New mentoring organization launches in Bainbridge; see who it helps

• Bainbridge has a new mentoring initiative designed to guide young women and girls ages 12 to 21.
• Would you like to become a mentor? Find out more here.
• Watch the story to learn how this group wants to give back to the girls in the community.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE MISSION:

Helping girls make confident decisions.

“I just don’t know how to follow instructions,” said mentee Passion Halliburton.

A first look at the newly founded mentoring group that aims to help the community.

“I want to join the military and then go to college to become a nurse,” Halliburton said.

The 14-year-old has big plans for after high school, but she says she needs some help.

“[I] “There’s a lot going on in my head,” Halliburton said.

Dr. Dominique Borden becomes a trusted resource for young girls and women in the neighborhood.

“As a teenage mother, I know that you need someone to talk to besides your own parents,” says IDENTITY founder Borden.

Borden tells me that after becoming pregnant at a young age, she quickly encountered a number of challenges, but ultimately overcame them by accumulating 18 years of experience in healthcare.

Now she wants to help youth in her own neighborhood by creating a mentoring program called IDENTITY.

“IDENTITY is just to help them figure out exactly what they want to do. I think if you know who you are, you won't get fooled,” Borden said.

Studies by groups such as the Girls Empowerment Network report that mentoring helps improve young people's confidence, leadership and communication skills.

Future mentees like Halliburton said they were excited to learn from a woman who is already where she wants to be because –

“I feel like it’s fair to help people,” Halliburton said.

Parents are invited to learn more about the mentoring program by attending the mentoring workshop at Priestly Praise Ministries on Scott Street on Saturday at 1 p.m.