Becoming a Leader

Tricia Bisson, Former mentee, VT Women’s Mentoring Program

My childhood was fairly normal. I have awesome, loving parents but I did suffer childhood trauma. I started using drugs at a young age to help cope with my trauma. My family tried to help me but I was too far gone. All I cared about was getting high, and it didn’t matter who I was hurting. The only thing that mattered was how I was going to get my next fix. I ended up in jail. However, I believe going to jail saved my life.

While incarcerated, I got clean and learned to love myself for the first time. I became a leader, not a follower, and learned how to stand up for myself and go after what I wanted. I learned about a program at Mercy Connections that helps women and supports them in their lives. I decided to give the whole mentor thing a try.

My mentor was Dottie Watson. We were paired together at first because we both love to read murder mysteries. I can honestly say Dottie is much more to me than my mentor. She is one of my very good friends. I knew if I was struggling with anything I could call her. She would do anything she could to try and help me get through it.

I have been clean and sober for a little over four years. I work at a local manufacturing company and have been promoted four times in two years. I have a very big and supportive family. I am also working with Mercy Connections to become a mentor myself. I cannot wait to start helping others like they have helped me. Mercy Connections has been such a positive support system in my life and to my sobriety.

The Vermont Women’s Mentoring Program has a proven track record of helping women to successfully reestablish their lives, post incarceration. The support of a mentor promotes systemic and permanent change, reducing risk behaviors associated with recidivism.