Columbia retirees Steve and Susan Porter founded OhanaHC five years ago to help young people in Howard County. Here, the nonprofit’s executive director, Quinton Askew, sits between them. The organization matches volunteer mentors with students. Photo courtesy of OhanaHC

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Just before the pandemic in 2020, Columbia resident Steven Porter was reading a book that mentioned a Baltimore organization called Threads — a nonprofit that connects at-risk high school students with adult mentors.  

It sounded to Porter like a success story of community involvement in an increasingly isolated society.  

Recently retired, he and his wife, Susan, had been searching for ways to get more involved in their community. They decided that a nonprofit modeled after Threads could make a difference in this county as well.  

“Howard County has a lot of people in need, which a lot of people don’t know about because we are the sixth-wealthiest county in the country,” Susan Porter said in an interview with the Beacon.  

“And yet, 30% or more of our families are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals [for their children in school]. There’s a real dichotomy of people who have a lot and people who don’t have a lot.” 

So, in February 2020, the Porters reached out to Marcy Leonard, the principal of Wilde Lake High School, and asked what it would take to set up such a mentoring program.  

Leonard gave them feedback and agreed that individual support could be critical for some of her students. She said Wilde Lake could be the pilot school for the new venture.  

The Porters wrote up a plan, and Ohana Howard County (OhanaHC) was born.  

OhanaHC’s start 

They adopted the name Ohana from Wilde Lake’s motto, which contains the Hawaiian word ‘ohana, meaning family. The group’s website explains, “Ohana is about fostering loving and lasting relationships with those closest to us, including family, friends, and our community.” 

Drawing both on their careers as business owners and experience doing philanthropic work, the Porters recruited volunteers from their extensive network as well as the community at large.  

Both had served on boards in the county for 30 years and had done volunteer work through their synagogue. Still, they are quick to emphasize that OhanaHC’s success isn’t only because of them.  

“The analogy I use is that we gathered a whole lot of good kindling, and everyone else lit the match and has gotten this going,” Susan Porter said. “This is such a community effort, and we could not be doing this without the community.” 

OhanaHC is now in its fifth year of operation, which the Porters are proud of, because many new nonprofits don’t survive that long.  

How it works 

Put simply, OhanaHC connects high school freshmen who are struggling academically or socially with a team of three adult mentors. Each group of four constitutes an ohana. The mentors range in age from 18 to 80.  

Students and their mentors can schedule activities after school as they see fit, with some guidelines. The organization also hosts after-school activities for participating students to socialize together, such as rock climbing, laser tag, ice cream socials and picnics.  

Volunteers are asked to make a commitment of at least one year, and students are asked to commit to the program for 10 years. It may seem like a long time, but, as OhanaHC’s website explains, “Ten years makes sense for a lifelong change…Those additional six years will take a person through a very vulnerable time in their lives when they’re trying to make it in the world on their own.” 

Initially, the nonprofit experienced some challenges in recruiting students. While parents and caregivers saw the program as a source of support and an opportunity for extra hands and hearts for their children, some students simply weren’t interested.  

However, as recognition of the program grew among students, so has their interest, and students have flourished, according to Wilde Lake’s principal. 

“The mentors for some of the students have been instrumental in helping them see the possibilities of the world in front of them,” Leonard said.  

“There are students who I know walked across the stage and got their diploma because of the mentorship of their OhanaHC mentors…It’s valuable to have three extra adults who are there as resources, who aren’t pushing about homework every day, but just offer suggestions and support as needed.” 

Mentors ‘click’ with students 

Rita Brill volunteers with OhanaHC. After teaching high school for 36 years, she worked at Johns Hopkins University supervising student teachers, so she felt she would be a good fit for the program. Her son attended the same high school, too, which added to her interest. 

When she met her mentee and ohana in the fall of 2021, Brill felt they all immediately clicked.  

“It’s amazing what’s happened to the relationship in four years, and what I see happening with other students that are in the program in terms of their self-confidence and academic ability. And it’s been really rewarding for us,” she said.  

Brill’s mentee invited the ohana to her sweet 16 and 18th birthday parties, and they regularly meet for lunch and other activities. 

The road hasn’t always been perfectly smooth. Brill’s ohana supports their mentee in pursuing college, but she faces challenges to enrollment. The group hopes to support her as best they can in whatever path she chooses. 

Benefits for mentors 

The Porters aim to uplift everyone involved with OhanaHC, and that includes mentors as well as students.  

“We don’t limit it to just our mentees. If one of our mentors is in need of a new job, or needs a letter of recommendation, we’re there for them. Our young mentors have had job opportunities because of that social capital.  

“I can’t stress enough — it’s community helping community,” Porter said. 

In addition to networking, mentors may encounter surprises. Principal Leonard’s advice for would-be volunteers is to realize that “you’re going to learn more from your mentee than they are going to learn from you,” she said. 

“I think a lot of times when folks enter a mentoring relationship as an adult, they feel like they are going to pour [advice] into a person. 

“But the problem is, that kind of paternalistic approach will almost always lead to failure because it doesn’t honor what the young person brings to the relationship,” she explained. 

“Have a clear understanding that it’s a give and take. The contributions are going to be from everybody in the relationship, including the mentors and the young person.” 

Brill agrees that volunteering is a two-way street. “We [mentors] all feel that we’ve learned a great deal, and I hope that our students have also. In our case, we’re very close to her. So it’s rewarding.” 

The Porters hope to streamline their nonprofit so that it can inspire others to launch their own. 

“There’s nothing magic about what we’re doing here. Any community could be doing this,” Susan Porter said. “In fact, that’s our goal… to say, this is what worked for us. We’re giving it to you; see if you can do it in your community.” 

For more information about OhanaHC, visit ohanahc.org, email info@ohanahc.org or call (301) 873-2397.