Family Match Mentor - LOOKING FOR MENTORS WHO ARE PARTNERS/SPOUSES, PARENTS, AND ANY FAMILY MEMBERS

Are you a parent, sibling, partner, or adult child of someone with a mental illness? Use your valuable lived experience to support another family member.

A Family Match Mentor provides one-to-one support over the phone for 3 months. You are paired with someone in the same relationship, loving someone with similar symptoms or diagnoses.

A Family Match Mentor is a family member of someone living with a mental health condition. You like to listen, make connections, offer support, and do those with absolute confidentiality and respect for individual experiences. The goals of Family Match are to promote the priorities of:

• continually seeking and shoring up support (and not be alone)
• accessing resources
• understanding mental illness (thereby, understanding appropriate expectations for relationships)
• self-care and self-development

The combination of active listening and shared experience provides a powerful connection. Data shows that effective connection shifts perspective and behavior. A mentor believes in the importance of, and practices, regular support in their own lives.

Each match is for 3 months with 2 calls per month, 30-60 minutes each. We ask mentors for a one-year commitment.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD FAMILY MATCH MENTOR:

Conviction: You prioritize support in your life and want to encourage others to do similarly as key to better health for themselves and better connection with their ill relative. Ideally, you have participated in NAMI classes or support groups and are familiar with our support principles.

Approachable: You are comfortable sharing your experience and energy in support of someone new (in the same relationship: parent, partner, sibling, or adult child). You use problem-solving appropriately, not as your primary offer. You understand that varying emotional responses have their root in individual experiences.

Flexible: You can support others in ways they are comfortable, continually recognizing where your and their boundaries allow for the most respectful, meaningful connection. Your schedule has reasonable flexibility to meet different people’s schedules.

Measured: You are sensitive while persistent in fulfilling 3-month, 6-call connection with each match through personal and calendar challenges. You keep the Coordinator appropriately updated on progress and stalls, and troubleshoot with the Coordinator as needed.

Organized: You track your matches for timely completion of 6 paced calls

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Must identify as a family member of someone with a mental health condition.
• Must feel comfortable forming connections with different backgrounds, values, emotional responses, viewpoints.
• Must have strong communication skills.
• Must have access to and be familiar with telephone, email, text and Zoom.
• Must value personal support, humility, teamwork, feedback and know your personal boundaries well
• Spanish or Mandarin fluency is a plus.

Additional Important Information:

Required hours/commitment: You will reliably schedule and fulfill two calls per month, 30-60 minutes each, for 3 months with each match. You can commit to mentoring for one year.

Training: After submitting a Mentor Application, qualified candidates will be invited to Zoom with the Coordinator. If appropriate, candidate will participate in a 90-minute, small group training focused on active listening skills.

Schedule: Family Match connections are conducted entirely by phone (not email nor text) at agreed upon times between the mentor and participant. Mentors report their match progress once per month by email, and gather for ongoing education about four times per year in-person or by Zoom. As the person closest to the match, proactive coordination with the Coordinator boosts success.