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Guilford Youth Mentoring Program Going Virtual During Pandemic

With schools still closed and likely to remain so through the rest of the year, students are less able to make and maintain important social connections with peers or other community members. What won’t be lost is any connection they made through Guilford Youth Mentoring (GYM).

GYM is a non-profit that operates closely within the Guilford school system providing one-on-one, mostly unstructured interactions between empathetic adults from a variety of backgrounds with students.

The program, which is celebrating 20 years in Guilford and had originally planned a handful of events and workshops this year related to that anniversary, is now focusing its energy on ensuring that both kids and adults have the social and emotional resources to beat the pandemic and associated feelings of isolation or anxiety.

“What we’ve tried to do...is keep the mentors and mentees connected,” said GYM Program Director Lisa Ott. “Some of them are doing phone calls, some of them are doing emails, some of them are doing letter-writing—now we’ve got them connected with Zoom and Google Meet. Some of the time, mentees are teaching the mentors how some of this stuff works. It’s just really neat to hear everyone’s stories.”

Ott said that when the initial shutdown orders were handed down in early March, one of the first things GYM did was leverage its network and connections in the community to reach out to the mentors, many of whom are older and more at risk during the pandemic, sharing information about shopping resources and closures.

GYM also helped families take advantage of the district’s free meal program that offers lunch and breakfasts to Guilford Public School students during the shutdown, according to Ott.

But once some of the dust had settled, Ott said she and other people involved in the program realized they were going to continue their mission despite all the restrictions.

Giving kids positive, non-judgmental relationships and regular interactions with older and more experienced community members is absolutely possible while self-isolating and social distancing, Ott said, though there has been a lot of adaptations and kinks to work out.

“In the past, we haven’t encouraged online contact—we actually discouraged online contact between mentors and mentees,” Ott observed, laughing. “So now we’ve had to really jump on board with learning how Zoom and Google Meet work so that mentors can use it in a way that’s safe for everyone involved.”

Making sure software is secure is only one part of the challenge for GYM during this time. Ott said she has been working with national organizations to make sure GYM is following best practices, with guidelines still changing every day as other mentoring programs adapt to the new circumstances.

The need is absolutely there, Ott emphasized, with both students and their mentors working through the mental health issues of the pandemic. The program has already had a handful of new requests for mentors, according to Ott, as students work to adapt to remote learning.

Ott also said she has seen her own family dealing with isolation, and knows that nearly everyone is now facing those same struggles, finding ways to practice self-care and putting together positive activities during the crisis.

“I’ve encouraged the mentors to talk about all that sort of thing,” she said.

Mentors have also been finding their own new, creative ways to spread happiness or encouragement to their young mentees, according to Ott. One filmed a video of his dogs to share with a kindergarten-age friend, according to Ott, while others are making efforts to help students with the distance learning assignments.

Ott said that as the pandemic closure continues, she anticipates more of a need for these sorts of positive relationships in Guilford, as well as continued innovation by GYM and the community as people find ways to stay connected.

“I think its a real opportunity for us to have a little more time to think about what’s really important, and spend more time on relationships,” said Ott. “Because we’re not all going to be in a rush to get everything done all the time. I’m really seeing what could be a really exciting shift.”

For more information about GYM and its mentoring opportunities, visit www.guilfordmentoring.org.