In honor of National Mentoring Month, HDS Foundation would like to shine a light and highlight Dr. Tara Rowe, Co-founder of the University of North Florida’s Transition to Healthiness, Resourcefulness, Independence, Vocation, and Education (THRIVE) Program. Dr. Rowe is the ultimate mentor of the THRIVE Program and has made a positive impact on many of the THRIVE students to help with the transition from high school to college life.
UNF’S THRIVE Program ensures that UNF students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have a successful college experience. Mentors in the THRIVE program focus on social skills, independence and responsible living, and career development skills.
The HDS Foundation College Mentors Program has partnered with UNF THRIVE to support their mission with students living with ASD, or related disabilities who are seeking a College Degree and are living at a University or College Campus. This program helps students meet these needs by addressing the social and emotional challenges that interfere with academic learning and creating viable daily activities that mitigate those circumstances and help these individuals build strong interpersonal skills. It further explores the contributions these students can make to become the catalyst of change needed in our society to adapt to differences in learning styles, career structures, and social relationships.
We are proud to highlight all the great mentors that are a part of UNF THRIVE Program and the positive role they play in the lives of so many students. Mentors create powerful and trusting relationships with young people to help them feel empowered, supported, and understood when they need someone to encourage them.
“A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could. “(Zig Ziglar)
