Mentoring

In 2016, the Annie E. Casey Foundation reported, “mentored participants…secured initial employment faster and, once hired, were more likely to stay on the job for at least three months.”  

Interfaith Prison Ministry for Women is pleased to be able to offer a wide array of relational supports to women in the weeks and months following incarceration, including 1:1, group and reentry support circle-based mentoring.  We also offer valuable case management and resource and referral support as a part of the mentoring relationship.  

1:1 Mentoring

IPMW offers 1:1 mentoring to women who reside in transition homes upon release from prison.  Typically spanning a 1-year period, we currently partner with Redirection Home Inc., which runs two of only a handful of transition homes for formerly incarcerated women in Raleigh.  1:1 mentoring also is provided through the workforce development Training2Work program once women have been released from prison, as well as for participants who were previously incarcerated in local jails.
 
Group Mentoring 

IPMW also offers post-release group mentoring for Training2Work, which also draw upon the unique perspective, strength and hope that experienced formerly incarcerated individuals can bring to their sisters.  Group mentoring opportunities are also available through JAGS Transition Night.  

Reentry Support Circle Mentoring

Inspired by the Support Circle model that has been used to address the cycle of poverty and homelessness for over a decade, Interfaith Prison Ministry for Women partners with Catholic Charities of Raleigh to support women moving from potential homelessness into permanent housing and stable lives through the Reentry Support Circle Program for Formerly Incarcerated Women.  In relationship with women and families in transition, various churches, synagogues, faith communities and civic groups are recruited and trained to form Reentry Support Circles, which contribute to successful reentry through the power of mentoring and social capital.  Women are connected to resources that empower them to create and achieve both short- and long-term goals for family reunification, career, education, financial management, faith and spirituality, community participation, health care, etc. 

All of these mentoring relationships provide mutual benefit, and participants are given a rare opportunity to practice their faith - be it religious, spiritual or social justice - in a very tangible, life-changing way. 

​Please contact us for more information about how to become a mentor.