Mentoring
YWCA mentoring focuses on building confidence, resilience, positive relationships, and healthy habits for youth in our community. We work preventively to improve children and adolescents’ self-esteem and lessen the risk of experiencing serious problems later in life.
Mentoring
YWCA mentoring focuses on building confidence, resilience, positive relationships, and healthy habits for youth in our community. We work preventively to improve children and adolescents’ self-esteem and lessen the risk of experiencing serious problems later in life.
Bridges for Kids
Bridges for Kids (BFK) began in the 1980s as an individual mentoring program that matches trained adult volunteers with youth looking for a trusted adult to help them succeed. Mentors support kids and young teens by providing crucial one-on-one attention and enrichment.
The BFK service also provides enrolled families with additional assistance, such as food giveaways, back-to-school and hygiene supplies, community Thanksgiving meals, and holiday gifts. This material support plays an important role in helping kids feel stable and supported so they can focus on learning and growing.
Enrollment form coming soon!
Once you enroll, keep an eye out for registration openings for our additional assistance programs.
Become a Mentor
"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." – Aesop
Mentors need to:
- Be 18 years or older
- Be willing to commit to at least one year with the child
- Attend training
Application coming soon!
GEMS (Girls: Empowered, Motivated, Successful)
YWCA Cortland created GEMS (Girls: Empowered, Motivated, Successful) in 2014 as a free weekly group mentoring service for teen girls who had aged out of Bridges for Kids but wanted to maintain the connections they had made. After COVID, the YWCA brought the GEMS support group model to local schools, providing a safe place for pre-teen and young-teen girls to build a community just for them.
During lunch, the girls share experiences, learn healthy habits, participate in creative projects, and discover ways to serve their community. The group supports the girls in exploring how to make positive life choices and become confident leaders.
GEMS meets weekly during the school day throughout the academic year at Cortland and Homer junior high schools. Information about the 2026-2027 school year is coming soon!
HealthyNOW!
HealthyNOW! is on hiatus for the 2026-2027 school year.
HealthyNOW! is a free collaborative Cortland County program between SUNY Cortland, the Cortland County Health Department and Youth Bureau, the Cortland County Family YMCA, and YWCA Cortland. The aim of the program is to help children ages 8-18 learn about healthy eating and being more physically active so they can live happier, healthier lives. Participants will enjoy fun and safe activities and form new friendships, all while learning to make healthier choices. We encourage parents to take advantage of the one-on-one mentors, fitness advisors, and health professionals available through this service, which provides a support system that helps their kids develop skills that could last a lifetime.
HealthyNOW! three times weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 10 weeks during the fall semester and 10 weeks during the spring semester. Location switches from day to day between SUNY Cortland, the YMCA, and the YWCA.
Contact
Layah Cullip, Childcare & Youth Services Coordinator
(607) 753-9651 ext.125
assistantsa@cortlandywca.org