Cherry Says SAYes Youth Mentoring is ‘Pretty Dang Cool’
What is it like to be a SAYes youth mentor? Sometimes it can be hard, but for the most part, it’s pretty dang cool.
And while everyone’s mentoring experience is different (that’s something I learned at the first SAYes workshop I attended), it’s important to remember that there’s no perfect way to mentor – you just do the best you can. For me, that means showing up at our scheduled time every week, and offering the emotional support that the young woman I mentor has asked me for since day one.
SAYes does its best to match each mentor with a mentee whose group home is close to where they live or work. Some of the mentees have access to cell phones, so they can coordinate their meeting times directly with their mentors. For me, that wasn’t the case. My mentee didn’t have a cell phone for a while, which meant all of our communication went through the manager of the group home. I’d check in during the week and make sure it was okay for me to come through, and she’d confirm whether or not my mentee was able to meet.
While mentors are required to meet with their mentees at their home for the first few sessions, after that, they can sign them out. My mentee and I often go for a walk, or grab a bite to eat at a nearby café.
What do we do during our mentoring session? Tune in next week to find out.
Thanks for reading, Cherry