The Vermont Women’s Mentoring Program provides a path for women to rebuild their lives
Vermont Business Magazine Mercy Connections is seeking women to join its Vermont Women’s Mentoring program aimed at supporting incarcerated women to successfully reenter the community.
The mentorship program recruits women+ volunteers (mentors) in Vermont who wish to make a lasting impact on the lives of other women (mentees). It requires a five-week training course at the Mercy Connections center in Burlington, to be held on September 11 to October 9 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Mentors are then matched with a woman who is seeking a mentor.
Mercy Connections’ Justice & Mentoring program will be holding an information session online on Wednesday, August 14th at 6:00PM. Interested volunteers may contact Joanne Nelson to register.
Mentorship is conducted in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and other community partners to ensure that matches are trained volunteers who work with women in prison, under supervision in the community or participating in pre-trial services to provide support.
The population of Vermont has grown almost 26% since 1980, according to the United States Census Bureau’s most recent historical population change data. Meanwhile, the Prison Policy Initiative points to a more than 500% increase in the rate of incarcerated women in that same period.
This alarming trend speaks to the urgent need for successful interventions to assist women in completing programs that are alternatives to incarceration. The programs also aim to not only support women with reentering the community, but to also not re-offend.
The Vermont Women’s Mentoring Program has a proven track record of helping women to successfully reestablish their lives post-incarceration. Thus, the support of a mentor promotes permanent change to the rate of incarcerated women by reducing risk behaviors associated with recidivism.
The program encourages mentors from all walks of life to join and requires that they make at least a one-year commitment. Mentors assist with support, coaching and act as a new healthy companion to trauma-affected women. Challenges may include addiction disease, mental health conditions, loss of employment and/or housing difficulties.
Mercy Connections’ training program will be held September 11 to October 9, 2024. Mentors will receive ongoing support in the form of group meetings with other mentors, education on issues that affect the reentry process, and may attend social events for the mentoring program.
Pairs of women are carefully matched for a successful experience.
Women+ interested in training do not need to have prior knowledge of the criminal justice system or mentorship experience to participate.
For more information or to enroll in training please contact Mercy Connections’ Director of Justice and Mentoring Programs, Joanne Nelson, at [email protected] or at 802-846-7164.
Mercy Connections, a nonprofit founded in 2001, is a community-based, multi-cultural education and social justice organization that supports and advances the lives of underserved Vermonters through education, mentoring, entrepreneurship, and community.
Source: 8.12.2024. BURLINGTON — Mercy Connections
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