ABOUT THE NATIONAL CARES MENTORING MOVEMENT
Our mission and Vision
A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER
Our mission and Vision
CARES’ MISSION is to secure and transform the lives of children by inspiring, recruiting and mobilizing masses of caring men and women to mentor and nourish them. Our national volunteer affiliate network connects adults to local youth-serving organizations. Our national group-mentoring programs focus on the emotional, social and academic
CARES’ MISSION is to secure and transform the lives of children by inspiring, recruiting and mobilizing masses of caring men and women to mentor and nourish them. Our national volunteer affiliate network connects adults to local youth-serving organizations. Our national group-mentoring programs focus on the emotional, social and academic development of our children and the wellness of the adults who parent, mentor and educate them.
CARES ENVISIONs a nation in which all children are loved, have access to quality, culturally competent education and are supported by well-resourced families and communities living in harmony and guided by faith. We envision a world in which African American children and families are deeply rooted in love; and where they are respected for all that our fore parents withstood and contributed to enrich the United States and the world.
Our call to community
A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER
Our mission and Vision
Despite being one of the most affluent countries in the world, millions of children in the U.S. live in poverty, including many in Durham. In 2023, Durham Public Schools served 33,000 students, yet challenges like homelessness and chronic absenteeism impact their ability to succeed. Durham is a city of high achievement—over 90% of residen
Despite being one of the most affluent countries in the world, millions of children in the U.S. live in poverty, including many in Durham. In 2023, Durham Public Schools served 33,000 students, yet challenges like homelessness and chronic absenteeism impact their ability to succeed. Durham is a city of high achievement—over 90% of residents have a high school diploma or higher, and more than half hold a bachelor’s degree. Still, our young people need support to reach their full potential.
Durham CARES Mentoring Movement, Inc. believes that mentorship is a powerful tool to change lives. Mentored youth are more likely to stay in school, achieve better grades, and pursue higher education or vocational training. They develop confidence, improve peer relationships, and feel a stronger sense of belonging—all crucial for a thriving future.
Imagine Durham as a leader in producing educators, innovators, and entrepreneurs—building a dynamic, 21st-century workforce. Investing in mentoring is an investment in our community’s economic and social vitality, at a fraction of the cost of other solutions.
Join us in supporting Durham’s youth. Your donation, time, or advocacy can help create a future where every young person feels valued, empowered, and prepared to succeed.
Support Durham CARES Mentoring Movement—because every young person deserves a chance to thrive.
A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER
A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER
A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER
No more broken promises to our children! Not as multitudes of our fragile young ones are suffering the harms of poverty—their wounds evident and bleeding on our watch. We privileged ones are the cure. And we have everything we need—except each other! The National CARES Mentoring Movement has a deliberate and proven plan.
CARES is a pio
No more broken promises to our children! Not as multitudes of our fragile young ones are suffering the harms of poverty—their wounds evident and bleeding on our watch. We privileged ones are the cure. And we have everything we need—except each other! The National CARES Mentoring Movement has a deliberate and proven plan.
CARES is a pioneering, community-mobilization initiative dedicated to healing the effects of centuries of structural disparities that are destroying multitudes of Black children’s lives. Mentoring works miracles. We meet our mandate to break the cycle of generational Black poverty by building a bridge to healing and wellness in mind, body, spirit and community in those places where Black children are losing ground. Across the nation, CARES recruits, trains and places caring, culturally competent mentors in schools and youth-support organizations desperate for Black volunteers.
Susan L. Taylor, Founder and CEO
National CARES Mentoring Movement
Editor-in-Chief Emerita, Essence Magazine
(read the entire letter and more)