DAMES Mentoring was formed by a small group of women who were introduced to St. Mary's eighteen years ago. The Junior League of Rhode Island partnered with St. Mary's to mentor children, read books, and share meals. DAMES, the acronym for Dinner And More Exciting Surprises was born of that great partnership.

 

Our approach to mentoring is three prong: dinner and socialization, clever crafts, and occupational vocation demonstrations. The girls meet twice a month and rotate the schedule. For the first occupation meeting, we invited a star expert and floral designer. She talked to the girls about her career mentor and then gave a one hour class on flower arranging. The room smelled like a greenhouse!