Life is not a Reality Show

When "Tanya" aged out of foster care, her life was a far cry from the reality TV depictions that have captivated much of America. Tanya’s challenges have real-life consequences and hurdles that must be overcome in order to truly succeed. Read more…

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.      

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