Mentoring organizations around the state are putting out a call for volunteers.
January is National Mentoring Month and the need for mentors has never been greater, according to Nicole Rossi, a case manager at the Mentor Connector in Rutland.
Mentor Connector currently has 150 adult-to-youth matches in its program, but Rossi noted there has been a large increase in youth looking for mentors.
She reported a waiting list of around 60 young people looking for matches around the county.
“There’s youth waiting in almost every single town,” she said. “Those youth really want a mentor, and we believe that every youth who wants a mentor should have the opportunity to have one.”
Rossi said making those matches has been especially important during the pandemic. She said ongoing stressors, like financial and mental health challenges, have been exacerbated due to increased isolation during the past two years. “We’ve seen an uptick in the anxiety and depression for the youth that we serve, as well as the families,” she said.
Having a mentor, she said, can be an escape for kids in stressful situations — one that allows them to have new experiences, learn new hobbies and broaden their “circle of supports.”
“The youth are really looking for connection and feeling connected to people, as well as their community,” said Rossi. “(It) enables them to make positive choices in the future and grow as individuals.”
During the pandemic, Rossi said Mentor Connector has pivoted programming to offer hybrid models for matches, mixing in-person and virtual meetings.
“So we’ve had to adapt to that and our mentors have done a fantastic job adapting to that as well,” she said.
She credited mentors with their creativity in finding different ways to connect, such as writing letters and sending activity boxes to mentees.
Rossi said the organization has also increased support services for families and referred youths in its program to other community programs for extra support.
In addition to mentoring services, Mentor Connector has expanded to help assist and support runaway youth through a Basic Center Program that offers emergency shelter, food, clothing, counseling and referrals for health care; and a Transitional Living Program that provides nearly two years of financial assistance while youth transition to a self-sufficient life.
Mentor Connector is also an active partner in the Rutland Youth Coalition, which was formed to help improve youth opportunities across the county.
Pam Quinn, program director at Twinfield Together, a mentoring program based out of Twinfield Union School in Plainfield, also noted an increased need for mentors.
Twinfield Together offers three distinct programs: a traditional, community-based mentoring; Everybody Wins!, an in-school adult-to-youth reading program; and peer-to-peer mentoring between high school and younger students within Twinfield School.
According to Quinn, the program currently has 36 adult community mentors and 31 high school mentors.
Like Mentor Connector, Quinn said she could always use more mentors.
“The more kids that have mentors, the more kids that ask for mentors,” she said. “I definitely have kids that want mentors, but the ability to match someone right now is kind of hard.”
She said making a match can now take up to six weeks because of COVID-19 restrictions.
In addition to patience, the shifting conditions of the pandemic also requires mentors to be flexible.
Quinn said mentoring has adapted to meet the changing dynamics of the pandemic over the past two years — moving from in-person to virtual meetings depending on conditions in the community and people’s comfort levels.
“It’s not going to look the same during the pandemic, but the kids are still feeling connected. And that connection is still really important,” she said.
She noted the novelty of virtual meetings has mostly worn off at this point and most of the community-based matches try to meet in person while maintaining the necessary precautions.
“Part of it, too, is helping mentors know that they could do what feels right for them and their kid. And it’s going to be different for each pair. And that’s OK,” she said.
Quinn said Twinfield Together suspended its in-school programs before the holiday break as COVID cases began to spike because of the omicron variant. She’s hoping to restart the programs once the current surge passes, possibly some time in the next couple of weeks.
She added that the younger students in the peer-to-peer program are eager to reconnect with their mentors. In the meantime, she said, they have been sending cards to one another to keep in touch.
Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, Quinn encourages more people to get involved, noting the positive benefits’ impact of mentoring relationships.
“So many people tell me — both the adults and the kids — it’s the highlight of their week or the reason they look forward to coming into school,” she said. “I think especially right now, during the pandemic, people just need things to look forward to.”
Anyone interested in volunteering at Mentor Connector can visit the website at www.mentorconnector.com or call (802) 775-3434. Visit www.twinfieldtogether.net for more information about Twinfield Together.
Disclosure: Editor Steven Pappas takes part in the Twinfield Union School mentoring program of Everybody Wins!
jim.sabataso @rutlandherald.com
