God's Gift 2U for Youth is a nonprofit agency providing mentoring
programs for middle and high school youth in the Greater Chicago area.
The program will form partnerships with local school districts and the
juvenile court system. Unite for Youth's goal is to foster a commitment to
young people that will promote pro-social friendships, strong
interpersonal skills, and reassert a sense of hope in the future. Only
through personal relationships can a sense of individual responsibility be
reestablished that will give youth the commitment to follow through on
path to adulthood with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
Through repeated failures in the classroom and the development of
destructive habits, at-risk young people have lost faith in the possibilities
that await them if they are successful in putting their lives together. To
accomplish this goal, young people must be in a caring, inclusive learning
environment that promotes their best effort and reinforces personal
respect.

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God's Gift 2U is a program that is in direct response to the growing number of young people who are either falling through the cracks at school or are already entangled with the juvenile court system. The goal of the program is to identify youths who are going to have a turbulent transition to adulthood and offer a positive support system to avoid the pitfalls that can derail their lives. The focus is slightly different at each level but the goal remains the same; empower the young person to make positive changes in his/her life. God's Gift 2U will focus primarily on middle school youths. It is projected that within three years, 50% of the system's students will be in middle school. This age group is particularly problematic and a perfect time for mentoring to be effective.