A pair of therapeutic mentors at St. Vincent’s Villa are forging a special bond with two young sisters and proving the importance of mentor-mentee relationships this National Mentoring Month.
St. Vincent’s, a residential treatment center for children with behavioral health challenges who have not responded to community-based interventions, is a program of Catholic Charities of Baltimore. The sisters — we’re calling them Jordan and Rebecca — are at St. Vincent’s due to complex trauma, the result of abandonment, neglect and abuse resulting in hospitalizations and failed foster placements. The two have often lived apart due to their chaotic histories and were admitted to St. Vincent’s months apart. But now, thanks to their therapeutic mentors, Chris and Courtnay, their sibling bond is being supported through mentoring while the girls receive intensive mental health services.
The girls have enjoyed many weekly one-to-one visits with their mentors, when they also get to spend additional sibling time together. At Thanksgiving, they were disappointed there were no family members attending the holiday dinner held on site. So they invited their mentors as special guests! Both Chris and Courtnay came on Thanksgiving Day, making for a festive occasion that created many positive memories.
A few weeks later, Jordan and Rebecca invited their mentors to a Christmas party. This time, they had double the fun, since each girl resides in a different “cottage,” each with its own scheduled event, meaning there were two parties for the sisters and their mentors to attend! Next, there was a sporting event at the Jordan’s middle school, where she had just made the cheerleading team. Both mentors and Rebecca attended and watched big sis cheer. They all went out to dinner afterward. Next up, this mentor/mentee group of four is scheduled to visit a dance studio and meet a professional dance teacher.
Thanks to the specialized trauma training and professional support provided in the mentoring program, these therapeutic mentors have the knowledge, insight and ability to support Jordan and Rebecca in building a stronger family bond. Both Chris and Courtnay are dedicated to building resilience in their mentees, which requires patience, commitment and an understanding of pain-based behaviors of traumatized children.
The mentoring they’ve accomplished with Jordan and Rebecca individually has now taken on a new dimension of strengthening the sister’s family dynamic. Together, the girls are scrapbooking all of these fun activities, further strengthening that crucial sibling bond while helping to create a positive history as a keepsake. And that is priceless.