Amachi Pittsburgh

“Who knows what God has brought us through this child?” This is the English translation of the Nigerian Ibo word “Amachi,” and it forms the centerpiece of our mission at Amachi Pittsburgh – to enable young people to realize their God-given potential, even though one or both parents may be incarcerated and their home life may be in crisis.

Because all children have great inherent value, we refer to children of incarcerated parents as “children of promise.” It is our mutual hope and expectation that through this mentoring initiative, the God-given potential, purpose and value of children of promise will be recognized, protected and nurtured through the caring support and guidance of carefully screened and trained mentors from local congregations and community organizations. It is our hope that the positive impact of mentoring relationships will better prepare these children to overcome the challenges associated with parental incarceration.

Across the nation, more than two million minor children come from homes that are dramatically affected by violence, drugs and the incarceration of at least one parent. Seven thousand of these children of the courts live and struggle in Allegheny County, and too often they end up in jail themselves as adults. The statistics are alarming.

Two thirds of the youth in our juvenile justice system have one or both parents in prison.
These youth are six times more likely to engage in negative behaviors.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s, Bureau of Justice Statistics has described this group as more at-risk than any other subculture in the country.

Amachi Pittsburgh reaches out to these children with open hearts and hands to guide, nurture and share the gift of time.

We mentor children and youth ages 4 to 18 that have one or both parents incarcerated.
We serve children with special needs.
We embrace other children in the family.
We provide resources and support for congregations and organizations to implement the Amachi mentoring initiative.
We train, supervise and support mentors and mentoring programs.
We help coordinate referrals of children and assistance in matching them with mentors.
We assist in obtaining resources for eligible families.

Amachi Pittsburgh's goals are twofold:

Through mentoring, to reach children in Allegheny County with one or both parents in a correctional facility, with the goal of reducing the likelihood of these children perpetuating the cycle of imprisonment as juveniles or adults.
Through capacity building, to equip, train and support local faith- and community-based organizations in their vital roles of outreach, intervention and mentorship.

Amachi

The Amachi Initiative began in Philadelphia in September 2000 with funding from Pew Charitable Trusts as a partnership between Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania. P/PV was responsible for administrative oversight, financial management and initial recruitment and partnership development. P/PV also collected and analyzed the data used to monitor the matches to assess the overall progress of Amachi. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania screened the volunteers and children, and coordinated the matches.

Amachi Pittsburgh began in 2003 and is modeled after Philadelphia's initiative, relying on a broad partnership of faith-based non-profit agencies and other community organizations working with prison inmates. Caring men and women are carefully screened and matched with children of incarcerated parents within their local communities to help build trust, self-esteem, better school attendance and study habits simply by being a good friend to these children of promise. Since 2003, Amachi Pittsburgh has partnered with more than 30 congregations/organizations and has matched 400 children.

Amachi Pittsburgh Awards/Recognition

Recognized by President Bush at the White House Conference for Faith and Community Based Initiatives in June 2004.
Awarded the "Excellence in Faith-Based Mentoring" award from the Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania in November 2005.

Two thirds of the youth in our juvenile justice system have one or both parents in prison.