Terry and Kiara have been a mentor pair for about six years. In honor of National Mentoring Month, they sat down to talk with Lt. Governor Zuckerman to share more about the mentoring programs they’ve been involved in, such as Grand Isle County Mentoring and our own mentoring program.

Asked how their partnership has changed over the years, Kiara told “We used to play Trouble a lot, and different board games. Now, we go ice skating a lot, we go to the movies, and we go to [my mentor’s] house and cook.”

Plus, Kiara is involved in Girls Who Code.

“Kiara just amazes me,” says her mentor Terry. “She’s very bright, and very interested in technology and computers. She was showing me this program that she wrote, and I didn’t know anything about it, and I thought, how can I help her in an area that I don’t know anything about?

Hearing about Kiara’s interest in coding, Terry’s daughter recommended Girls Who Code.

“So we contacted them, and found out that it was an agency, and located at UVM, so now every Saturday, I help by taking her to Girls Who Code,” says Terry.

Plus, there are countless other activities, too. As Terry told Lt. Gov. Zuckerman, “it has been great to branch out to [the Spectrum mentoring program]. It gave us a lot of flexibility.” Together, Kiara and Terry can go on all kinds of adventures, or out in the community together.

“Thanks to Mobius, there’s a bunch of businesses that offer discounts for the two of us.”

For example, when Kiara told her mentor she wanted to learn to ice skate, Terry took advantage of the Mobius discount to visit the Cairns Arena in South Burlington. It’s free for Kiara to skate, and Terry pays just $5.

Plus, they’ve been able to go to several shows at the Flynn, thanks to Mobius’s generous discounted ticket program for mentor pairs.

Lt. Governor Zuckerman asked how their mentoring relationship has impacted their lives.

“[Having a mentor] has helped me have a little more self-confidence,” says Kiara.

“I feel young again,” says Terry of her experience as a mentor. “I feel like a teenager when I’m with her. I feel excited to show her new things, but often Kiara is the one who is teaching me more.”

And says Kiara of the partnership, “it’s good to know that there’s someone there to bring you places and help you do stuff when nobody else wants to.”

“And, it’s good having someone to talk to. Sometimes, people don’t want to listen to you, but mentors do.”

Listen to their full interview on Lt. Governor Zuckerman’s Facebook page.

Interested in becoming a mentor? Contact Stephanie, our mentoring coordinator, at sball@spectrumvt.org or (802) 864-7423 x321.

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“I had a bit of a rougher childhood than most. My mom was a drug addict and an alcoholic. It wasn’t uncommon for me to wake up in the house, all alone.”

Charles was without a home at the age of 18, but he’s not letting that define him. Thanks to generous people like you supporting Spectrum programs, Charles and other young people are building their resilience.

You can meet a group of young adults in our community facing homelessness, addiction, and struggles with mental health, and hear their stories of resilience in this video from Parent Co., made by Brendan Bubion.

Thanks, Parent Co., for sharing this story!

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“I myself feel very guilty and a failure as parent because I knew this could happen to him. I talked to him about it several times…” she wrote. “But talking and a good family weren’t enough.”

You can read Mark’s response in the Washington Post here. And let us know your thoughts.

If you know a young person 12-30 who needs help with their addiction, our counselors can help. Call (802) 864-7423 x310 or click here to make an appointment.

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Josh used to be in our JOBS program. He spoke at our recent Reception of Gratitude about his life and experiences, and why your support helped him stay on track to follow his dreams. Here is Josh’s story:

I was about 15 years old when I moved out of my parents’ house. And it took me until I was about 17, in high school, to really actually realize that.

At which point, they had to talk to DCF, and somebody knew Paul Hayes, who was a clinician at the JOBS program, and Paul really helped me do things like find a job and develop life skills so I was able to get an apartment and not become homeless, because I was couch-surfing before that.

I come from a long line of poverty and drugs. My father is currently in prison—not [the prison where I work]—but in prison. My brothers are in prison. So I feel pretty lucky that I met that guy over there.

Since then, I was able to go to college. I got a degree in nursing. Have been pretty successful. I’m married. I have a child on the way and a nine-year-old [applause].

I’m not sure that I would have been able to do it without the JOBS program. I was motivated, I didn’t want to stay in that cycle, but I was hanging out with people who were doing drugs, who did become homeless, who are also now in prison.

But Paul really helped me stay motivated and gave me the resources that I didn’t know were out there, as well as some psychological support. I had some pretty severe anxiety, some post-traumatic stress; I had a lot of trouble for the first year I was in the JOBS program and the year before that.

But now, you know, I’m doing pretty well. Thanks to these guys, and I really can’t thank you enough, I can’t thank you enough, Gina, [JOBS Coordinator], thank you, and thank you guys. Without your support, this wouldn’t be possible. Whether you give $100, you give $1,000, you give time, you give energy, you know, I am thanks to you, so thank you, all of you.

Thank you, Josh, for sharing your story.

The post “I didn’t want to stay in that cycle.” appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Our Executive Director, Mark Redmond, spoke on Friday, February 6th at the TEDx Burlington event.

Mark told a story about how he’d received an email from someone asking, “I am going to be teaching a parenting class at a local school. What advice would you give to a room full of parents?”

His answer also appeared in The Huffington Post.

“The most powerful and important thing a parent can do for a child is to BELIEVE in that child, and to express that . . . When I look back at my life and think of the adults who had the greatest impact on me, it was the adults who believed in me and in what I was capable of, even when I didn’t believe in me.”

As Mark put it, “Parenting is work . . . It’s going to Little League games and dance recitals, not that you have to make every single one, but it’s important for you to be at some.”

He also spoke about the importance of modeling behavior that parents want their children to have, too. “If we want our children to be kind, compassionate, caring, energetic and responsible, we have to model these traits for them. They need to see us live these things out, over and over, consistently. There are no short cuts around that.”

Finally, and most importantly, Mark says, “a parent should tell their child ‘I love you,’ and keep saying that up through adolescence, adulthood and to the end of earthly existence. Don’t presume they know it. They need to hear it. So you should say it.”

Read Mark’s full article here.

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