In 2007, Youth Villages took on a challenge from Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen to find mentors for children and teens in foster care across the state of Tennessee.

The goal of the Governor's Mentoring Initiative is to provide young people in foster care with a positive adult influence -- someone who will help them get over the hard times, someone who will assist them in making the right decisions, someone who will stick with them through the difficult teenage years, someone who will just be a friend.

The program is operated by Youth Villages in partnership with the Governor's Children's Cabinet and the Department of Children's Services. During its first year, the program exceeded its initial goals by 20 percent, finding and matching mentors for more than 300 foster children across the state.

Youth Villages mentor liasions work in every county in Tennessee training volunteers and facilitating matches with foster children.