About Amachi Philadelphia
Amachi began in Philadelphia in September 2000 with funding from Pew Charitable Trusts as a partnerships between Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
John DiIulio who is now a Frederick Fox Leadership professor of Politics, Religion and Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania, had the idea for Amachi. And W. Wilson Goode, Sr., former Mayor of Philadelphia and current Senior Advisor on Faith Based Initiatives at P/PV carried the idea out. The Pew Charitable Trusts supported the development and implementation of Amachi.
P/PV was responsible for administrative oversight and financial management of the program as well as for recruiting congregations and children. The organization also collected and analyzed the data used to monitor the matches and gauge the overall progress of Amachi. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania screened the volunteers and children, and made the matches.
The Amachi mentoring program was developed to provide these children with a different path by establishing the consistent presence of loving, caring people of faith. Amachi mentors meet weekly with a child who has been carefully matched with them; the mentors and mentees often live and worship in the same communities. Amachi's hope is that one-to-one mentoring by caring adults will significantly the life opportunities of children with incarcerated parents. Studies have clearly demonstrated that the model of mentoring that Catholic Charities implements has positive effects. Now these positive effects that have been felt by the mentees of the Catholic Charities Connections mentoring program can be spread to children of incarcerated parents in Middlesex County.
Amachi's success in Philadelphia has sparked interest in cities across the nation, as well as in the White House and Congress. As a result, the Amachi model has been implemented in 101 cities in 38 states and it continues to grow.
John DiIulio who is now a Frederick Fox Leadership professor of Politics, Religion and Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania, had the idea for Amachi. And W. Wilson Goode, Sr., former Mayor of Philadelphia and current Senior Advisor on Faith Based Initiatives at P/PV carried the idea out. The Pew Charitable Trusts supported the development and implementation of Amachi.
P/PV was responsible for administrative oversight and financial management of the program as well as for recruiting congregations and children. The organization also collected and analyzed the data used to monitor the matches and gauge the overall progress of Amachi. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania screened the volunteers and children, and made the matches.
The Amachi mentoring program was developed to provide these children with a different path by establishing the consistent presence of loving, caring people of faith. Amachi mentors meet weekly with a child who has been carefully matched with them; the mentors and mentees often live and worship in the same communities. Amachi's hope is that one-to-one mentoring by caring adults will significantly the life opportunities of children with incarcerated parents. Studies have clearly demonstrated that the model of mentoring that Catholic Charities implements has positive effects. Now these positive effects that have been felt by the mentees of the Catholic Charities Connections mentoring program can be spread to children of incarcerated parents in Middlesex County.
Amachi's success in Philadelphia has sparked interest in cities across the nation, as well as in the White House and Congress. As a result, the Amachi model has been implemented in 101 cities in 38 states and it continues to grow.
"Amachi" is a West African word which means, "Who knows but what God has brought us through this child..."
The Amachi model's mission is to provide mentoring services to children who have a parent that is incarcerated, its initiative is a way to help shape the lives of children who may otherwise find themselves headed to prison.
