HuntersWorld
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Mission Statement
There’s always a place for you in HuntersWorld” is the motto of our Jersey City teen mentoring program created and driven by teenagers. HuntersWorld aims to give teenagers a safe place, free of judgment, to talk about their emotions with the support of their peers. Teen participants learn to share, express vulnerability, and dive into meaningful topics with their mentors, which helps foster a strong foundation of self-worth that continues through adolescence and beyond. HuntersWorld currently hosts weekly meetings for high school students throughout Jersey City and the surrounding areas at no cost to our participants. HuntersWorld (HW) hosts meetings for mentors/mentees twice weekly that include: A group feelings circle, icebreaker activity on the monthly theme, a moment of gratitude, deep questions in small groups with mentors, and a closing feelings circle. HW peer mentoring discussions contribute to the development of essential life skills such as communication, problem-solving and resilience, which are crucial in navigating the challenges and pressures faced by our local teens. The peer-to-peer approach creates a supportive environment where participants feel comfortable discussing sensitive topics, reducing the stigma surrounding their specific circumstances. We buffer our weekly two-hour meetings with food provided at no cost to our participants, conversation and game playing both before and after, all which creates room for connection and friendship building. Participants are also provided free transportation to and from our location for all weekly meetings and social events. Mentors receive five weeks of summer training on our 12 monthly themes that includes videos, discussion, activities, speakers and other leadership development activities. Open meetings are then led by peer mentors and facilitated by our director, a paid young adult mentor coordinator who has completed the program, and a paid licensed social worker. Participants enjoy two socials each month that engage them in community service, team building, and enjoyable activities that increase self esteem and peer bonding. Monthly socials have catered food and drink, games and activities, and can include outside vendors. We often partner with other nonprofits to provide drug-free and digital- free activities and engagement, such as hiking and rock rappelling. Lastly, we offer mentors monthly one-on-one check-ins with a paid licensed social worker that provides individual counseling and support, coping skills, strategies and case management for additional assistance that addresses the whole person.
About This Cause
Hunter James Reinholt was fearless and outgoing and had an unforgettable sense of humor. More than that, he was a staunchly loyal friend with a gift for making those around him feel safe, heard and accepted. His friends and family missed this so much, they came together and created #HuntersWorld. At its core, #HuntersWorld, a 501(c)3 organization, is a teen peer mentoring program – created and driven by teenagers. Especially in today’s post Covid environment, teenagers are facing an unprecedented amount of pressure and stress. Even without the pandemic, approximately 1 in 5 teenagers suffer from a mental health disorder, most commonly depression and anxiety. Left unchecked, these mental health issues can lead teens down the road to making dangerous choices such as violence, substance abuse and even suicide. #HuntersWorld aims to fight this crisis among our teens by destigmatizing these mental health issues and teaching them to talk about their challenges. Recent studies show peer mentoring has a measurable positive impact on self-esteem, building relationships with adults, and teen’s attitudes towards school. Working closely with our staff social worker, we have created a mentor training and certification program. Our mentors go through an 8 week intensive program that covers such topics as: feelings, trust, peer pressure, coping mechanisms, counselling techniques, suicide prevention, substance abuse, LGBTQ issues, racism, violence, consent and more. This training is ongoing throughout the school year as they work weekly with our staff social worker while also meeting weekly with our program participants. Hunter’s heart was incredibly open and filled with empathy. He was once asked who his “people” were, and he replied by saying “people who talk to me are my people.” It’s with this kind and sincere approach that we strive to create something that exemplifies how Hunter lived - and what we all miss most about him. The post pandemic years have been challenging years for us all, and the impact of the pandemic has been particularly difficult for teenagers; a fact nationally documented by the media. Our program is open to all teenagers in Hudson & the surrounding counties and meetings occur weekly, in person, to offer mental health support to these kids. HuntersWorld is a safe space for teens to go where they are not expected to bear the weight of the world on their shoulders; a place where they can share their deepest feelings without fear of judgment and protect, support and celebrate one another during these difficult times – something that was at the heart of Hunter’s spirit. In order to do that, in addition to our staff social worker, we have added one-on-one counseling to our teens if they feel the need. We are proud that our HuntersWorld teen mentors and participants reflect the multiculturalism in the Hudson County community at large: They are ethnically, religiously and racially diverse, include a large percentage of LGBTQ+ individuals and teens with disabilities, and have a wide spectrum of home environments and school or non-school experiences. Any teen who has a desire to participate is welcomed by our teen community. We do not exclude attendance at any of our meetings based on any criteria except age (our program is made for high schoolers and young adults). Our program is entirely free of charge for all mentors and participants and gathers a varying socioeconomic group of teens. We provide free food and transportation to everyone who attends our events, thus we are entirely funded by donors and grants. We reach participants throughout Hudson County through posting flyers, school referrals, social media, partners in the community, word-of-mouth, city events and all other means available. We are always involving community partners who share our love for teen mentoring and also reflect our commitment to celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion within and without our community. Our community partners are our neighbors, and they attend our informational meetings, mentor training and/or exchange resources and valuable insights for our participants. We continually strive to identify and recruit community partners, staff, board members and leadership positions who reflect the diversity in our teen participants. We have currently hired a disabled LGBTQ+ social worker on staff, as well as a mentor coordinator who is a young person of color living in the neighborhood we serve and has completed the mentoring program herself. We have intentionally placed our headquarters in the center of the communities we serve, making it easier for teens to find us and feel comfortable in our space. Board members have recently attended a Candid Nonprofit training to learn how to better create a board that represents qualified, passionate community leaders who come from diverse backgrounds and reflect the identities of our teen participants. We are doing this by creating a plan of action in which each board member nominates 1 new candidate who reflects our commitment to diversity for interview and consideration annually. We hope to have 3-5 new members of our board by the end of 2024. For consideration are church leaders, previous mentors and mentor coordinators, local school employees and community leaders who reflect our values and commitment to serving urban youth.