Recent San Antonio statistics show that of the average 400,000 children residing in the County over 8,400 live in foster or alternative care homes; over 24,000 children are born to single parents between the ages of 12 to 18 annually; over 3100 crimes are committed by children between the ages of 10 and 16; over 900 gangs exist with 6,300+ members and over 40% of our children are living in single-parent families. The common thread in these children’s lives are that they a missing the benefits of a healthy, stable family unit and the influence of a social and moral value system that parents are to instill within them. It is therefore unfortunate that all these children are at significant risk for a propensity towards gangs, drugs, alcoholism, and other self-destructive behavior. In order to meet the void that a lack of parental guidance has put within our children, Heritage was created in 2003 to match these children, youth and young adults (“children”) with dependable, stable and mature adults who would provide guidance, encouragement and friendship. In return Heritage goal is to provide a generation which benefits the Community by providing a diverse workforce, stimulating economy, increasing the rate of employment, and having a greater rate of enrollment in postsecondary education. Mentored youth additionally have a heightened sense of individual responsibility and involvement which results in reduced costs associated with social and economic disparities and increased awareness of multidimensional community. Mentored youth also have a heightened sense of compassion due to the interaction of multiple perspectives which enables them to have stronger family units and a willingness to give back to the community that gave to them.

            A primary challenge in the San Antonio community is finding an adequate number of qualified mentors to be matched with these children. Heritage has seen that this lack of mentors is not only due the overwhelming number of children lacking a mature, stable, dependable, adult in their lives but also to a lack of education in the community on this overwhelming need for mentors. Along with the need for mentors in general, there is primarily a desperate shortage of male mentors. Young men who are seeking male mentors typically have an average waiting period of over 2 years to be matched while young women can typically be placed within 90 days.

             Heritage’s answer to this need is shown in our mission which is to seek out and match mature adults with children, ages 6-21 from single-parent and foster care homes and establish them in a mentoring relationship.  Our goal has been to accomplish this mission by reaching out specifically to the Christian community. Heritage provides the mechanism (evidenced in our mission statement, screening process, training programs, evaluation process and our marketing) for the Christian population to outreach into the general community and mentor the children, youth and young adults.