Chemi Uprosi Megabari Translates to My Elder Friend in Georgia
JOE HIGGINS OF MESA COUNTY PARTNERS HELPS MENTORING REACH YOUTH ACROSS THE GLOBE
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The "Chemi Uprosi Megabari" program in the country of Georgia is a collaborative effort between the Georgian Ministry of Justice and the United Nations Assistance to Georgia. Joe Higgins of Mesa County Partners and Tina McGuinness of Gunnison County Partners of Colorado just returned from a two week trip to Tbilisi, Georgia to train the first case managers for the program, as well as implement the best practices in mentoring used by the Partners Mentoring Association in Colorado.
Georgia had been quick to incarcerate juveniles, but leaders are looking for ways to better take care of their citizens, Higgins said. When the opportunity arose for the Partners mentoring model to be replicated halfway around the world, Joe and Tina were ready to go.
The Partners Mentoring Association in Colorado uses an evidence based model of youth-mentoring. Volunteers from the community are screened, trained and matched with local youth by Partners case managers. These youth are referred by professional youth-serving agencies and have been identified as having one or more risk factors for delinquency, drug or alcohol abuse or becoming a high-school dropout.
Mentoring works! For every $1 spent on One-to-One Mentoring Services, the community sees a $2.72 return benefit in juvenile crime reduction, truancy reduction, reduced tobacco/alcohol/other drug use and improved educational performance. – University of Minnesota, 2007
Joe speaks of his trip in his TravelBlog; "We have walked Tbilisi's streets and fortifications, gotten a little lost…enjoyed much Georgian food, met wonderful people and have planted a seed – Chemi Uprosi Megobari – My Elder Friend. A lot of time and discussion went into the name and logo – lots of cultural, historical and language interpretation one must be aware of when using words in a foreign country." Visit www.mytb.org/Joe-Higgins for his entire travel blog.
Please feel free to visit www.mesapartners.org for more information on Joe's trip.
Mesa County Partners has been proud to serve the youth of Mesa County for 30 years, through Mentoring, Restitution/Community Service, the Minority Family Advocacy Program and the Western Colorado Conservation Corps.
For more information please call Joe Higgins at (970)245-5555 x18 or Maggie Moorland at (970)245-5555x17
SOURCE Mesa County Partners
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