Journeying with survivors each step of the way
Mentoring is about relationships, community and acceptance. Our trained, accountable mentors are prayerfully matched with each survivor for the purpose of forming trusting, supportive, committed relationships. Mentors provide a safe person to talk to, share needs, dreams and goals with, and begin the process of healing.
Our mentors receive ongoing training and education. They are equipped to be effective, understanding and life-giving. Our program is survivor-led and tailored to each each survivor’s needs.
In one survivor’s words: “I never before believed that someone could be truly selfless, loving without any agenda. She is forcing me to reevaluate my whole view of humanity.”
Want to learn more about becoming a mentor? Check out our FAQs:
The most important requirement for a mentor is a growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We do not make any requirements of our mentees to have any spiritual component of their mentoring relationship, but Reclaiming Hope believes that a survivor of trafficking will only experience complete healing from the trauma they have experienced through the grace Jesus extends.
A mentor must be active in a local church. They must also be 30 years or older unless approved by the Director of Survivor Care.
Our mentors need to have capacity in their lives to make a commitment to building a relationship with a survivor over the course of at least two years after they have been matched with a mentee. A mentor also needs to be able to commit to attend all regularly scheduled Mentor Team Meetings. Our policy documents will provide a comprehensive list of expectations and requirements.
Each month, our mentors need to attend a mandatory meeting for further training, support, and prayer. After a mentor has received a match, she will be expected to communicate verbally with her mentee at least once each week and meet in person at least once each month.
There are quarterly Mentee/Mentor events that are optional, but greatly encouraged for time with your Mentee. We also host an annual Mentor/staff retreat and other activities that are wonderful times together as a community.
We ask that a mentor be prepared to make a two year commitment to their mentoring relationship after they have been matched with a survivor.
Ideally, a mentor will be matched with only one survivor at a time.
A mentor’s role is to support a survivor on her healing journey. This support is provided in the context of a committed, faithful, and positive relationship. It is important for our mentors to communicate and meet regularly with the survivor they are matched with. These meetings can occur at coffee shops, restaurants, parks, treatment facilities, jails, and more. The locations of these meetings vary, but the support and encouragement provided can bring hope and healing over time. A mentor can be a practical support as she helps a survivor find resources and therapeutic opportunities for her mentee.
Survivors of human trafficking and other kinds of abuse have experienced extreme forms of trauma. Reclaiming Hope strongly encourages our survivors to work with professional therapists and counselors. We support survivors in traditional counseling experiences as well as providing opportunities for art and equine therapy. We also believe that our mentoring relationships can be therapeutic for a survivor. The most common length of a formal mentoring relationship is about two years, but quite often the relationship between a mentor and mentee continue long past the formal support of Reclaiming Hope.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor please fill out the Mentor Program Application at the bottom of this page. If we feel that you may be a good fit for our Mentor Program you will go through an interview with the Director of Survivor Care. The next step would be to attend a day long Mentor training to learn more about trafficking, trauma, and our Mentor policies and procedures. At that time, we will need to conduct a background check and you will begin attending the monthly mentor meetings.
A survivor first meets with our Director of Survivor Care to learn more about the Mentor Program and to explore if they would like to be matched with a trained, accountable mentor. If the survivor desires a mentor, the Director of Survivor Care prays that God will reveal the best match with an available mentor. The Director of Survivor Care will then set up a meeting to introduce the mentee to her new mentor.
The survivors that we serve in our mentor program are female survivors of human trafficking. We understand that boys and men are trafficked as well, but our mentor program is not currently set up to serve male survivors of trafficking. We have worked with survivors aging anywhere from teens to those in their fifties and sixties. We want to be a supportive resource for any female survivor of trafficking who is ready to allow someone to come along side them in their healing journey.
We would love to match each mentor with a survivor who lives close to them, but this is not always possible. There have been many times a mentor has needed to travel out of town to meet with her mentee. For example, we have had mentors living in Colorado Springs that have been matched with survivors living in suburbs of Denver. It is important that each of our mentors have their own insured vehicle and a valid Drivers License in order to be a mentor.
No prior professional training is required in order to be considered for our mentor program, but we do require that you attend our mentor training as well as each monthly mentor meeting for continued training as a mentor.
If you would like to be a part of our Mentor Program, please complete the application by clicking the button below! Your completed application will go to our Director of Survivor Care, who will then connect with you. Our goal is to always have extra Mentors trained and ready for Mentees as they are referred to us, so we hold multiple trainings each year.