ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, December 30, 1996              TAG: 9612300054
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press 

MENTORS FOR MOMS WORKING THEIR WAY OFF WELFARE ROLLS

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has paired at-risk children with volunteer mentors for almost 100 years. Now the local chapter wants to use the same idea for women working their way off welfare.

Marylin Copeland, program director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Hampton Roads, is developing a pilot program called the Women's Independence Network that will link mentors with 50 Norfolk mothers who are trying to get off welfare.

Copeland is seeking funding for the proposal, which calls for training mentors to help women find employment and counseling them on how to keep their family life stable as they make the transition to the working world.

The mentors would help discuss such issues as child care and scheduling conflicts that can tax a working mother.

``We have demonstrated the role a volunteer can play in the lives of children,'' Copeland said. ``We make a difference one by one. We can do the same thing for mothers on welfare.''

The proposal is part of a plan the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority is submitting for a Housing and Urban Development grant, which is expected to be awarded early next year.

The mentoring part of the proposal would be about $43,000, which would pay for a program manager, training, recruitment and outside evaluation of the program.

Copeland also hopes to start a mentoring program in Virginia Beach if she can find funding. If the local programs are successful, she wants to pitch the idea to cities across the country.

Suzanne Puryear, director of Norfolk's human services department, said the one-on-one relationship would help women at a vulnerable stage of their lives.

The mentoring idea can work for churches and other nongovernment groups as well, Puryear said.

Not only would it help families working their way off welfare, but it would help educate the broader public on poverty. ``It puts a face on welfare,'' she said. ``It's no longer `those welfare mothers,' it's Mrs. Smith.''

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