Lotte Schlegel became a BEST Kids mentor in part because she has dreams of one day becoming a foster parent herself. However, she decided she does not have to wait to start making a difference. “I realized that I could be involved in a child’s life even if I wasn’t a foster parent,” she said.

 Lotte has been matched for just over a year now, and she has been doing just what she set out to do: making a positive difference in her mentee’s life. Though it has been an uphill battle at times, she is having a tremendous impact on her mentee’s life due to her consistent presence, support, and understanding of his challenges. “We’ve been matched for a year, and it feels like we have memories and routines together, which is great,” she commented.  It is this kind of consistency that is all too often lacking in the lives of youth in the child welfare system.  It is the hope of BEST Kids that, one day, each of these youth will have a mentor like Lotte in his or her life.