SISTERS ? When 68-year-old Jim Smith picked up his newspaper, the retired salesman read about two teen-agers who had vandalized more than 30 mailboxes and signs in Sisters neighborhoods.

?It?s a kid like that I?d like to get involved and work with,? he said. ?Both my wife and I enjoy working with kids and helping them with typical adolescent and teen-age problems.?

Smith and his wife, Carolyn, signed up to become mentors through the Community Action Team of Sisters (CATS) and its new mentoring program. The yearlong program, which requires one to three hours of volunteer time per week, is one of several programs now operating out of the CATS office in Sisters. The group recently hired someone to manage the program.

Since January, the community teams are now found in each of the region?s main cities ? Bend, Redmond, Sisters, Prineville, Madras, La Pine and Warm Springs. After more than two years of lobbying, a regionwide group of social activists called the Central Oregon Partnership got news in August that it will receive $11.7 million over the next 10 years from the Minnesota-based Northwest Area Foundation to wage a grass-roots campaign against poverty.

Each team is responsible for deciding how the money will be spent in their communities. Teams began in Sisters and La Pine two years ago, while the other teams across the region are just beginning to organize, said Lorri Craig, Sisters? community advocate. Each of the seven teams receives $10,000 a year to spend on programs. Any leftover operating costs can be spent on programs, too.

Although the Sisters group is in the middle of collecting a solid number of how many low-income families live within the Sisters School District, Craig said about 25 percent of elementary school children qualify for free lunches.

Right now, only one Sisters family has signed up for a mentor?s help, but eight people, including the Smiths, are trained and ready to begin to establish mentoring relationships, said Judy Trego, the program?s coordinator.

The Smiths, who collectively have five children and 14 grandchildren, at one time became foster parents, which gave them one incentive to volunteer time as mentors, said Jim Smith.

Carolyn Smith is a retired school teacher and has volunteered as a care giver to house-bound senior citizens. When Jim Smith talks about helping, he can?t stray far from the thought of working with impressionable young people.

?I?ve always wanted to take a high school kid that needed help and be able to mentor him,? he said.

Because of his age, Smith said kids could be more open to him than even their parents. But first, he must gain their confidence.

The time to introduce the mentoring program to Sisters couldn?t come at a better time to the area, where housing ranks as the most expensive in Central Oregon.

?If you?re not poor and you?re not rich, you?re stuck,? she said. ?I think families that sign up for this have lost hope in the future.?

Craig said she expects the 33 families moving into the Tamarack Village, a housing development for low-income housing that?s scheduled to begin construction in April, will quickly sign up for the mentoring program. The program offers varying help ? from parenting skills and help with tutoring to balancing a family?s tight budget.

?We?re hoping at least some (families) would be utilizing some services,? said Craig, mentioning the housing opportunity for low-income families.

?We want to move them through rental situations to home ownership.?

Families or individuals can find help through CATS in areas that include substance abuse or domestic violence, job placement, career training or setting goals for promotions at work, Craig said.

Trego said mentors take several training classes, and will be matched up to families that want help. She?s already approached local churches, schools and businesses asking for volunteers to sign up. The response has been positive, she said. Two companies have already said they will pay their employees to donate time to the program.

?Mentoring is a piece of the puzzle to get people together and connecting like a community,? said Trego from her CATS office. ?It?s a benefit to have it here because (families) don?t have to drive to Bend for the services.?

People helping people is not only a way to enhance the community, but it?s a way to connect to one another, Trego said. And in a small city like Sisters, relationships can go a long way.

The mentoring program has two basic requirements for interested volunteers: ?If you can love these people and give them hope, you?re qualified,? Trego said.

Mentors must also pass a criminal records and driver?s license check. The program brings people into the community, and it includes civic responsibility ? like helping build Sisters? area trails system, another CATS project.

Any sort of positive and optimistic attitudes help people struggling within a community, Trego said. When people have problems, they tend to isolate themselves.

?There?s a large (socioeconomic) gap there,? Trego said. ?We?re trying to bridge it. I see people more than willing to build the bridge.?

The program is initially intended to help about 15 families with varying needs, Craig said, although one year from now the program will have gone through its initial kinks, and possibly more families can be added. Right now, though, families will probably be young people with smaller children.

?We knew the demands would be different,? she said. ?If we need to go out and fix a car, we?ll do it ? whatever?s keeping the family from moving ahead.?

For more information, or to sign up as either a mentor or to receive a mentor, call the CATS office at 549-6155.

Jenny Slater can be reached at 541-504-2336 or jslater@bendbulletin.com.