opportunities for children and has been growing again after it hit a wall during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
"We need more kids in the program to give them that adult to be a friend to them, and do things they maybe haven't been able to do before," CMC administrative case worker Nikki Hagerty said.
The mentoring program not only wants to attract more youths to the service, but volunteers as well.
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