How do I become a mentor?

People become mentors for different reasons. Some want to make a difference, build a personal relationship, or leave a legacy. 

As you learn about mentoring at-risk adults, know that mentoring can change you as much as your mentee. Our mentors learn as much as their mentee.  It’s a great adventure and one worth beginning.  

Our overall goal for Mentor Training is for mentors to be successful, and mentor training has been an important tool in Trusted Mentors’ rate of success.

The goals of Trusted Mentors Training is to: 

·         Help you make an informed decision about becoming a mentor. 

·         Explain the Trusted Mentors model.  

·         Explain how to be a successful mentor. 

·         Provide tools for building a relationship with the mentee. 

·         Present an overview of accessing social service resources useful to you and your mentee. 

Training is 4 hours long and held monthly in 2 hour sessions called Part A and Part B. 

Either part can be completed first. 

·         Part A (Chapters 1-4) covers the elements of successful mentoring and Trusted Mentors program policies to help you succeed. 

·         Part B (Chapters 5-8) covers “frame of reference,” obstacles to success, and tools to help another person achieve their goals. 

After completing training, a one on one interview is held with a staff person. This allows mentors to know staff and also helps staff make a good match. Mentors then commit to give 6 hours a month for a year to work one on one with another adult working to change their life.

The good news is that after a match, mentors receive on-going support with a staff person.  As Louise says, this person can be the wind beneath your wings!

Are you ready to sign up?  Complete a volunteer form and you’ll receive information about upcoming training sessions!

Your Donation Helps Trusted Mentors meet the need in 2019

As we approach year's end, I am turning to you to make a financial donation to help Trusted Mentors continue this important work.  The needs continue to grow, as funding becomes tighter.  

Our end of the year goal is to raise $30,000. This is double the amount that we've raised in past years so every donation will make a difference towards achieving it! 

Can you help us mentor more in 2019?  The need increases to mentor more young adults as they become independent adults. The need increases to help more people successfully leave prison and become employed leading to the ability to give back. The need increases to provide a supportive mentor that helps people remain housed and not give up to return to the streets. 

There are multiple ways to make a donation. Please take the time to make this important contribution. You can: 

Donate through our secure Trusted Mentors website.

Or:

Text "Give2018" to 50155 and follow the prompts

Or:

Mail a check to Trusted Mentors, 546 E. 17^th St, Suite 102, Indianapolis, IN 46202

 And talk to us about sponsorship of our 2019 Upcoming Events! Individual and corporate sponsors are welcome!

 THANK YOU for all you do!

Trusted Mentors, the wind under a mentor's wings

This blog is a copy of a speech given by Louise, a mentor with one of our partner agencies, the Changing Lives Forever (CLF) through St. Vincent de Paul.  She spoke at a recruitment event for the program at Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Catholic Church. It provides a perspective on both the program and the act of being a mentor.

"I am a mentor with the Changing Lives Forever program. Started by St. Vincent DePaul in 2011, IHM hosted its first class last year at the MLK Center at 40th & Penn. Changing Lives Forever is a 16 week program free and open to anyone who wants to begin a journey to change their lives.  

These participants have had any number of obstacles in their lives: poverty, poor choices, poor opportunity – the CLF program offers them the resources and tools they need to make real, lasting changes in their lives.  

Because no life is totally changed in 16 weeks, program participants are offered the option of a mentor to continue the journey with them for 12-18 months.  

I am here today to ask you to consider becoming a mentor.  

I was quite hesitant last year when a similar call was made. How in the world would I know what to say, what to do? How would I not want to just “rescue” my mentee, giving her fish rather than teaching her how to fish? How would I have the presence of mind to say and do the right thing, which is rarely the same as the easiest thing? And further, my work and travel schedule would make it hard for me to be a constant and consistent presence.  

Making no serious commitment, I signed up and attended the two training classes conducted by an organization I’d never heard of: Trusted Mentors. It turns out, they are truly the wind under a mentor’s wings. The training is excellent and best of all, I was assigned a match manager who is available any time I need her.  

