January-National Mentoring MonthPROCLAMATION
WHERESAS, the City of Port Orchard honors caring adult mentors who support young people by
showing up for them every day and demonstrating their commitment to helping them thrive; and
WHEREAS, mentoring programs make our communities and our state stronger; and
WHEREAS, quality mentoring promotes healthy relationships and communication, positive self-
esteem and growth of a young person; and
WHEREAS, students who meet regularly with their mentors are more than 52 percent less likely
than their peers to skip a day of school and youth who face an opportunity gap but have a mentor are 55
percent more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor; and
WHEREAS, youth who meet regularly with their mentors are 46 percent less likely than their peers
to start using drugs and 27 percent less likely to start drinking; and
WHEREAS, two-thirds of adults consider it highly important for young people to have mentors and
that same population estimates that only a quarter of youth have the mentors they need; and
WHEREAS, nearly 9 in L0 feels that more mentoring is needed in our country; and
WHEREAS, research shows that 44 percent of adults are not yet mentoring but are willing to
consider it and mentoring is poised for growth. 18- to 29-year-olds are more than twice as likely to cite
having had a mentor in their childhood than those over 50; and
WHEREAS, almost half of today's young adults report having a mentor in their youth and those
rates appear to have been rising steadily over the past several decades, and
WHEREAS, National Mentoring Month is the time of year where engagement from community
members interested in becoming a mentor is highest and an opportunity to celebrate, elevate, and
encourage mentoring in communities across the country;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE lT RESOLVED that l, Robert Putaansuu, Mayor of the City of Port Orchard, do hereby
proclaim January as:
National Mentoring Month
in the City of Port Orchard and urge citizens to join me in this special observance.
g.P o Signed the 24 day of December 2020
\-Oa
SEAL
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Robert Putaahsuu, Mayor