Lindsey Staples, participant, and Anne Hedin, coach, have participated in the Women2Women coaching program. Submitted photo

The Coalition of Chautauqua County Women and Girls is seeking volunteers for the Women2Women (W2W) coaching program.

The W2W adult mentoring program was sparked in 2013 by a status report titled “Women and Girls in Chautauqua County.” Since then, the Coalition of Chautauqua County Women and Girls and steering committees (both north and south county) have been formed and support the Women2Women program.

The YWCA Jamestown is reinvigorating the W2W program. Debora Morlock, former director of preschool special education for Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center is the new coordinator of the W2W program. The success of the W2W program is based on finding good matches between coaches and participants. Participants are referred from many different sources, including other Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative programs, the Chautauqua County Mobile Transition Team, colleges and other agencies. Young women can also self-refer into the program. The coaches are recruited from service clubs, word of mouth and former agency and school employees who are now retired and are willing to give of their time and compassion.

The program has a strong track record for helping young women enhance their opportunities with their career, educational and life goals by empowering them to become more self-sufficient and effective in all areas of life. Coach and participant pairs in the past have sometimes worked together for several years and have forged strong friendships in addition to the coaching relationship. The expectation is that coaches and participants would be willing to work together for at least 12 months, and that they will meet an average of four times per month.

Right now, the YWCA W2W program is recruiting both coaches and participants. If you are interested in being trained as a coach in this proven program, contact Deb Morlock at 716-203-1827 or at w2wcoord@ywcajamestown.com.

Success stories out of the W2W program include young women who have enrolled in college through assistance from their W2W coach, women that have improved their employment situation through being encouraged to seek certifications and other forms of education, and women that have addressed long-term life issues with the help of their W2W coach.

For more information, visit www.cccwomen.org.