Sometimes the most meaningful opportunities to serve our community begin with a simple conversation. The Alexandria Farmer’s Market is the perfect place to see your neighbors, taste amazing food, and meet people shaping our community every day.
On a recent Sunday morning, I had the privilege of speaking with members of the Community Engagement Team at the City of Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities. They shared the multitude of volunteer opportunities available through the ten mentoring programs that together comprise the Alexandria Mentoring Partnership (AMP). Now is a great time to get involved, as several of the programs are recruiting mentors for the upcoming school year – and many of the mentoring programs offer opportunities right here in the West End.
AMP - established in 2006 and celebrating its 20th anniversary this year - has united local mentoring programs around one shared goal: ensuring that every young person in Alexandria who needs an advocate has access to a caring, well-trained mentor. AMP partners across Alexandria to support over 700 mentoring relationships annually.
Relationships are at the core of AMP, and its motto celebrates the positive impact mentoring has on both youth and adult volunteers: “Mentor One Child, Change Two Lives.” Reflecting on AMP’s 20th anniversary for the recent Mentor Open House held July 14th at Beatley Central Library, AMP co-founder and Alexandria Living Legend Linda Odell shared that what makes her proudest "isn’t a single milestone, but the thousands of relationships that have changed lives, the relationships that have helped young people believe in themselves while giving mentors a renewed sense of purpose and connection.” For Linda, mentoring is “about building a community where every child knows they matter and where adults discover that mentoring changes their lives, too.”
AMP follows MENTOR National’s best practices and is guided by the Search Institute’s Developmental Assets Framework – mentoring contributes to several developmental assets, which promote positive behaviors and attitudes, and help protect young people from high-risk behaviors. Indeed, the impact of mentorship is powerful. According to the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), at-risk youth who have a mentor are 55% more likely to enroll in college and 52% less likely to skip school. This success is built through volunteers—consistent, compassionate, caring, and committed adults who serve as a source of encouragement and hope.
But there is still more work to do. NRPA reports that many young people--one in three—lack a mentor by the time they reach adulthood. In Alexandria, we have an opportunity to change that by supporting AMP for 1 hour a week for 1 year. No prior experience is needed to be a mentor, and all necessary training is provided.
Across the ten partner programs, AMP offers volunteer mentoring opportunities for adults with a wide range of interests and schedules, including:
- Alexandria Tutoring Consortium, which provides structured in-school one-on-one tutoring with lesson plans for kindergarten-2nd
- Casa Chirilagua, which offers holistic relationship-building to support the well-being of 1st-9th grade students.
- Charles Houston Athletic Mentoring Program (CHAMP), which leverages sports to foster positive relationships and growth among middle schoolers.
- Community Lodgings, which provides group mentoring to middle schoolers in a safe, supportive, creative, and fun environment.
- Imagining Your Future, whichencourages high schoolers to discover their strengths and imagine future possibilities.
- Inspire to Lead, which coordinatesWest End group mentoring to empower middle schoolers with leadership skills.
- Space of Her Own (SOHO), which empowersremarkable 5th grade girls through one-on-one mentoring, art, STEM, and life skills development.
- Spark the Journey, which supports virtual mentorship to propel young adults enrolled in Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) toward college and career success.
- The Spitfire Club, which empowers 1st-5th gradegirls through book clubs featuring literature with diverse, strong female protagonists.
- Wright to Read, which provides flexible one-on-one literacy tutoring and mentoring for elementary school students to support each child’s success.
Mentorship is one of the best ways to invest in Alexandria’s future. For more information or to volunteer, visit https://www.alexandriava.gov/Mentoring or contact the AMP staff at mentoring@alexandriava.gov.
Caroline Cooper moved to Cameron Station in 2025 and is enjoying every aspect of the community. She recently joined the The Compass Sub-Committee to write posts on ways to give back to the community.
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