Team Up Values: Foundations of Our Impact | Consistency

Amy Hunnewell • June 4, 2024

Family News Issue 7

At Team Up Mentoring, our mission is to foster generational change for children and families significantly affected by trauma. That looks like providing support and empowering our children and families over the long-term. Our core values—Curiosity, Kindness, Bravery, Excellence, and Consistency—are the bedrock of our approach. They guide our interactions, shape our programs, and ensure we provide the best possible support to those we serve.

Over the next few months through this blog, we will be diving in deep to each of our 5 core values, and what they mean to our staff and volunteers.

Consistency is key to our success and the success of those we serve. At Team Up Mentoring, we strive to excel in every aspect of our work, approaching every challenge with determination and a commitment to succeed. Consistent actions build reliability and trust, essential for children and families who have often faced unpredictability and instability. By being dependable, we provide a stable foundation that helps our families feel secure and supported.

Leigh Ann Aldridge, one of our Elementary mentors has seen consistency in action at Team Up. Here’s what she had to say about it:

I believe it’s vital for our kids to see that we’re here because we want to be - not because it’s our job but because we believe in them and love them and want to spend time with them to see them grow into their best possible self. The relationships I’ve built with these kids are truly one of my greatest blessings.

The consistent showing up and doing the hard things, walking them through the hard nights and ensuring that they leave knowing they are loved and that I’m going to show back up the next night and not give up on them is vital to the program. For our kids to know that we’ll keep working on our goals until we get them, that we’ll talk about the times we fall short but that we’ll celebrate every small victory and they will be praised for their efforts along the way.

I’ve seen what consistency does not only for their behavior at team up but also at school and at home. To see them finally act out our goals in our social contract with one another when we’re not watching. To see them handle a situation with techniques we’ve learned. To see grades improve and agenda reports from teachers change from negative to positive is all so rewarding, not for me but for our kids and even their families. To receive the hugs, and smiles and the notes and drawings from our kids and text messages with pictures of life events and improved test scores & report card grades from a thankful mother.

These core values are not just words for us at Team Up Mentoring—they are principles that guide our daily actions and decisions. They ensure that we not only meet the immediate needs of our children and families but also foster long-term growth and resilience. Through our unwavering commitment to these values, we aim to create a community where every child and family can thrive.