And oh boy, have I needed her. I was assigned to Beth, a 48 yr old woman. Beth had lost her way so many years ago and between alcohol and some bad choices, she is unemployed, trying to stay sober and tentatively living with her daughter and granddaughters. Beth and I have been through a lot since we were matched in January. As I got my footing, my Trusted Mentors match manager and Diane Powers helped and supported me. They are there any time I need advice. Beth is still very much a work in progress, but I have learned how to be her advocate, a steadfast presence who sees hope when she and everyone around her wants to give up on her.  

I will never get Mentor of the Year. I am gone a lot, Beth is hard to reach because she has no cell phone or email, but I am in this for the long haul. Beth and I share a dream of her sober, employed, with a small place to call her own. With agency, making her own decisions. She knows I am like her external conscience, not letting her give up on herself.  

This year’s class at IHM has 11 women and 3 men. They are parents, grandparents, singles, a few are veterans. With so many women, there will be an especial need for female mentors. This Wednesday, Sept 12 at 6:00pm in the Gathering Space there is an information session for anyone even slightly interested. No commitment! As a human being, you have what it takes to be a mentor – and you will be supported. God does not call the equipped, God equips the called. 

I was born standing on 3rd base, with so many advantages. Most of us here were. But as that song I’ve sung a million times says: Whatsoever you do for the least of your brothers and sisters, that you do unto me. " 

Are you ready to mentor? Click on the Volunteer button and sign up! 

Our year end goal is to raise double what we've raised before

As we approach year’s end, I am turning to you to make a financial donation to help Trusted Mentors continue this important work.  The needs continue to grow, as funding becomes tighter.  Due to financial constraints, we were not able to fill the operations director position during this past year and it has made a difference in the number of people we can mentor.

                                                                                                          

Can you help us mentor more in 2019?

Our end of the year goal is to raise $30,000. This is double the amount that we’ve raised in past years so every donation will make a difference towards achieving it!

There are multiple ways to make a donation:

            Donate on-line through our Trusted Mentors secure website.

Or: 

            Text “Give2018” to 50155 and follow the prompts

Or:

            Mail a check to Trusted Mentors, 546 E. 17^th St, Suite 102, Indianapolis, IN 46202

And talk to us about sponsorship of our 2019 Upcoming Events! Individual and corporate sponsors are needed! You can email us at info@trustedmentors.org 

THANK YOU for all you do 

Cold. Alone. Tired.

Imagine being 61 and homeless, living on the streets during the winters of Indianapolis, with a speech impediment that limits communication.  You can help us help people stay housed! 

Matt had been chronically homeless when we met him. Giving up old behaviors was hard. His first mentor, Mike, developed a good friendship with Matt in spite of the difficult communication. They met regularly for coffee.

And Matt stayed housed.

When Mike became sick, Matt visited him to show he cared. Due to health, Matt was matched with a new mentor, Lance. When Mike passed away, Lance and Matt attended his funeral together. Now, they also meet regularly for coffee. They attend church together and celebrate Thanksgiving at Lance’s home.

And Matt stays housed.

He’s well-liked by the people in his apartment complex and volunteers regularly. Recently, Matt became sick. Lance visited him in the hospital and followed up when he returned home. Matt doesn’t have an extended family to support and encourage him to stay healthy, so Lance is important. He is a mentor and friend.

At Trusted Mentors, everyone we mentor is 18 and older. They are at risk of homelessness or returning from prison. And 30% of the people we mentor are over the age of 50.

A mentor can assist in many ways. We don’t always know how they will make an impact but the key is to first build a caring relationship. We know that Trusted Mentors means a lot to Matt, and Matt means a lot to us. We think it saves money for our community when people remain housed and give back to the community.

The estimated annual cost of homelessness in Indianapolis is $73 million dollars. Homelessness is a drain on our health care services. It impacts the criminal justice system. Helping people stay housed is important to reducing the cost of homelessness.

Trusted Mentors is doing what no one else is doing. With a direct impact in the community. With a 90% success rate, mentors make a difference.

Your financial support has a direct impact on the people we mentor. Every dollar donated assists us in matching and supporting trained, volunteer mentors that help more people stay housed and out of prison. Thank you for your generous support! Donate on-line or donations can be mailed to our offices: Trusted Mentors, 546 E. 17th St, Suite 102, Indianapolis, IN 46202.

The Power of Trusted Mentors

http://trustedmentors.org/volunteer-application/

"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.