Families and young adults in Burlington, South Burlington, Shelburne, Essex, Williston and across Chittenden County can work with a Blackburn mentor by video. You get one dedicated mentor, sessions weekly or more often in Eastern time, and text and phone contact between meetings. Our team is in Los Angeles, so sessions in Vermont take place online, from a farmhouse in Addison County as easily as from Church Street.
Lake Champlain and a small-state lifestyle
Burlington sits on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain with the Adirondacks across the water and the Green Mountains behind. Church Street is the center of downtown, and the lakefront bike path is busy whenever the weather allows. Health care, higher education, technology and small manufacturing are major employers, along with outdoor recreation, tourism and food businesses.
Vermont is small, and many young people leave after high school to see more of the world. Some come back with new skills; others never quite figure out how to make a living here. Montreal is close enough that some young adults weigh a move north as seriously as a move to Boston or New York.
Session times from Burlington
Vermont runs three hours ahead of our Los Angeles mentors, a gap that stays the same through the spring and fall clock changes.
| Slot | Burlington (Eastern) | Mentor (Pacific) |
|---|---|---|
| After school | 4:00 pm | 1:00 pm |
| After a dual enrollment class | 5:00 pm | 2:00 pm |
| After a ski or work shift | 7:00 pm | 4:00 pm |
| Latest start | 8:00 pm | 5:00 pm |
During ski season, some students prefer an early-morning or Sunday evening session so weekends on the mountain stay free; weekend and early slots are both available. Sessions run 60 minutes.
Burlington by the numbers
- A highly educated small metro. 50.9% of adults 25 and older in the Burlington-South Burlington metro hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, via Census Reporter). Teens absorb that expectation early, and a mentor helps them sort what they want from what they assume they should want.
- Independence comes early in Vermont. 26.4% of Vermont adults ages 18 to 34 live with their parents, a state level figure (FinanceBuzz analysis of 2024 ACS data, published March 2026). Many young adults are running their own lives, and mentoring often focuses on rent, work and routines, with family updated only if the client wants.
- Housing is the pressure everyone talks about. The median value of an owner-occupied home in the metro is $438,100 (ACS 2024 1-year, via Census Reporter). Young workers compete with student renters every summer when leases turn over, so a housing plan has to start early.
- A small metro spread across a big area. The metro is home to 229,550 people, and the mean commute is 21.7 minutes (ACS 2024 1-year, via Census Reporter). Winter roads and rural distances make an in-person appointment hard, and video makes it unnecessary.
The Vermont year
Across New England, almost no districts open before the week of August 28 (Pew Research Center, regional figure, 2023 to 24 school year). Vermont schools start in late August or right after Labor Day and run to mid June, so mid to late August is the natural time to start mentoring. Late winter brings sugaring season on farms around the county, ski areas hire through the cold months, and summer is short and packed.
Vermont also gives high school students unusual room to shape their own path. Personalized learning plans, dual enrollment, early college and work-based learning let a motivated junior earn college credit or credit through an internship. For a student who does not know what they want, that flexibility can turn into open time and little structure, and families sometimes realize a year has gone by without much direction.
Questions parents in Chittenden County often ask first
Parents here tend to be practical. They want to know whether a mentor will fit around a busy outdoor schedule, whether a teenager will actually talk to someone on a screen, and how they will know it is working. Sessions are scheduled in your time, most teens settle in after a session or two once they see the goals are their own, and parents of high school students get regular progress updates. Our page on parent progress updates explains what those look like.
Situations that come up often in the Burlington area
- A high schooler with a flexible, personalized plan who needs help using the freedom rather than drifting through it.
- A young adult hunting for an apartment in Winooski or the Old North End and losing out to student renters.
- A teen from a newcomer family in Winooski balancing school with work and responsibilities at home.
- A recent graduate torn between staying near the lake and moving to a bigger city for more opportunity.
- A young adult in a seasonal outdoor or ski job looking for work that holds up all year.
Where a mentor helps
A mentor brings consistency and a practical outside perspective, working on goals the client chooses. Mentors are not tutors, therapists or admissions counselors. Families with teens often start with mentoring for families; graduates and those taking a pause fit gap year mentoring. Two helpful guides are paths after high school and living alone for the first time. See the online mentoring page and the Vermont mentoring page for more.
Related
- Online mentoring in Albany
- Online mentoring in Southern New Hampshire
- Online mentoring in Portland, Maine
- Online mentoring and coaching in Vermont
Common questions
Do you meet in person in Burlington?
No. Vermont sessions happen on video, and your mentor is a text or call away between them. In-person meetings are only in Los Angeles.
What times are sessions in Vermont?
Most Vermont clients meet between 4:00 and 8:00 pm Eastern, which is 1:00 to 5:00 pm Pacific for the mentor. Early-morning and weekend sessions are possible too. Times are always set in your local time.
Can you reach families in rural Vermont by video?
Yes. A reliable phone or internet connection is all a session needs, so families in the Northeast Kingdom or the Champlain Islands get the same mentor and schedule as families in town. Text and phone contact fills the gaps between sessions.
Do you help college students in Burlington?
Yes. We work with students studying in Burlington, Vermont students who went away to school and students home for a semester. Sessions focus on routines, deadlines and decisions about what comes next.
Can sessions work around ski season or sports?
Yes. Sessions can shift around practices, races and weekend trips. Many students keep one fixed weekday slot and move it only when the schedule truly requires it.
Get started
Thinking about a mentor for someone in Vermont? Call (888) 305-5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or answer a few quick questions. It takes about 2 minutes, and you can book a free 20 minute intro call at the end.
Last updated .
Free, by video, 20 minutes, with a member of our team. Weekdays 9 to 5 Pacific.