Families and young adults in Harrisburg, Lancaster, Hershey, Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg and the towns of Central Pennsylvania can work with a Blackburn mentor online. Each person is matched with one mentor, meets by video weekly or more often in Eastern time, and has text and phone contact between sessions. Our team is in Los Angeles, so mentoring here is entirely online.
A capital city and farm country
Harrisburg is Pennsylvania’s capital, and state government is a major employer, along with health systems, logistics and insurance. Across the Susquehanna, the West Shore suburbs are busy and growing. Lancaster, about forty minutes east, has a lively downtown and is surrounded by some of the most productive farmland in the East, including Plain communities that give the county its distinctive character. Hershey sits between them.
Amtrak’s Keystone line connects Harrisburg and Lancaster to Philadelphia, and many families have ties to both rural and city life. The cost of living is moderate, and community roots tend to run deep.
What families here ask about
- A teen who is drifting and needs help finding direction and motivation.
- A student interested in a trade, agriculture or health care who wants a clear path.
- A young adult who wants to stay close to family but needs help building a career.
- A college student home after a hard year who needs structure and a plan.
Many paths, one plan
Central Pennsylvania has strong options in health care, logistics, government, agriculture and the trades, as well as local colleges and community colleges. A mentor helps a young person sort through them, talk with people in fields that interest them, and build a plan with weekly steps. Our guides on starting at community college and careers for people who like helping offer more ideas.
Independence in a close-knit area
In places where family and community are close, young adults sometimes find it hard to step out on their own. A mentor helps build independence gradually: managing money, a schedule, a job search or a first apartment, with support from someone outside the family. See our guide to adulting skills.
Between sessions
Much of the value of mentoring happens between meetings. A short text on a Tuesday asking whether the job application went out, or a quick call before a hard conversation with a manager, keeps a plan from fading. In a region where many young adults work early shifts or long days, that light, regular contact often matters more than the length of any one session. Our page on between-session support explains how it works.
Scheduling
Central Pennsylvania is three hours ahead of the West Coast. A 4 pm session in Lancaster is 1 pm for the mentor, and a 7 pm session after work is 4 pm in California. Sessions are 30 or 60 minutes, weekly or several times a week, on a weekly or monthly plan.
Where a mentor helps
A mentor is a consistent outside adult who helps set goals, follow through and keep family informed with permission. Mentors are not tutors, therapists or admissions counselors. High school families usually start with mentoring for high school students; young adults often fit help for young adults feeling stuck. More is on our online mentoring page and the Pennsylvania mentoring page.
Related
- Online mentoring in Philadelphia
- Online mentoring in Pittsburgh
- Online mentoring in Baltimore
- Online mentoring in the Lehigh Valley
Common questions
Do you meet in person in Harrisburg or Lancaster?
No. In-person mentoring is only in Los Angeles. In Central Pennsylvania, sessions are by video with text and phone support between them.
Can a mentor help a student interested in the trades?
Yes. A mentor can help explore trade options, talk with people in the field and plan steps toward training or an apprenticeship.
How do parents stay involved?
For high school students, a parent or guardian joins the intro call, helps set goals and receives regular progress updates.
Get started
Want to talk about mentoring for someone in Central Pennsylvania? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.