With the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative's Mentoring Program, success showed a greater need.

        For three years, the collaborative has run a successful one-to-one mentoring program called "The Power of 1,” matching up dozens of adults with children throughout the Tristate for weekly support sessions, activities and tutoring.

        But waiting lists got so long — about 600 kids were waiting in August — that mentor leader Susan Pfau decided to try “group mentoring.”

        She launched four After-School Girls Clubs at Cincinnati public schools, and recruited friends and friends of friends to host them. Now that movement is growing, said Miriam West, a CYC executive director.

        “The idea was simple. A small group of women, seven to nine, would mentor 14 to 16 girls in a club structure,” Ms. West said.

        By the start of school, at least 50 women were hosting after-school clubs with 4th-graders. They meet once a week for planned activities — arts and crafts, community service, field trips, career exploration — as well as self-esteem and motivational exercises.

        “These 50 women represent all walks of life with diversified lifestyles,” Ms. West said.

        “They are comprised of various socio-economic backgrounds, neighborhoods and religions. In this wonderful program, they all come together for a common purpose: to improve the lives of our inner-city youth and to encourage them to stay in school.”

        Principals, teachers and parents are also supportive of the clubs, she added, because they “instill a sense of hope for a productive future” for the girls.

        The women have also become close friends with each other.

        “They're building relationships and bridges,” she said. “They're a microcosm of how our community should strive to be.”

        For more information, call 475-4959.

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