Resiliency: A Reflection

Posted by staff-member Zeeba Khalili, Mentoring Program Coordinator

Before I came to work at Friends of the Children-Boston, I hadn’t used the word resiliency that often in my vocabulary. However, in the last five months that I have worked in this office, I have learned the value of the word. I use it in passing conversations with strangers, dinner conversations with friends, and especially in work conversations with the other employees of Friends-Boston. Although most people would assume I am speaking about the fact that the Achievers we work with are resilient (which they are), I usually end up referencing examples of resiliency that I see around me in the office.

I see resiliency demonstrated in my coworkers each and every day. Whether it is because someone didn’t get a grant, a mentor was unable to commit to the program, or even because an outing with an Achiever was cancelled, each and every employee in this organization bounces back and keeps working when a change or misfortune occurs. They don’t let these struggles faze them in the face of their important mission:  to make a difference in each Achiever’s life. I suppose this shouldn’t be surprising seeing as nothing would ever be accomplished if employees in an organization were crushed by each little stepping stone, but somehow I am still impressed. It is clear that when the employees truly care about the mission of an organization, their attitude remains upbeat and their faith in the program doesn’t waver, even when problems arise.

I can’t say that I have always been the best example of resiliency, but it is definitely a skill I am working on improving. Working here has reminded me of a quote that I always loved growing up that is attributed to a famous Rabbi.

I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile, I keep dancing.
-attributed to Rabbi Hillel

My experience with Friends-Boston reminds me that in this nonprofit environment, no matter how many times we encounter challenges and adversity, we always have to keep on dancing through.

My Voice

Posted by Sarah Brown, Positive Peer Mentor

Friends-Boston has given me my first introduction to the clinical world of social work. As a student, I expected this experience to be crafted for me. I expected to be told how the organization functions, what their beliefs are, and how they operate to maintain those beliefs. The experience that I have had at Friends over one short semester has been anything but that.

Friends-Boston holds steady in its underlying goals and beliefs to empower Achievers to eventually go to college. However, they have given me and my fellow social work interns the opportunity to do something special. As the first group of social work interns aboard, we have been given the unique opportunity of shaping a new “brand” of mentors. Along with our Master Mentors, who hold M.S.W. degrees, we are putting the social work stamp on the work that Friends-Boston is doing.

This opportunity has given me an opportunity for personal and professional growth that I believe is a unique experience.  Personally, I have been able to explore my own beliefs of what social work should be. I have been able to explore the ingredients of a successful mentor relationship and take note of how social work practice and theories could enhance the dynamic and outcome of the relationship. I have been able to observe the strengths of communities, schools, and homes, and also see where there could be more collaboration or resources. I have begun developing my own relationships with my Achievers, and have been able to explore new ways of advocating, intervening, and skill-building.

Using my own education, beliefs, and interests has allowed me to develop a strong voice for the needs and strengths of my Achievers and their families. I have been listened to, appreciated, and acknowledged. I am grateful to Friends-Boston for giving me the opportunity to develop my “social work voice”, and I look forward to continuing my contribution to a new culture of mentoring!

Social Workers as Agents of Change

Posted by staff-member Zaza Sakhat, LICSW, Program Manager/Master Mentor

The practice of social work in a non-traditional urban setting such as Friends-Boston has been both challenging and invigorating. Having worked as a Clinician at the Italian Home for Children’s Community Based Acute Treatment program, which is a diversion of a psychiatric hospitalization, for almost five years allowed me the opportunity to further my education and fine tune my clinical skills. Transitioning from a clinical setting to being one of the first social workers on the team at Friends-Boston has allowed me to ask fundamental questions regarding the meaning of social work, and how can I best represent the values that I strongly believe in as a social worker to my teammates and supervisees. Standing at a crossroads between what was, not quite understanding what is, and wondering about what could be has been a familiar place where I have found myself for the past few months.

As a Program Manager/Master Mentor supervising twelve social work students from different schools and managing twenty-four families has been the starting point of my journey at Friends-Boston. Strongly believing in the power of social work and the vastness of its abilities has shaped my thinking pattern around why social workers were called upon to join a non-profit mentoring program for inner city youth. Social workers as agents of change work towards empowerment and social justice. This mission has the ability to manifest through multiple avenues, such as building social skills with an Achiever within the context of a special holding space consisting of safety and trust within the therapeutic relationship or empowering Caregivers to advocate for their children’s educational rights in the school system by becoming a part of the community by understanding needs and exemplifying strengths. Facilitating conversations about natural support systems to minimize the stigma of undervalued communities and maximize natural resources is essential to this important work, and it is where the basic social work values coincide with the values of Friends-Boston.   

