I recently checked in with a friend of mine whose uncle was
released from prison about a year ago up in Michigan. She told me that he was
on a positive track as he’d managed to secure both housing and work and was setting
long term goals. Just four days before he was planning to take a bus out to
California to live with family and to pursue higher education, he reoffended
and was rearrested. His hopes for the future are again deferred.
I asked about her uncle’s support system. She said he had no one. After spending twenty
years in prison, he had no friends, and very little family to help him stay on
track, stay focused, and stay encouraged. She said, “He could have used a
mentor.”
Contrast my friend’s story with a couple of our Trusted
Mentors’ mentees. Both mentees are re-entering our community from the prison
system. Both men have high hopes for their futures. Both men recognize the
benefits of having a mentor.
Joe is starting his life anew here in Indianapolis. He’s not
originally from here; he came to a city where he knew very few people and had
next to no support. Joe states that a benefit of having a mentor has been
having a friend in a “foreign land” to help navigate a new city. “Aaron has
helped me find an apartment, given me advice on money management and helped me
while I was looking for a job.”
Joe shares that the best part of having a mentor is “knowing
there is someone that I can always talk to about anything. Aaron doesn’t judge
me and he listens to what I have to say. Most of all, he is very encouraging
and always has a positive attitude.” Joe knows that he’s not alone as he
surmounts the many challenges that lie ahead.
He says that Aaron’s positive attitude is contagious and has aided in
boosting his self esteem, even as he hits road bumps.
At age 49, Lavert too is transitioning into a new phase of
his life. His mentor, Andy, has helped him move into a stressful workforce and
has assisted with housing and other goals. Similar to Joe, Lavert states that
having a mentor is a positive for him as “it helps me when I have someone to
share what’s on my mind…no matter what it is.”
It’s common for mentees coming out of homelessness or
re-entering society after incarceration to become overwhelmed and discouraged. The
reality of re-entry presents with a myriad of obstacles including:
institutionalization, lack of education/ job training, lack of housing and
stigmatization. The most poignant thing that Lavert shared with me about his
mentor Andy is this: “Best of all, he (Andy) gives me hope even when I can’t
see it.” Hope out of hopelessness—I hear this time and time again from our
mentees and the sentiment is felt as these “ex-felons” open themselves up to
restorative relationships with a Trusted Mentor.
Who knows if the difference between the successes of our
mentees versus the uncle’s demise was having a mentor? We do know that having a
mentor makes a difference. Trusted
Mentors reports that 89 percent of our re-entry mentees remain out of the
prison system once they’ve been matched with a mentor. If you’re interested in
mentoring for 2014, please visit our website at www.trustedmentors.org and click volunteer!
