THE Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) is calling on more upstanding Jamaicans to volunteer as mentors under the Advancing Secondary, Tertiary Remedial Education for Adolescent Mothers (A-STREAM) programme.

The initiative is geared towards empowering teen mothers to complete their education while acquiring valuable life and personal development skills.

The three main components of the programme are mentorship, sponsorship, and scholarship.

Director of field operations at the WCJF, Beverley Martin-Berry, said mentors are needed at all levels to provide the necessary moral support to the A-STREAM beneficiaries.

“We are in all 14 parishes and the A-STREAM programme is in every single centre. So we open our doors to female volunteers who have the time to spare to become mentors to the adolescent mothers, whether they are at the secondary level or the tertiary level, because we do believe that if they have the additional support of someone walking with them, then they will have that push behind them to complete their education. We are looking for women and also men because we do have some adolescent fathers,” she noted.

Martin-Berry said that the mentorship aspect of the programme is useful in getting the young mothers to think about possible career paths.

“For example, if they have a professional as their mentor who is an accountant or someone in the health profession and that is their area of interest, that person can also help them to navigate matriculating and identifying institutions to also do their career journey. Mentorship is very important to the A-STREAM programme and we do open our doors to people who are willing and ready to volunteer in that capacity,” said Martin-Berry.

She added that while there are no specific skill sets required, A-STREAM mentors should be knowledgeable in a skill or trade, be of good moral character and not be in conflict with the law.

“We are not talking about just the lawyers and the doctors. We are [also] talking about persons who may own their own business and would have developed what we consider the know-how to navigate that field or are experts in a skilled area and have expertise to offer and to provide guidance for a young person,” Martin-Berry emphasised.

Persons wishing to volunteer as mentors for the A-STREAM programme can contact the WCJF’s head office in Kingston by calling (876) 929-3512 or (876) 906-1607.