Helping Children And Families Live Successfully.
Mentor Coordinators
Tangina Sanders (901) 251-4825
Emily Stuart (901) 251-4813
Mentor Liaisons
Tiffany Mansfield (901) 251-4899
Ashley Mullen (901) 251-4857
Anna Rozier (901) 251-4898
Amanda Anthony (901) 251-4854
Emily Orr (901) 251-4939
A Little Local History
Plan a short vacation in your own city. Many young people (adults for that matter) are unaware of the history of their city. Schedule a day to visit the local sites with your mentee. It could be a museum, a historical park, or get this, even the old cemetery. You can talk about what life used to be like, how people lived, what kind of careers they might have had. Share stories of how you would like to be remembered.
Do unto others...
Have you ever noticed that some of your problems are not so bad in comparison to others? Take time to seek out someone that you both can help. It could be an elderly neighbor or maybe volunteering at a homeless shelter. Teaching your mentee to serve others in spite of their own circumstances is a valuable service to them personally and to the community.
Holt Hall has been a mentor since December 2008. He has had the same mentee since being matched in January and averages about 15-20 hours per month with his mentee. Here in mentoring we know that all of our relationships are very special. With that in mind, we wanted to take a moment to honor Holt. In his own words, here is Holt describing his relationship with his mentee, Cody...
I first met Cody in January of this year after meeting with Tiffany Mansfield and telling her that I wanted a challenge and would mentor who ever she had that needed someone. She took me at my word and introduced me to Cody; a 15 year old that was street wise beyond his years! At first Cody would just sit with his hands clasped in his lap and he seldom even looked up when spoken to. My first couple of visits was a challenge to see if he would accept me as his mentor and if he would open up a bit. Once I got him to laugh at something funny I had said I knew that this relationship would work. It took many off site visits before I noticed that he was relaxing around me and he started to open up a bit about things that were on his mind. However, around others he was still very bashful but I felt that we could work on that as well. I started taking Cody to Sunday school and church with me every week and this has been wonderful for him. He feels very comfortable there and everyone has made sure to speak with him each week. At first, he wouldn’t speak with anyone and now months later he is standing at the front door waiting to run out and help the elderly or anyone with their hands full by carrying things for them and opening doors for them. On the Sundays that we eat at the church, he helps out in the kitchen getting everything ready and is engaged with many people especially the youth boys who are good to include Cody in their discussions.
Cody and I have worked hard on our manners such as being sure to say please and thank you and to seat the ladies at the table. He has made tremendous progress and it is obvious to everyone who spends time around Cody that he has made great improvements. He still has issues but at least he is now talking to me about them. He has finally learned that he can’t pit Youth Villages against me with some of his stories. I have made it clear to him that YV is the best thing that every happened to him and that I support what they say and do 100%. When he gets into trouble and can’t go out on a pass with me and he tries to blame it on YV I tell him that it’s his problem and that we need to work on being better there. He has also finally learned that his way-out stories just don’t fly with me and I call him on them so he doesn’t try and pull that stuff anymore.
My time with Cody has been more of a blessing to me than I could ever have imaged; the staff at YV are so supportive and helpful and make me feel so special. Even though Cody and I have made great progress, we both know that we have a long way to go and the two of us working in concert with YV will continue to grow. I look forward to my time with Cody each week and when we miss due to my schedule or his behavior I do feel the loss. I plan on being his mentor just as long as I can.
