Declining revenue has forced the Richland-based Ignite Youth Mentoring program to lay off staff and focus on restructuring.
The executive board of the struggling Christian mentoring organization issued an announcement about the “steadily declining revenue” to staff, donors, mentors and the community last month.
The board planned to meet community members, supporters, mentors and church leadership to develop a plan so the programs could continue.
A working board and volunteer staff will continue to manage current programs.
Lunch Buddies, which operates in nine schools in three school districts, pairs an adult mentor with a student for weekly lunch meetups. The program will finish out the 2017-18 school year.
A one-on-one program pairs an adult with a student for mentoring.
The seven-year-old organization has long been a proponent of one-to-one mentoring to help at-risk youth form strong values, develop social and job-related skills, and discover God’s purpose for their lives.
Ignite offered its programs at no cost to participating families.
Ignite officials said the nonprofit’s next steps would be to reach out to area churches and the community for financial support and volunteers.
Call 509-948-3143 for more information.