Offer a Second Chance – Be a Mentor
If you’re not currently mentoring someone, it’s time to ask yourself: “Why not?” At its most basic level, mentoring helps adults establish stable lives by reducing the chaos brought about by poverty, homelessness, underemployment and the effects of incarceration. The mentoring relationships improve lives by developing skills and positive social networks that empower people to:

  • Locate and keep stable housing
  • Make a positive contribution to the community
  • Advance their education
  • Successfully exit the criminal justice system
  • Improve parenting skills

“We’ve had some very good results with this program,” Mentor and Education Coordinator, Ron Hayes said. Each mentor-offender relationship is unique. Mentors do things such as phone offenders to remind and encourage them about probation meetings, doctor’s office visits and help mentees stay focused on achieving their goals. Mentors can lend a sympathetic ear and provide successful examples when it comes to dealing with substance abuse. They can also help ex-offenders deal overcome employment and housing issues.
Father Matters is seeking volunteer mentors from all walks of life. Some of our current volunteers include: retired court officials, business owners, case managers, pastors, construction worker, and a stay at home mothers and fathers. Father Matters needs volunteers to work with offenders after their release from jail and/or prison to help them return to their communities as law-abiding citizens.
We are looking for anyone who is committed to the work and have an open heart. Volunteers go through a general screening process followed by individual or an online training along with guidelines about boundaries one should maintain with the offender.
People interested in becoming a mentor should send an email to info@fathermatters.org or call 602-774-3298 and ask for Ron Hayes.