Family Mentor, Salt Lake City

SCOPE OF VOLUNTEER WORK:

The family mentor will provide support to refugee families recently resettled into Salt Lake City.  He/she acts as both a mentor and guide to refugees navigating a new community, and creates a safe space for the family to practice and build their English skills.  Other activities that family mentors could do include: providing a neighborhood orientation, helping the children and parents learn walking or bus routes to school, reading mail, visiting museums and helping the family learn about low-cost community resources.  Family mentors meet with their family once a week for two hours for at least six months. 

REQUIREMENTS:

• Able to commit at least two hours a week for six months; schedule is otherwise flexible
• Communicate hours and activities on a monthly basis to the IRC in Salt Lake City
• Keep confidentiality agreements
• Reliable and flexible
• Willing to learn about IRC history, philosophy, global work, and local efforts
• Willing to learn about cross-cultural communication and ethnic backgrounds of clients
• Willing to adhere to IRC volunteer and workplace policies, including confidentiality policies and respect for family experiences
• Willingness to learn about the family and interact on a regular basis
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in English; additional fluency in a refugee language preferred
• Submit service hours monthly to Volunteer Coordinator

TRAINING:

All interested parties will be interviewed by the Family Resettlement AmeriCorps Member. After your interview, you are required to attend a two-hour training covering the following:

• Process of resettlement
• Role of the mentor
• Healthy mentorship and volunteer boundaries
• IRC expectations
• Cultural competency

NEXT STEPS:

1. Attend an info session to learn more about the IRC, the refugees we serve and the volunteer opportunities we host. To sign up, email Kelsey.Rasband [at] rescue.org (subject: Family%20Mentor)  with "Family Mentor" as the subject.
2. Participate in the Family Mentor Interview.
3. Attend a Family Mentor training, dates to be decided.
4. All volunteers must clear a background check, for which we ask for a $45 donation to offset the cost. Steps for this will be provided closer to your training date.

Questions? Email us at VolunteerSLC [at] rescue.org (subject: Family%20Mentor%20-%20Inquiry) .