Project Joseph Mentors

Project Joseph is a services and formation program for men facing crisis pregnancies. It is run by men for men.  Our mentors are volunteers from the community. 

WHAT WE DO

Project Joseph offers peer to peer mentoring for men who are about to become fathers, or who are already fathers. Through these lessons, Project Joseph mentors will help men to discover the Fatherhood of God in their lives and draw from it to become good Christian fathers. 

WHERE AND HOW

The program operates out of the archdiocesan pregnancy help centers, meeting online or, when possible, in-person.

There is no charge for the services that we provide.  

Project Joseph serves fathers every week, except for a 2-Week Christmas vacation, and holidays that might conflict with the session schedule.

WHO WE ARE

Project Joseph is grounded in the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi. 

Fathers and mentors are brothers who walk side by side on this journey, as did Saint Francis of Assisi and those whom he and his brothers served. Like Saint Francis, they are here to serve, not to preach, correct, discipline or be heard.  They preach the Gospel through their lives and through their unconditional love for every man whom they serve.  We train our mentors in the pastoral methods of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan Friar and patron of pro-life workers.

Like his spiritual father, Saint Francis, Saint Maximilian placed his trust in the Immaculate. He planted the seed and allowed her to guide him and those with whom he walked.  Like Christ, he was willing to lay down his life for his brother, especially if that brother was the father of a family.  Our mentors are formed in the spirit of total detachment from self and confidence in the Immaculate and Divine Providence.  We do what we need to do for the dads and we get out of God’s way.

REQUIREMENTS

A. YOU:

1. Accept the teaching authority of the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals, aspire to live in accord with the precepts of the Catholic Church, and are in good standing in the Catholic Church.  You specially agree with the Catholic Church position on the defense of life, God’s gift.

2. Are a married father, 25 years old or older, who has been a good model for your child(ren), and are willing to share your good-parenting experiences.

3. Are willing to undergo background check and fingerprinting by the Archdiocese of Miami.  Background check and fingerprinting from other organization(s) are not acceptable.

4. Are willing to register for Virtus training at your Catholic Parish, for the Respect Life Ministry, and complete monthly Virtus online training of approximately 10 mins.

5. Own a PC, Mac, Chromebook, or Tablet, with reliable access to the internet.

6. Have an email address.

7. Are Fully Bilingual (speak, read, write), if applying to be a volunteer Mentor for a language other than English (Spanish, Haitian Creole).  Mentor training and meetings are in English.

8. Have empathy for others and appreciate the privilege to positively affect others’ lives.

B. SKILLS

1. Comfortable in basic computer skills: Microsoft Outlook Email, Excel, PowerPoint or Google gmail, Sheets, Slides, or similar.  Able to scan to a PDF file, when needed, and add attachments to emails.

2. Presentation skills: Able to speak comfortably with groups.

3. Comfortable learning other software/apps, following procedures on your own.

C. EXPERIENCE

1. Remote communication software/apps (GoTo Meeting, Google Meet, Zoom, or similar).

2. (Bonus) Teaching, managing, or team leadership experience.

D. AVAILABILITY

1. One day a week, on the day assigned by Project Joseph.  At present, Project Joseph sessions are on Tuesdays; English: 5:55 - 6:55 PM, Spanish: 7:00 PM -  8:00 PM.  Haitian Creole: To be determined.  Please let us know which evenings you are available.

PROCESS

If you fulfill the above requirements, and if there is an opening, after an initial interview with the Project Coordinator, you will be given information on the background check, and Virtus.  After passing background check, you will be asked to attend an Introduction to Volunteering at Respect Life Workshop. The workshop will cover, among other things:

- Training requirements by the Florida Pregnancy Care Network

- Serving fathers in Crisis Pregnancies

After attending this Workshop and having completed all the steps to become a Respect Life volunteer, you will be briefed on the training needed: 

- Franciscan pastoral approach to mentoring 

- Structure of Project Joseph

- Project Joseph scope and sequence

- Project Joseph training

- Paperwork requirements (files for new and returning clients, session attendance, recording "parent dollars" earned, guidelines for communication with students).

Much of the training will be on your own, following procedures in files that will be provided.

Once fully trained, you will be assigned by the Project Joseph Coordinator to "shadow" a mentor, noticing the training methods used, until such time as you are ready for your assignment. 

The Project Coordinator will then assign you to a class, and direct you how to submit your paperwork.

SERVE WITH US

If you are a man in the Archdiocese of Miami, ask yourself if God is inviting you to help us proclaim the Gospel of life by walking with your brothers. Do not worry about not knowing what to do. We in the apostolate will walk with you. The first step is to fill out a volunteer application.