TeamMates for the Month: Ellanah and Christine

Together Again

The story of the TeamMates mentoring pair, Ellanah and Christine, is one full of trust and faith. 


Ellanah was first matched with Christine while she was attending Clinton Elementary School.  A trusted administrator told her a TeamMate would accompany her beyond elementary school. Young Ellanah was a bit skeptical. 


“My aunt told me never to talk to strangers, so why would I want to talk to someone way older than me. I didn’t know her,” young Ellanah said. 


Christine was excited to have a match after waiting years for the perfect time to be a mentor. 


“I’m just super lucky and grateful. I said I’ll take whatever best match you can find me,” Christine said. 


When the two finally met, Ellanah was still a bit unsure about the pairing. 


“We sat in the room where the administrator I always talked to was, so I felt a little bit comfortable but I kept running back and forth to them and they would say, ‘well, you should probably go make conversation with your TeamMate,’” she added.


The uneasiness didn’t push Christine away though. 


“I could just tell she was checking in with someone she felt comfortable with, which was fine,” Christine said. 


Ellanah credits a treat that Christine brought in helping to build her trust with a new mentor. 


“It’s one of her love languages,” Christine said. 


The two spent their time playing games, chatting and doing service projects. During this time, their impressions of each other were forming.  Christine learned that Ellanah was resilient, intelligent and authentic while Ellanah discovered that Christine was flexible, understanding and happy-go-lucky.

 

Their bond continued. Ellanah is now a ninth-grader at Southeast High School, but their friendship faced an unexpected challenge – COVID-19. 


“ COVID struck down and then we didn’t see each other,” Ellanah said.


The two couldn’t meet in person and Zoom wasn’t an option either. Neither of them knew how or when they would see each other again. Ellanah made it through seventh grade and she didn’t stop missing her mentor.


“There was so much happening that I really needed to talk with somebody about,” she said. 


“I thought I hope I see her sometime…or run into her or something because we didn’t really have an end meeting or anything,” Christine said. 


After a few years of navigating the pandemic, the two were finally reunited. 


“It wasn’t even like we were apart,” Ellanah said. “Christine just said it’s been so long. We hugged and then I started telling her about everything, so the trust has always been there.”  


Ellanah and Christine’s story is another example of an unbreakable bond created by TeamMates. 

 


Published: February 7, 2023, Updated: February 7, 2023

Ellanah and Christine are February's TeamMates of the Month.