Thursday, August 23, 2018
Thursday, August 9, 2018
"A Brother, A Friend and a Father...."
John entered the Changing Lives Program unsure of what he was in for. He felt like quitting in the first
two weeks, but his fellow investigators encouraged him to stick with the
course because they saw something in him.
Before entering the program, John had
experienced homelessness, unemployment, incarceration and addiction. He wasn’t sure that his life would change by taking Changing Lives course but he
stuck with it anyway. John was surprised to find a sense of community among
his fellow investigators, who had also been impacted by many of the same
challenges. Together, they graduated from the 18 week course with more
knowledge about how poverty had impacted their lives and resources they
could use to get ahead. .
“And then I became matched with my mentor”, John said. John and
Gary were matched as a mentee/mentor pair on the date of John’s graduation.
Gary, who is retired, had tutored young people
his whole life and had never mentored an adult. “When I first came to the
program, I didn’t know how helpful I could be in mentoring adults because I was
unsure of their ability to change at this point”, Gary stated. He adds “Out of
all the mentoring and tutoring programs I’ve done, Trusted Mentors is the
best”.
As Gary started mentoring John, Gary did in fact see the changes that
John was able to make in a short period of time. John found employment at Mission 27, a retail store for St. Vincent DePaul, and he is well-liked by fellow
co-workers, volunteers and customers. John has stable housing and for the first
time in his life, attends church. Gary and John meet every week and always end
their session with prayer. “Gary is like
a mentor, a brother, a friend and a father”, John stated with tears in his eyes.
Gary shared the same sentiment about John, saying that he treats him as one of
his own children. John and Gary continue
to build a positive relationship.
Both have been transformed by the power of
mentoring.
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