Jim and Sharri Baldonado Family, The Home Agency, and BHA Real Estate have been committed to our TeamMates Mentoring mission and vision by supporting over 130 of our rural area local programs across the state of Nebraska over the past three years. In 2021, the impact of COVID brought many challenges to the TeamMates Mentoring organization which included a decrease in our number of mentor-mentee matches, difficulty recruiting new mentors and fundraising. Most importantly, our students faced even more challenges that included a decrease in their levels of hope, school engagement, and well-being while experiencing an increase in their levels of anxiety, depression, and emotional intelligence. When Jim and Sharri heard about some of these challenges, they made a multi-year commitment that covered a major large portion of each local program’s operating expenses including:

• Annual background check and participation fees
• Ongoing mentor-mentee match support
• Updated marketing materials for impact and brand awareness
• End of the year high school senior celebrations

Their ongoing support and generosity have benefited more than 5,000 mentor-mentee matches in grades 3-12 grade. “Our family is focused on youth and their health and wellbeing, and we are proud to support TeamMates Mentoring, particularly in smaller Nebraska communities. Our hope is that our gift will allow more Nebraska TeamMates Chapters to match more students with a caring adult mentor without having to worry about expenses. Statistics prove that about 86 percent of our TeamMates mentees have hope for the future, and we believe that is crucial to their success,” said Jim and Sharri Baldonado.

TeamMates Mentoring is about giving local communities and school districts a sense of pride, purpose, and partnership, and because of the teamwork with the Baldonado Family, The Home Agency, and BHA Real Estate, TeamMates Mentoring is back to serving over 9,000 students. Gallup studies show that hope is the greatest indicator of academic success and resilience. That is why this year’s Donor spotlight shines brightly on Jim and Sharri Baldonado Family, The Home Agency, and BHA Real Estate for supporting our post pandemic initiatives around quality engagement, impact and brand awareness, and organizational sustainability.

To learn more about supporting our mentoring efforts and initiatives with a multi-year pledge, please contact TeamMates Development Director, Ruth Eubanks.