The Positive Peer Mentors that I have been working with have joined this movement of social workers at Friends-Boston as pioneers and leaders of a revolutionary concept. Training clinical social workers to understand the elements of a therapeutic relationship by offering empathy and support in connection to the communities they serve by breaking down cultural and economic barriers with the guidance of the organization has become my daily goal. Empowering social work students in the role of Positive Peer Mentors, who are participating in a change effort, brings life to the personal interest of the mentoring work to empower Achievers in realizing their inherent worth. Training social work students to believe in a successful outcome that the twelve-year commitment made to Achievers will help them graduate high school and attend college, and that the one year of service is an integral part of reaching that goal shapes the Mentor’s perspective towards the work and defines their role within the organization. Connecting to our communities through mapping or home visits brings social workers back to the historical roots of the profession. Cultivating awareness and building communities allows for intervention through methods of prevention. Recognizing and celebrating the strengths of Achievers, their families, and the communities served opens up innovative opportunities for activism, capacity enhancement, and meaningful contributions embodying the collective in mutually learning and influencing each other individually and systemically. Transcending conventional boundaries represents my personal mission in life, and as a social worker, I am proud to engage in this great movement with Friends-Boston.

Quote of the Week

Be the change you wish you to see in the world. – Mahatma Ghandi

This Week in Mentoring News

Each week we will bring you a few news stories about mentoring from around the country.  Below are a few exceptional pieces from the past week:

Boys can look up to Teen Heroes

Editorial: Study on dropouts supports intervention

Mentors help address dropout problem

New York Business Women Mentor Teen Girls in Entrepreneurship at Girls Going Places Conference

Readers share stories of their inspiring mentors

Achiever Art Work

Each week we’ll delight you with a new piece of art from one of our Achievers. Enjoy!

The Community Service Movement at Friends-Boston

Every week a different Friends-Boston staff member offers their own insight, wisdom, and personal reflection through a guest blog post.  This week’s Friends-Boston staff blog post is written by Ms. Rebekka.

 On April 21, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The Serve America Act reauthorized and expanded national service programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service by amending the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973. It will encourage an increase in number of AmeriCorps members to 250,000 by 2017.  It is clear to me that the community service movement is the movement of our time and community service is woven deep within the fabric of Friends-Boston.

 Last year 10 AmeriCorps Members and 3 AmeriCorps VISTA Members served at Friends-Boston. This year 60 AmeriCorps Members and 7 AmeriCorps VISTAS will serve  at Friends-Boston. You may start to see the bright blue Friends-Boston logo on t-shirts of Mentors as they ride trains, buses, libraries and community centers. Friends-Boston Mentors and Achievers will be reading books together, doing homework and discovering the amazing resources of our city.

 Our volunteer Board of Directors helps raise funds and support Friends-Boston mentoring programs in a myriad of ways. Volunteers from Fidelity Investments are volunteering through our Reading Buddies Program. Once per week employees spend one hour of their time reading with an Achiever at the Fidelity offices. Last year volunteers from Wellington Management worked with Achievers to develop their math skills and they painted walls, organized games and catalogued our library.

 Volunteers with our Family Friends Program are matched with an Achiever for two years. They go on outings with Achievers and their mentors to museums and complete community service activities. This year we will also host five community service events. Achievers will lead and participate in Community Service activities in our community. They might read with younger children, make blankets for sick children or feed the homeless.

 Our contributors donate their services and provide the grants and donations that enable us to provide our unique long-term mentoring program. They are volunteers as well. Volunteers serve on our committees for our annual event, work to help the event run and help us clean up when everything is over. Volunteers donate gift certificates and items for our auction and our auctioneer is even a volunteer! Our IT professional volunteers much of his time as does our web designer, our printer volunteers as a designer.

 This community service movement has the capacity to create real and lasting change. People who become volunteers are changed. Their ideas are shifted, their priorities are re-organized; their view is altered. Friends-Boston is a small and growing example of the way that this movement can cause change because beginning with individuals who decide they are willing to serve.

Quote of the Week

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

~ Mother Teresa

Achiever Art Work

Each week we’ll delight you with a new piece of art from one of our Achievers. Enjoy!

175 Miles and a Whole Lot of Fun

Every week a different Friends-Boston staff member offers their own insight, wisdom, and personal reflection through a guest blog post.  This week’s Friends-Boston staff blog post is written by Ms. Holly.

On Saturday, September 26 I joined hundreds of “friends of children” at the Rodman Ride for Kids in Foxboro, MA. Our four Friends-Boston riders joined the Mass Mentoring Partnership team to complete a bike ride to benefit statistically at-risk children throughout the state. Our team raised a total of $980 and had a wonderful time biking, barbecuing and celebrating with staff members and supporters from numerous non-profits and youth service agencies.

While my friends and co-workers participated in the ride, I served as a volunteer cheerleader and traffic director close to the finish line. I was touched to see that even after biking over twenty miles, almost all of the riders looked energetic and cheerful. Many of them shouted greetings, rang bells or honked horns as they passed me. Every participant was motivated and inspired by the common factor that brought us together that day: a commitment to serving the children in Massachusetts who are most in need of our support.

Congratulations to current Friends-Boston AmeriCorps VISTAs Zeeba, Rachel and Laura and former Friends-Boston Mentor Lucas for completing the Rodman Ride for Kids!

If you would still like to donate to the Friends-Boston bike team, please visit our team page.

Putting the bikes on the bike rack was more challenging than the ride itself (and almost as time-consuming).

Our three 25-mile bikers! (Our fourth team member, Lucas, completed the 100-mile ride and had already set off by the time we arrived)

Friends-Boston AmeriCorps VISTAs Rachel, Laura and Zeeba.

The starting line!

 

Congratulations to our riders!Hundreds of bikers prepare to set off on the 25-mile ride.