Mentoring is a powerful way of lending support to a young person by teaching skills, listening to their perspectives and creating a sense of belonging and connection. Spending time with a young person may seem simple, but science tells us that healthy interactions and relationships with supportive adults can boost children’s brain development, mental health, and well-being.
The mentorship program at Hull ensures the young people we support have the opportunity to build a healthy relationship with an adult, have a positive role model in their life, develop their strengths and build their self-esteem. At Hull Services, mentors are an integral part of our holistic approach to treatment and care.
Bharat and Axton are a mentor and mentee pair in our Mentors Matter program and have been matched for over a year. In this time, their relationship has flourished. They enjoy playing games and basketball together, eating yummy food like pizza, and hanging out at the mall — visiting their favourite shops like the video games store.
And it’s really that easy to change a young person’s life. Simply being there, showing up for them, and being a positive role model in their life can make all the difference. And science tells us that healthy interactions and relationships with supportive adults can boost young people’s brain development, mental health, and well-being.
This National Mentoring Month, we share Bharat and Axton’s special bond with you and how our Mentors Matter program does so much good within our community!
A smile can brighten someone’s day, a compliment can make someone feel good – positive interactions affect how our brain develops, which is why it’s important to have positive role models in our life. Our Senior Director of Clinical Advancement & Trauma Informed Services celebrates National Mentoring Month by talking about the importance of mentors in a young person’s life and the correlation between positive relationships and brain development.
Think about a person that made you feel valued and supported, that helped with your self-confidence and growth and saw potential in you. You can be that person for one of our young people in Calgary by volunteering as a mentor with Hull Services.
Become a mentor!