Division of Redeemer Forge, Inc.
Redeemer Pathways
Mentorship for children and young people.
Supervised, faith-based mentorship in Jacksonville: cooperative play for younger children, mentor-led building and digital skills for older children and teenagers, and Grow — a website where foster youth find the tools and resources they need.
Who it serves
Children and teenagers in Jacksonville and their families. Every session opens and closes with prayer; no child has to pray or profess faith to take part. Grow serves teens in foster care and young adults aging out of it, up to 21.
The need
Children here need adults who show up.
children in foster care in Duval County in 2024 — 597.9 per 100,000, against 464.9 for Florida as a whole.
of Florida 21-year-olds who had been in foster care reported a period of homelessness; 20% had not finished high school, and only 36% worked full time. Preliminary results.
American children would be in an after-school program if one were available to them: 77% of the demand goes unmet.
Our answerRedeemer Pathways is planned as a free, supervised place after school, with a mentor paying attention, and Grow puts the tools young people leaving foster care need in one place.
Today, and the road ahead
What exists, and what comes next.
In place today
- Three tracks defined: Fellowship Gaming (kindergarten–5th grade), Genesis Labs (5th–12th grade) and Grow (foster youth)
- A public website describing the program and its curriculum
- A drafted safeguarding policy, including Level 2 background screening for every adult volunteer
- 1Safeguarding policy adopted; safeguarding lead appointed
- 2First host church or venue agreed
- 3First volunteers screened and trained
- 4Insurance in place
- 5First Fellowship Gaming session
- 6Genesis Labs curriculum written; first building session
- 7Grow partnerships proposed to guardians ad litem and the foster care system
How we will know
What success looks like.
Young people come consistently
Session registers, per participant per term
Participants finish what they make
Completed projects per participant in Genesis Labs
Participants gain a practical skill
Self-assessment before and after, against each track’s stated skills
Every adult with a young person is screened
The safeguarding lead’s screening register
All of them, always
- Volunteer background checks (Level 2, fingerprints)Per volunteer$28
- Insurance covering misconduct toward a childYearly, for $1 million of cover; required before the first session. Estimate: bought with the general liability policy, as insurers price supervised programs where two adults are always present and every volunteer is screened; a quote is neededAbout $500–$1,500
- VenuePossibly free, hosted by a partner churchTo be priced
- Gaming and building equipmentOnce, then upkeepTo be priced
- Materials and snacksPer sessionTo be priced
“Show me your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.”
Psalm 25:4
