As the Executive Director of the 4C Coalition, I am excited to tell you about our vision to build a healthy community.

Over 10 years ago, the 4C had the foresight to work collaboratively with clergy, community leaders, and mentoring professionals to revitalize families and communities impacted by poverty, unemployment, and crime.

We saw the need to partner with public and private organizations and to expand connections throughout Seattle and King County to address endemic community problems.

The mission of the 4C Coalition is to provide vulnerable youth in King County with caring and committed adult mentors. Our goal is to enhance mentoring services and to facilitate open and honest mentoring relationships. The healthy community we envision provides opportunities, guidance, and support that youth need to reclaim their futures.

The objectives of the 4C Coalition are to:

• Provide mentoring services to vulnerable youth in Seattle and King County.
• Address critical issues that impact our youth—such as involvement with drugs, alcohol, prostitution, and gangs.
• Pull together diverse community efforts to establish a common language and take a collaborative approach to planning and implementing needed changes.
• Mobilize key stakeholders in the community to sponsor programs for safe and healthy communities.
• Research and implement effective policies and practices for lasting change.
• Develop programs that have clear and measurable goals.
• Set priorities, a schedule for action, and milestones for progress.
• Evaluate progress and outcomes to ensure accountability.

In January, National Mentoring Month, the 4C Coalition will join with Seattle CARES Mentoring Movement (SCMM) at Guiding Lights Weekend 2010 to present a workshop, “Putting the Men in Mentoring.” This informative and interactive workshop is a call to action to mobilize men to mentor a male youth caught up in the juvenile justice system. Young males show up in detention at a shamefully disproportionate rate. As a mentor, you side with hope.

In our work, we are privileged to see what can happen when a young man on a dead-end path meets up with a mentor who listens and sees potential. Mentoring is not the easiest job even though transformation may look like magic. Our call is a dare to make a difference in two lives—the life of a young man in crisis and yours. Veteran mentors call it the big win-win.

We invite to you join the 4C on Saturday, January 30^th, at Seattle Center for “The Guiding Lights Weekend.” Registration ends Monday, January 25th, at  noon: www.guidinglightsweekend.com