Belknap House mentors connect families with resources, support system

LACONIA — Families who move out of Belknap House and into independent living can take advantage of a new mentoring program, which utilizes relationships family members develop with Belknap House volunteers to stay on track. Program manager Tom Sica thinks the new program is an important one.

“Obtaining housing, it's not the end game,” Sica said. “Their life gets bigger, and we want to ensure that people continue to maintain their independence, and their success in having housing.”

Jenny Guidi, 36, a single mother of three children, has been living in her own an apartment since July 2024. Guidi grew up in foster care, then struggled to find a support system in her adult life. She entered Belknap House in September 2023, after leaving what she called an abusive relationship that was “everything but physical.” Guidi said Belknap House staff and volunteers have helped her maintain her sobriety for two years. To her, the shelter was a lifesaver.

“Belknap House was the one and only place that could take us in to keep us safe and stable,” she said.

During her time at Belknap House, she met several staff and volunteers, including Sica, who helped her on her journey. But volunteer Sue Dwyer was someone she especially connected with, and eventually became her mentor.

Mentors might offer to help with tasks like driving their mentees to appointments, helping with kids, or connecting them with community resources. The pair must meet twice a month for mentors to check in with mentees. Families who move out of Belknap House are asked to commit to the mentoring program for at least a year.

Dwyer said, since Guidi has been living on her own she's become independent, and stepped up to the plate in taking on responsibilities. Dwyer teared up thinking of Guidi’s progress.

“It's very humbling to be able to witness someone changing their lives,” she said. “It's very powerful, and I think it just gives hope.”

The idea for the program came several years ago from former executive director Paula Ferenc. It wasn’t until after she left in 2023 the program seemed probable, and after securing grants, notably from The Linden Foundation, it become a reality.

Training of Belknap House staff and volunteers to become mentors began in September 2024. Ferenc came back to consult and design the training manual. The mentorship program debuted in January, and there are currently six mentors serving six families.

Before the program began, informal mentoring was already taking place. Bonds formed organically at Belknap House, and those relationships became the basis of formal mentorships. Sica believed creating a formal plan was necessary for mentorship to be successful.

“You really want to be intentional about how you go about offering that service,” Sica said. “We knew that the way that we were doing it, it needed to be done in a more sustainable manner, and structured.”

Bill Dwyer, Sue’s husband, is also a mentor. After a career in finance and financial services, he volunteered to teach a finance class at Belknap House. While he spends a lot of time as a volunteer giving advice, he thinks one of the biggest responsibilities of a mentor is to be a good listener.

“Sometimes, it's not necessarily having to hand over a solution,” Bill said. “It's just being an empathetic, caring listener who is someone that they can trust.”

Bill minimized the responsibility mentors assume.

“That word almost seems, I guess, counterintuitive I would say, because it's not a 'responsibility' at all,” he said. “It's a joy, and it's very gratifying and rewarding.”

Sica said to some, a mentor program might not seem necessary. To demonstrate its need, he told the story of a former Belknap House resident who was moving into his new home, and not willing to call people he knew for help, saying he couldn't go back to them.

“For me, it was the epiphany that many of our families are looking to reinvent themselves. And in doing that, sometimes that journey can be lonely, and they might have removed themselves intentionally from previous relationships,” Sica said. “And they forge new ones here, and healthy ones, with staff, with volunteers.”

Executive Director Shawna Zechman said whether they know it or not, most people have something of a mentor. And everyone deserves one, too.

“We take those connections for granted. We don't always see them as our support system, because we don't call it that,” she said. “'Mentors,' we don't necessarily use that terminology, even though that is, indeed, what it is.”

To support programs such as the new mentoring endeavor, the Belknap House is currently hosting an online fundraising auction, open at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, through 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 26. To learn more, visit 32auctions.com/BelknapHouse2025.