Reentry isn’t easy.
A supportive mentor can help navigate challenges and celebrate successes.
Mentor a Woman to help with Reentry
Hour Mentoring Program offers each of Hour Women the opportunity to be matched with a mentor who can support her as she works towards her personal and professional goals. Mentors are recruited and trained to be listeners, guides and role models to Hour Women as they navigate the many challenges of their lives. Through the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital and psycho-social support, the mentoring relationship can greatly enhance a woman’s ability to achieve success.
Anyone interested in mentoring should contact Kellie Phelan.
Download an Application
Meet Gilda and Sylvia
When Gilda learned about Hour Mentoring Program, she had a very specific idea of who her mentor needed to be. Someone older than she was. Someone with children. Someone preferably with experience raising a headstrong teenager, as Gilda herself was doing. Enter Sylvia, who checked none of these boxes. But our program coordinator had a feeling that these two women would click.
Gilda and Sylvia did click, right away. “It was like meeting an old friend I hadn’t seen in a long time.” “We started talking, and couldn’t stop.” Both avid readers, they traded book titles, and then books. Sylvia lent Gilda her Sue Grafton collection, mystery novels featuring independent women. Asked what she admires most about Gilda, Sylvia responded that “she is so brave.” Both women agree that the opportunity to grow and open yourself up to new people and experiences is one of the best things about being involved in the mentoring program. Sylvia has learned how be a more active listener, and appreciates how “unapologetically joyous” Gilda is. Gilda has discovered something in Sylvia she didn’t know she needed – “When I started in the program I thought, why would I need a role model? I already have that. What I now know I really needed was a friend.”
The women have mostly met for lunch near Hour Children’s offices in Long Island City. Next Saturday is their first weekend outing. The two readers are taking a docent-led tour of the main branch of the New York City Public Library. Their advice for other potential mentors and mentees? Have patience for the right connection.
