MYF HOLDS ITS FIRST EVER VIRTUAL MENTORING WORKSHOP

The MultiCare Youth Foundation (MYF) has scored an important precedent, with the hosting of its first ever virtual mentoring workshop. Facilitating a total of 40 persons including volunteer mentors, vulnerable youth to be mentored, plus trainers and their support team from the Foundation, the event took place on Saturday and Sunday June 27 and 28, 2020.

The successful adaptation of its traditional in-person training, allowed The MYF to train and match the final of eight cohorts in a Mentoring Consultancy it is providing for the Transitional Living Programme for Children Living in State Care (TLP-CSC). This while complying with social distancing and other safety measures set out by the Ministry of Health and Welfare during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The TLP-CSC Project is a joint initiative of the Caribbean Child Development Centre, UWI Open Campus and the Government’s Child Protection and Family Services Agency, with funding from USAID. It provides a range of important support measures for young people, the majority of whom have not had the benefits of family support when they leave state care, to begin life as adults.

“Mentoring has been helping the young and the uninitiated for eons — we first read about it in ancient Greece,” notes MYF Executive Director Alicia Glasgow Gentles, “The practice has survived all kinds of disasters, including countless pandemics – so we are not going to let the current one stop our programme!”

The first seven workshops of the MYF’s TLP-CSC Consultancy saw the training of 108 mentors and 76 mentees, and the establishment of 61 mentor-mentee matches. The eighth and final workshop, held virtually, resulted in the training of 16 mentors and 11 mentees, and the matching of 13 mentor-mentee pairs, including the matching of eight mentees who had already been trained.

Under The MYF’s flagship Mentoring Programme, both mentors and mentees are groomed in the objectives as well as the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of mentoring, specific responsibilities of the mentor and the mentee, as well as important techniques such as goal setting and effective communication.

MYF Project Manager Taneshia Stoney, who trains mentors, notes that the virtual workshop featured all the components of the traditional mentor training, although some of the ice breakers and energizing exercises had to be adjusted for online participation. Mentors, mentees and MYF trainers and other team members logged on to the online session via the Zoom platform. There were separate presentations for mentors and mentees, as well a joint group sessions, plus one-to-one time in chat rooms for individual mentors and mentees to get to know each other.

“It went smoothly,” Ms. Stoney reports of the June virtual workshop, “even though as a team we were a little anxious since it was our first time online. But what surprised me was the excellent turn out – we had more mentors than mentees – which is really unusual. I think this pandemic is touching people in a different way. That is, many adults now want to see how best they can make a positive impact on someone’s life. I think the spirit of volunteerism is alive and active!”

Ms Stoney notes that the final group of mentors included a range of professionals working with public and private sector organisations, and including those actively recruited, one who had enjoyed the benefits of being mentored, and one who sought out the mentoring programme on her own because of a strong desire to help another person.

Feedback revealed that most participants would have preferred an in-person event, but appreciated the fact that going virtual with the workshop had enabled the mentoring programme to continue without disruption.

Nineteen year old Shanielle Hall, one of the new mentees, who was matched with a mentor of her choice, expresses appreciation of the programme:

“It is really helpful,” she points out, “because we are coming out of state care, we’re not sure what the world is like, and having a mentor, we can see how they are programming in the world. It is good guidance. It kind of puts us on a path where we are determined to be somebody, to become something great in life.”

Shanielle, who is now studying to be a social worker at the Jamaica Theological Seminary, already has a plan in mind. She explains:

“I have been in multiple children’s homes, the last one being Maxfield Park in Kingston. I chose to study social work because within the children’s homes, I believe that there are a lot of things that need to be done to make the system a lot better, and I want to be part of the solution.”

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