Amachi, Inc.

In 2000, Rev. Dr. W. Wilson Goode, Sr., who is known affectionately as the “father” of the Children of Prisoners Movement in the country, organized Amachi, an effective mentoring program for children of incarcerated parents. He began implementing the program in just four sections of Philadelphia, and soon thereafter it was replicated nationwide with the creation of at least 350 Amachi-modeled programs that have served more than 300,000 youth in all 50 states. What began as a partnership between faith-based organizations which provided the mentors and youth service organizations which provided the children and administrative oversight, now has expanded to include volunteer mentors from all sources. In addition, Amachi, Inc. has expanded the population of youth it serves as well. Amachi provides training and technical assistance to mentoring programs who serve children impacted by incarceration, high-risk youth, and youth from military families. Amachi has developed an effective intermediary model. The organization receives federal, state, and private grant funding, and works with sub grantees to carry out the work.