As she began a college career, Tanya had to juggle both her
work schedule and the responsibilities of single motherhood. Her busy lifestyle
and the very real demands she faced resulted in poor grades in her classes. Consequently,
Tanya lost her financial aid, began accruing college debt, and had no clear or easy
path to return to school.
Without a college degree, Tanya did her best to secure entry
level jobs for a young adult. She attempted restaurant/catering work, customer
service, and childcare settings; but struggled to meet the scheduling demands
due to inconsistent and unreliable child care and transportation issues.
As Tanya continues to map out a plan for her future, a
mentor can help explore a variety of options—a good listener provides a great
sounding board. A mentor helps Tanya frame stumbling blocks not as “failures”
but as learning opportunities to discover what works and what doesn’t for a
young single mother.
Forming healthy relationships can be hard. Tanya shares
that she’s had to leave several long term friends behind as she moves in a
positive direction. She has recently started a
positive, healthy relationship with a young man in the military, but Tanya
wonders how to “have a healthy relationship” in the long-term. She lacks healthy role models and has multiple
fears and anxieties that come from past trauma in relationships.
Tanya
is connected with a local counseling agency that can help her develop healthy
relationships, parent her son, and work through the emotional issues that come
with the recent loss of a foster parent.
Tanya checks in with her mentor, even though they have been
together for years. She also stays in touch with the Trusted Mentors staff. At
the present time, Tanya needs all the support she can get – and Trusted Mentors
is happy to provide the additional encouragement Tanya desires during her
transition out of foster care.
Trusted Mentors has recently partnered with the Children’s
Bureau to recruit, train, match and support volunteer mentors with more young
adults aging out of foster care. We are excited about this partnership and the
benefits that will be reaped by those in our community like Tanya.
Please contact Trustsed Mentors to inquire about becoming a
trained Trusted Mentor. You can email info@trustedmentors.org or call (317)985-5041.
