Each month, we highlight one of our many InStepp Ambassadors that contribute their time, energy and talent to our important mission. Our InStepp Ambassador for July/August 2011 is Teresa Jones..
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July/August 2011 InStepp Ambassador
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As the oldest girl in a family of seven, Teresa Jones instinctively provides physical or emotional care and support to others who are in need of help. She is readily described by her friends as someone who will feed you if you are hungry. She enjoys cooking and is the owner of Rene’s Cakes. That is probably why her role as mentor to adult justice-involved women and female victims of domestic violence in the Employment Reentry Assistance Program for Women at InStepp, Inc. comes so naturally to her.
A native of Philadelphia, PA, Teresa has lived in Durham for the past 17 years. Soon after settling in this area, she joined North East Baptist Church where she is an active member of the Evangelism and Discipleship Ministry, the Praise Team and a Sunday School Teacher. For the past 11 years, she has worked as a Federal Account Representative at John Deere Company in Durham where she interacts with both domestic and international federal agencies including the military. Teresa earned a BA in Finance from NCCU and an MBA from Strayer University. She is also a North Carolina Notary.
Outside of work, you can often find Teresa at Jazzercise, a dance-based group fitness exercise program. When she is not working or exercising, she loves spending time with her family. She is the mother of two children, 25-year old Natalie and 23 year-old Carmen. She also has two precious grandchildren, 19 month old Alyssa and one month old Jaiceon. “I spend a lot of time with family and friends,” says Teresa. “I don’t believe in putting off being with family. Life can be short; we are not promised tomorrow. I travel often to South Carolina, Philadelphia and Maryland to see my family.”
Teresa has been matched with four women in the ERA program since she started volunteering with InStepp in 2008. Although two of the mentoring relationships ended prematurely, she feels that she has made a positive and lasting difference in the lives of each of her mentees. “I view mentoring as an extension of the evangelism and discipleship ministry that I am a part of at my church, just in a different arena,” said Teresa. “Being the oldest sister to five boys in my family and dealing with life issues from the male perspective, it has been interesting to deal with the type of issues faced by the women that InStepp serves.”
Teresa says that her volunteer work at InStepp has given her an opportunity to better understand the type and severity of the challenges that the women at InStepp must overcome and to move from simply motivating and encouraging women as she has done in the past to empowering them. “I encourage my mentees by telling them that through faith they can do anything and accomplish anything regardless of their situation. I then try to empower them by offering them choices and suggestions,” says Teresa. “From my experiences as a mentor over the past four years at InStepp, I have learned not to emotionally wear their issues. Because I am a caretaker, it was natural for me to want to do this in the beginning. I now understand that in order for me to be the most effective in the lives of my mentee, I must motivate, lift and empower.
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