About the LGBTIQA+ Mentoring Projects
The LGBTIQA+ Mentoring Projects is a peer-support program for community, by community. We aim to promote support networks and build resilience through identity, skills, and community connections that are vital to LGBTIQA+ social and emotional wellbeing – individually and collectively.
Mentoring is about bringing peers together, where someone is wanting support with coming out, staying discreet, transitioning, navigating relationships with family and loved ones, or just finding themselves and a place in community.
Mentoring is for family members too (of origin and/or choice), who are wanting to understand how to support someone in their life who is LGBTIQA+. For example, your child/young person comes out and you want to learn more about their identity and how to support them, through peer-support mentorship for yourself.
People aged 12 years and older can be mentored, and people aged 18 years and older can mentor. People of any disabilities, races, religions, sexualities, genders, cultural identities, refugee and asylum-seeking experiences, and classes can mentor or be mentored.
This service is FREE and runs both online and in-person. It is currently only accessible to folks living in the Greater Melbourne area.
How does Mentoring work?
The LGBTIQA+ Mentoring Projects provide mentoring peer-support through one-on-one mentoring and group events.
One-on-one mentoring means connecting with another person who is a peer from the LGBTIQA+ community. A mentor might have similar experiences, identities, skills, knowledge, interests, hobbies, activities, community connections, and/or give space to talk about what all this means for you, through mentorship. They are not a professional service and cannot substitute for therapeutic or support work.
Mentoring can include catching up to do an activity together, having a conversation, or having someone to ask questions. This most often occurs for a few hours each month, for six months to a year.
Our team will provide support alongside your connection with the mentor, before and throughout the mentorship.
Please note that wait times for available and suitable mentors can vary, due to the volunteer and community nature of this program. Our team will provide interim support while waiting to be connected with a mentor. We will chat more with you about this during intake, which is the next stage after completing the sign-up form below.
I’m interested in getting a mentor
If you are interested in receiving mentoring from a mentor, please complete a Mentee sign-up form at this link here.
Once we receive your sign-up form, someone from the LGBTIQA+ Mentoring Projects team will contact you to arrange an intake appointment where we can chat about how to best support you.
This might mean exploring other options if mentoring is not the right support or you are needing additional support alongside mentoring.
I’m interested in becoming a mentor
Firstly, thank you! This program would not exist without the generosity of our wonderful mentors!
The stages to be a mentor are:
- Complete a Mentor sign-up form at this link here.
- Attend a training & induction session, organised by the mentoring team on an as-needed basis
- Complete paperwork to onboard you as a volunteer mentor
- Connect you with a mentee!
- Attend regular catch-ups with program staff, to support you as a mentor
Training and induction (stage 2) is done on an as-needed basis, to ensure we have a good mentor-mentee ratio in the program. This is based on mentee needs, shared with us during intake.
Accessibility information
Click here to see accessibility information.
Have questions?
For any questions about the LGBTIQA+ Mentoring Projects, please contact Drummond Street Services via phone on (03) 9663 6733 or email MentoringProjects@ds.org.au.