Amigos de Jesus to launch mentorship program

The Amigos de Jesus will soon be launching a mentorship program in addition to their existing food pantry and assistance program for Spanish-speaking members of the Wimberley community.

Amigos de Jesus, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, supports the underserved members of the Wimberley community by providing food, essentials and educational opportunities. At the heart of their current program is a food pantry, The Mercado, located at 100 Melody Way in Wimberley. Under the leadership of Board Chairperson Leslie Morton and Mentorship Executive Director Julie Teague, its new program aims to equip students with the skills to pursue opportunities like college, trade school, entrepreneurship and military service.

“We want the culture of the mentorship program to be productive but also warm, inviting and fun. In that spirit, we will have food, games and team building activities that encourage students to connect with the other members of the group,” Teague said.

Morton and Teague met with students in grades nine through 12 at St. Mary Catholic Church this month to introduce the Amigos’ Mentorship Program. From that meeting, a dozen students signed up to learn more and to be added to the mentorship contact list for the 2023–2024 school year.

With the help of an advisory council of bilingual community members, the Amigos program in Wimberley will offer monthly meetings for students and their parents to learn about opportunities after high school such as internships, scholarships, the existence of trade and vocational schools and volunteer opportunities to help students network and grow within the larger community. It aims to help students become more selfaware and explore their aptitudes, in addition to assisting with college applications and college visits, according to Teague.

“While we currently offer support and referrals, we have also been able to provide a few wordof- mouth scholarships that were available,” Morton explained. “We have recipients attending UT Austin, Austin Community College and other training schools and programs. By expanding our program to include mentoring, we seek to improve the future of our Spanish speaking community.”

“For many of those students and their families, we learned that for them, failing is not an option,” she added.

In conjunction with its mentorship program, Amigos is now working to partner with several groups, including Generation Pave the Way at Wimberley High School, which supports students seeking opportunities after graduation. Another is the Make it Movement, an Austin nonprofit, that has an online career exploration tool and links to jobs and scholarships. Others include Immigrants Rising and the University of Texas’ Monarch Program, an initiative which helps undocumented or mixed-status students thrive academically, personally and professionally.

The humanitarian program is backed by generous community donors, contributions, in addition to volunteers and sponsors from several local faith groups, including Crisis Bread Basket.

The Amigos de Jesus began 20 years ago, started by an employee of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Minerva Martinez. Martinez began bringing food to the day laborers that met in the church parking lot. She then began keeping a pantry in her office for food that could be distributed to the workers’ families. With community support, the Amigos’ food pantry — The Mercado — was created.

Today, volunteers distribute food, toiletries and daily essentials to local families and provide Spanish-speaking assistance to those in need. Their October coat drive gave coats to more than 150 men, women and children along with gloves, hats, socks and blankets.

The Mercado is open every Saturday and Monday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. In addition to food, it also helps provide bicycles, heaters and gift certificates to the Wimberley Thrift Store.

Interested citizens can help by volunteering in the mentoring program, serving on the advisory council and helping at The Mercado. Spanish language proficiency is not required. To learn more or to provide donations, go to wimberleyamigos. org. Direct correspondence is available at amigoswimberley@ gmail.com. Donations can be submitted online or via mail at Amigos de Jesus, P.O. Box 106, Wimberley 78676.