Empowering Beit Ruth's Graduates through mentorship

I first got involved with Beit Ruth around 10 years ago. For many years I had volunteered with organizations helping at-risk youth, but it was upon visiting Beit Ruth that I realized that Israel's at-risk girls were the most urgent and important cause for me.

Now I am coaching one of Beit Ruth's graduates – Batya*. What can I say about Batya? Well, she is simply incredible. She's a girl that knows what she wants and is determined to make it happen! This is impressive enough for any girl at her young age, but considering how much she has had to go through in her young life, it is all the more inspiring. She arrived at the Beit Ruth Village at 14, after having been neglected for most of her life by her drug-dependant parents. She arrived very quiet, apathetic and unengaged. After four years at Beit Ruth she was transformed; empowered, confident, gutsy and witty.

Batya has such passion and skill. She knows what she wants to achieve, and she's mature enough to know when to ask for support to make her goals a reality. Asking for help is a rather humbling experience and one most adults find difficult, let alone a girl of her age and with her background to boot!

Batya is all-consumed by her love for animals. When she talks about animals, her face lights up and her eyes sparkle. Her smile brims with enthusiasm. She wants to work with animals but is not sure yet in which capacity, and with the many goals that she wants to achieve it is important we narrow them down to the most pressing and important. So right now we are working together to establish an action plan and to test the waters of how she can work towards her goal. We meet once a week and on top of that have a phone call every week.

The coaching is very much action-driven; I coach her to prioritize and help her define the steps she needs to take to achieve her goals and to independently identify the relevant support systems available to her. We work slowly and steadily, because I know she is dealing with far more in her life than the average human being. We work together to empower her by focusing on her daily successes, be they large or small.

I feel blessed to be able to work with her and help her. Every time I meet Batya I leave inspired and in awe. She doesn't let her previous circumstances get in the way of forging the life she wants to live. How many of us can say the same?

Without a doubt, a major factor underpinning Batya's strong will to succeed is the years she spent at Beit Ruth, being supported, accepted, educated and loved by staff who helped her see her true worth and potential . Beit Ruth gave her a solid foundation from which to spring and make something of her life. It gave her the confidence and will to succeed, and this exudes from every inch of her.

I learn, I am inspired and I evolve as a person with every meeting.

I hope to soon be able to coach more of Beit Ruth's graduates. To anyone out there considering coaching, I urge you to get in touch with Beit Ruth. As much as I am helping to improve these girls' lives, they are giving me more than they will ever know.