Adam Bortz and Dennis Celebrate 5 Years Matched

Here is the recent write up in the Burlington Free Press...

Local Mentor Match Celebrates Five Years Together

Burlington, VT
Tuesday, January 30th, 2008

Spectrum Youth and Family Services held a five year anniversary party last Tuesday to honor Adam Bortz of South Burlington and his now twenty-year-old mentee, Dennis. Twenty of Spectrum's mentor matches attended the dinner and recognition ceremony. "It was a wonderful opportunity to see what mentoring is all about," commented Liz Barron, Spectrum mentor. "You see the bond that these two share and realize the true impact that mentoring has."

Adam and Dennis have explored many different activities throughout their five years together. They have cooked, gone climbing, and waited in line at midnight for the latest Harry Potter book. "The bond that Adam and Dennis have forged is undeniable," says Deanna Cameron Spectrum Mentoring Coordinator. Though mentoring takes very little time each week, it can positively affect the lives of both the mentor and the mentee. Mentees understand that there is a caring and consistent adult who values them. Mentors feel connected, both to our community and to our community's youth.

"I know that with Adam, I can just be who I am and he isn't judging me," says Dennis. From the age of fifteen to twenty, through these formative years and into adulthood, Dennis can count on Adam to always be there. The mentoring relationship has essentially formed into a lifelong friendship. Spectrum is proud to celebrate their first five year mentoring match with Dennis and Adam.

The Spectrum Mentoring Program is a community-based mentoring program that matches responsible adult volunteers with adolescents from Spectrum between the ages of eleven and twenty-one. Mentor matches participate together in various activities in order to build a trusting relationship from which the youth can draw support. Spectrum undertakes its mission with the conviction that mentored youth benefit from positive adult role models.

If you would like more information on becoming a mentor, visit www.spectrumvt.org or call (802) 864-7423 ext. 343.