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 September 2011 is Rev. Tanya Jones..
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September 2011 InStepp Ambassador
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Our community work with justice-involved women and female survivors of domestic violence would not be possible without the help of people like Rev. Tanya Jones, a two-year volunteer with InStepp, Inc. Tanya’s background in evangelism has made her a natural fit for our mentoring team — and a great asset to our clients and the community.
Rev. Jones was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts but has been a resident of Henderson, North Carolina for over 20 years. In addition to serving as an Associate Minister at Jones Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Norlina, North Carolina, she is also the Praise Dance Ministry Coordinator, a Worship Leader and a New Discipleship Facilitator at her church. Professionally, she has been the Front Office Manager and Surgery Coordinator at ENT and Audiology Associates in Raleigh for the past ten years. Rev. Jones is the single mother of Chiquita Jones, a senior at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina and Dajah Gladden, a freshman at Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina.
Although she has not mentored women in a community-based organization like InStepp, Inc. before, mentoring is not new to Rev. Jones. Described as a confidante, encourager and natural motivator by her friends, she has past experience counseling members of her church as well as providing advice and guidance to her co-workers and the patients she sees at her job. “Mentoring is a way of giving back to those I encounter everyday not focusing on what one has done but focusing on what one is doing,” she noted. As the middle sibling of three sisters, she also has the real-world wisdom that can help our clients avoid expensive mistakes. Rev. Jones knows first-hand about expensive mistakes and encourages others not to make the same; but, if and when they do to know that the power to change is within them.
Rev. Jones is currently attending Liberty University online and recently became licensed as a Zumba instructor. Since March of this year, she has been teaching Zumba at her job and at her church.
Since joining the Employment Reentry Assistance (ERA) program in January of 2010, Rev. Jones has been matched with three clients. Her first memory of the client that she considers to be her most rewarding match was of her desire to change. “She was so respectful,” says Rev. Jones. “Although she had challenges inside the home, she was trying to do better.”
When asked what her counsel would be to other women interested in mentoring, Rev. Jones recommends that they “not get so connected to the client”. She says it is easy for women who have not been in very stable relationships in the past to become too dependent on you. “Mentoring is about helping the client to gain her independence,” she says.
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