Community Friends

Community Friends was originally founded in 1960 by the Counseling Services of Addison County (CSAC), and now runs as a Student Organization advised by the Center for Community Engagement. Since 1960, Community Friends has supported over 2,500 mentoring relationships! Learn more about Community Friend’s 60th Anniversary Stories of Mentoring project completed in 2020.

How It Works

Mentors and mentees are matched during the Fall and Spring semesters. Pairs are matched based on interests, identities, age, access to transportation, and more. 

After an initial match meeting with Student Coordinators and parents/guardians in attendance (generally at a large Match Day event), mentors and mentees begin to meet regularly one-on-one for two hours each week. The mentor and mentee’s family coordinate the timing of that meeting, based on mutual availability, and the meetings usually occur on Middlebury College campus.

Community Friends mentoring activities are meant to be free for both mentor and mentee, and we aim to provide a range of games, activities, and events to help mentors engage with their mentees for the long run. Here are some example activities available to mentors and mentees around campus:

• Visit the CCE’s game room! The CCE has an entire basement room dedicated to games, crafts, and other activities for Community Friends mentors and mentees to use during mentoring meetings.
• Join a Community Friends community event! Community Friends holds 3-5 community events during the Fall and Spring semesters, including scavenger hunts, a Halloween bash, and spring BBQ. Keep an eye out to join in on the fun!
• Visit fun areas around campus, like the gym, dining halls (mentees eat for free), pool, and green spaces.
• Go on a hike on the Trail around Middlebury (TAM).

Community Friends also sponsors trainings each semester to support mentors.

Application

Community Friends accept applications for new mentors every Fall and Spring semester. Email comfriends@middlebury.edu to receive a link to the application and ask any questions.

After you apply, you will get an email to begin the screening process: interview, reference checks, background check, and Middlebury conduct checks.

Refer a Child

To learn more about referring a child for the Community Friends program, please email comfriends@middlebury.edu. You will be asked to fill out an online or paper application to assist us in finding the best Middlebury College match for the child. Although we maintain a waitlist of child applicants during the year, the best time to refer a child to the program is early September and January before matching for the new semester begins.

Once you submit a referral, we will get in touch with the mentee’s family to verify their interest in participating in the program. After touching base with the family, we will schedule a first mentor/mentee meeting at one of our large group Match Days or an individual Mini-Match. There is chance that a child won’t be matched immediately due to mentor availability. We will let you know if the child is placed on a waitlist and will need to be matched the following semester. We aim to ensure children do not stay on a waitlist for more than a semester.