Amachi

YOUTH MENTORING

Amachi (Philadelphia, PA)

Who They Serve : Children of prisoners

What They Do : Recruit, train, and match adult mentors from congregations with children of prisoners

Brief Description :

Amachi is a partnership of secular and faith-based institutions through which volunteers recruited from congregations mentor children of prisoners. Working with Public/Private Ventures and Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania, Amachi recruits and screens volunteer mentors who are each then matched with a child. These at-risk children are transformed from children of prisoners to "children of promise" with the help of caring mentors. The painful and difficult event of losing a parent to incarceration can actually be productive in the child's life through a mentoring program such as Amachi.

Tip : Download the Amachi “how-to” manual here.

Amachi: Mentoring the Children of Prisoners in Philadelphia

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Summary:

This book focuses on the early years of the Amachi program and its success; how it was set up, and its operation and maintenance.  This information is helpful for practitioners and others interested in starting an Amachi program in your community. 

Why does FASTEN recommend this resource?

This short book offers data regarding the program’s quality and effectiveness and explains the strategies and mechanics of setting up, operating, and maintaining an Amachi program. It provides a concise yet thorough explanation of the Amachi model that includes discussion of the reasoning behind this approach. It answers detailed questions that practitioners are likely to ask—about the types of activities the mentors and children are engaged in; the time they spend in different activities; how often the mentors meet with their assigned children; and how to recruit pastors into the initiative. It also includes a list of churches partnering with Amachi in Philadelphia. The book concludes with a short discussion of the five “critical elements that contributed to the project’s early successes.”