Two Decades of Growth
Thursday
October 22
2026
Twenty years ago, a small group of women gathered around a simple but powerful question: What if every young person had someone who truly saw them?
From that question, Rogue Valley Mentoring was born!
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What began in 2005 as a vision for mentoring girls through connection and circle quickly grew into something much larger. As our community changed, so did we, expanding from mentoring circles to one-to-one mentoring relationships, partnering with schools, creating leadership opportunities for youth, supporting families through crisis, and standing beside young people through some of Southern Oregon's most challenging moments. Through economic uncertainty, the Almeda Fire, a global pandemic, and countless changes in our community, one thing has remained constant: people need belonging.
For two decades, hundreds of volunteers, youth, families, educators, donors, community partners, and staff have helped create places where young people are listened to, encouraged, challenged, and reminded that they matter. Every mentoring relationship, every circle, every conversation, every grant, every hour volunteered, and every act of generosity has become another drop in a well that continues to sustain our community. Today, Rogue Valley Mentoring serves hundreds of youth each year through school-based mentoring circles, one-to-one mentoring, leadership programs, and culturally responsive community programs. But our greatest accomplishment has never been the number of youth served.
It has been the relationships.
The mentor who showed up week after week.
The teacher who believed enough to make a referral.
The parent who trusted us with their child.
The donor who invested in possibility.
The volunteer who said "yes."
The young person who discovered they belonged.
Together, these stories have become our legacy.
As we celebrate 20 years of Growth, we invite everyone whose life has intersected with this mission to come home to the story you've helped write. Whether you were a founder, staff member, mentor, mentee, board member, school partner, funder, volunteer, or community champion, you are part of this journey.
Because a well is never filled by one person alone. It is sustained by a community that continues to pour into it.
Here's to the next twenty years of transforming entire communities through the mentoring of youth.
