Someone who cares: Mentoring program benefits children of prisoners

When Lesley Ward began looking for a new career she wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do, however, she was certain of one thing that had to be included in the job description.

"I was looking for something with a purpose," Ward said. "I came in here and it was a comfortable environment. I learned a lot and wanted to help, and it feels good to be in a position to do that."

Ward found the right place in the Center For Family Development, where she now works as a mentor advocate for Creating Promise, a new program the center is starting. Creating Promise supports the creation and maintenance of one-on-one relationships between children of incarcerated parents and caring, supportive adult mentors.

Time for others

January is National Mentoring Month and the CFD is looking for mentors to volunteer their time to help Bedford County children who have a parent in prison or jail. Volunteers should be willing to spend one hour a week with a designated child for at least one year.

"We don't pay attention to our children," said Denise Hobbs-Coker, explaining that when state and federal budget cuts occur it's often programs that affect children that are cut. "We say the children are our future ... Well, if that's the case, we're in trouble."

The services of CFD cover many counties, but Hobbs-Coker and her team decided to start the mentoring program in Bedford and Montgomery Counties where there appears to be a great need, she said. The team spearheading the program will incorporate seven additional counties down the road.

Currently, approximately 125 Bedford Countians are incarcerated, and many of them are parents.

Building trust

Volunteers who sign up to be mentors will first be trained, then matched up with a local child. The mentor could take the child to a movie, a ball game, or even incorporate the child into family activities, although a solid one-on-one, trusting relationship that yields positive youth development should be the primary focus of the mentor-child relationship.

Mentors will provide opportunities for mentees to gain new skills and interests and expand their experiences beyond their families, schools, and neighborhoods. Mentors will not replace the role of a parent or teacher, but rather, they'll act as a trusted friend and role model.

"Mentors should be mature encouragers," Ward said, explaining the role of a mentor is not to replace a parent, but to serve as a person the child can trust and from whom the child can gain positive life experiences.

Breaking the cycle

The mentor program is one way Ward and her partners in the project, mentor advocates Sayle Anderson and Rachel McClanahan, hope will break the cycle that lands 70 percent of children whose parents have been incarcerated in prison or jail as well.

Hobbs-Coker said the CFD is required according to federal guidelines to match 50 children (in all of the counties served by CFD) with 50 mentors. Children will range between ages 4 and 18.

"We want to begin serving children by the end of this month," she said. "I want mentors to know they will have the support of the Center" through training, assessments and planning for each child.

Success stories

After Hobbs-Coker learned about this mentoring program she and Melodye Powers, program director for CFD, took a trip to Washington, D.C., where they heard testimony of two teenagers who have been involved with the program.

"They were honors students, handsome young adults with goals and dreams," Hobbs-Coker said. "They said they would not have made it without the mentoring program."

The teens spoke of the difficulties they faced, because of having an incarcerated parent, by other children and parents who didn't want their children hanging out with them.

"This program is a natural offshoot for this community," she said, explaining she was surprised to learn how many Bedford County parents to spend time incarcerated. "Everything we do here is centered around family support, so this was a good fit."