About the Program:

The International Rescue Committee in Utah's Success Coaching & Mentoring program pairs volunteers with refugee and immigrant young people ages 15 to 24 who have recently arrived in Salt Lake City. Mentors help their mentees set three achievable goals for education, life skills, and social emotional development. You’re there to listen, encourage, and work through it together.

Who Does Well:

Mentors who thrive here understand that this is a relationship you build over time. You’ll be the one to reach out and schedule, and you’ll keep doing it even when replies are slow. Your mentee is balancing school, work, family and settling into a new country, so a missed message isn’t a reflection on you or on the mentorship. If you can be patient, consistent and a steady presence, this role is for you. And you won’t be doing it alone. If a challenge comes up, IRC staff are here to help.

What It's Like:

  • Meet at least twice a month. Choose a time and place together, like your mentee’s home, a library or another comfortable spot. If your mentee is under 18, a parent or adult sibling needs to be present. An occasional virtual check-in is fine when life gets busy, but in-person meetings build the strongest relationships.
  • Start with the lesson plans. For your first three months, you’ll have lesson plans to help you get to know each other and set goals together. After that, you'll have access to resources to support your mentee's goals.
  • Check in on goals. After you create goal plan you'll want to bring up these goals at a majority of meetings going forward to ensure that that they are on track to reaching their goals and that you can support them where needed.
  • Complete meeting notes and other required documentation. After each meeting with your mentee you are required to submit meeting notes to summarize what you spent time doing and what progress has been made. Throughout the mentorship there are a few required submissions and we will send reminders along with instructions of how to complete them. 

Setting Expectations:

Plan on a 9-month mentorship. The most important thing is consistency: meet with your mentee at least twice a month. About an hour each time is a good guide, but a shorter meeting is always better than a skipped one.

Quarterly Pairing Cycles. We train and pair volunteers on a quarterly basis for this role. Upcoming cycles include: 

  • January through October 2027; training in December 2026. 
  • April 2027 through January 2028; training in March 2027.
  • July 2027 through April 2028; training in June 2027. 
  • October 2027 through July 2028; training in September 2027.

Next Steps:

  • Attend a general volunteer orientation to learn more about the IRC, the people we serve and the volunteer opportunities we host. Sign up here: https://x.gldn.io/e/0y5m8qmmKWb
  • All volunteers must clear a background check. We ask for a $53 donation to help cover the cost. Steps for this will be provided after you have attended both trainings.
  • Attend Youth Mentoring Volunteer Training via Zoom with the IRC Education team.
  • Complete the asynchronous online training by the due date for your cohort.
  • Meet your mentee. You’ll be paired during your cohort’s pairing week, and staff will contact you with details.

Questions? Please email us at VolunteerSLC@Rescue.org