20160127-165628-01

Met with multiple staff of VOAIN's M.E.N.T.O.R. program as well as other VOA programming that overlaps with the mentoring. Staff present at site visit included Jim Brown, Kimtoiya Sam, Jacqueline Gunn, Kerri Timberlake, Tony Jeffers and others. Learned about employment and reentry programs STRIVE and Employ Indy, which share a lot of reentry programming with those enrolled in the mentoring program. Completed a facility tour and discussed mentoring program design, policies and procedures, training, and outreach strategy.? Toured two work release halfway houses that are owned and operated by VOAIN (Brandon Hall (men's facility) and Theodora House (women's facility)). Brandon Hall is crowded and has different populations on different floors of the facility (veterans, chronically homeless, and work release). Part of the facility is being remodeled, which is creating more privacy for some of the residents, but the facility is still burdened with numerous rows of bunks that create crowding and cause oversight/security issues for staff. Theodora House is women only and includes some suites for mothers and children. Women are housed at not more than 8 to a room. Many of the mentees enrolled in the program are housed in these two facilities.Other facilities from which VOAIN recruits mentees include a Salvation Army operated lock-down work release facility (which I also toured) and the Indiana Women's Prison.? Had the opportunity to walk through some of M.E.N.T.O.R.'s curriculum materials including Inside/Out Dad and I attended one of Jacqueline's in-reach presentations at Liberty Hall (the SalArmy facility). Also sat in on a "lunch and learn" session held at STRIVE Indy to recruit mentors, which was well-attended and generated a lot of interest among potential volunteer mentors.? Met potential mentors at the lunch and learn, plus a recently recruited menthe who was recently released. Also had longer sit-down meetings with two mentors who have been active in the program for several months. They both had positive things to say about the experience and working with their mentees.? VOAIN staff expressed concern with a slow-down in volunteer mentor recruitment, but it may be seasonal. They hoped that the start of the school year would lead to increased volunteer recruitment at local colleges. Overall, VOAIN is concerned about meeting the lofty mentor recruitment goals, but they are thinking creatively about how to improve recruitment.? Data collection is fine and VOAIN is planning on partnering for an independent evaluation. They are still working out the design of the evaluation, but they have all of the data they will need. When asked about sustainability, Kimtoiya stated that VOAIN's commitment to mentoring has extended to where they have begun incorporating mentorship into all of their reentry programming.? When asked about other training needs or gaps in the program, staff identified transportation as a big need for their programming. Not something that can be funded directly by the grant, but I can work with Jim and Kimtoiya on finding solutions. Staff also expressed interest in any kind of trainings that might be available. Overall, staff and volunteers are very passionate about the program. They are concerned about meeting the program goals, but their recruitment strategies continue to develop.