Living Forward Alliance

Description

We enroll mentors from the community to serve as role models for the women (mentees) for a period of one year. We provide the training and support necessary for successful mentoring relationships. During incarceration, participation in the program is voluntary. We make it clear to the mentees that they are responsible and able; they made bad choices that put them where they are, and they are capable of making different choices. Our programs foster empowerment rather than enabling and co-dependency.

Our core program, Ready 2 Fly, runs in two tracks, educating both mentors and mentees. It includes a series of workshops and mentoring sessions for a period of four months inside the correctional facility and continues for another eight months after the mentee is released. Our workshops are intensive and focus on successful mentoring relationships, stress management, and life skills. Small groups, or pods, are formed to provide support, accountability and goal setting. Our objective is to prepare the women by giving them the necessary tools and support for building a healthy life outside of the facility.