kesher
Building Connection, Confidence, and Resilience
A mentorship program for Jewish girls in Metro Detroit
What is Kesher?
Kesher was founded in 2021 to address rising mental-health challenges among Orthodox Jewish girls in Detroit through personalized mentorship. Each “Little Sister” (aged 6-17) is paired with a carefully selected “Big Sister” mentor based on personality, interests, and compatibility. The two spend meaningful time together on a weekly basis with the purpose of creating a safe, nonjudgmental space where Little Sisters feel seen, heard, and valued. The relationship becomes a microcosm of healthy connection, helping girls build self-esteem, emotional resilience, and the ability to form meaningful relationships in the future.
Kesher’s success is fully attributable to the extraordinary Big Sisters who devote their time, energy, and heart to their Little Sisters each week.
What's the Science Behind Kesher's Approach?
CDC data shows that 52.6% of high school girls experience persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and 38.8% struggle with poor mental health.
Kesher addresses this by pairing school-aged girls with a trained Big Sister mentor who offers culturally sensitive support to build connection, self-esteem, and emotional resilience.
Psychologist Donald Hebb’s principle — “neurons that fire together wire together” — shows how repeated positive experiences strengthen neural pathways, especially during childhood. When a Big Sister consistently offers time, attention, and compassion, she helps her Little Sister form healthy core beliefs and stronger emotional foundations.
How Does Kesher
Oversee the Mentorships?
Kesher's staff psychologist, Dr. Henny Shoshana, provides psychoeducation and training that equips Big Sisters with essential skills: active listening strategies, problem-solving techniques, empathy development, and effective communication styles tailored to individual mentee’s needs and circumstances.
Training also emphasizes building trust through unconditional positive regard, fostering self-esteem, and maintaining healthy boundaries — while helping mentors recognize when a situation may exceed the scope of peer mentorship.
Throughout the year, Dr. Shoshana checks in with Big Sisters to ensure that they feel confident, well-equipped, and empowered to support their Little Sisters. These check-ins also help mentors know when and how to seek additional professional intervention if needed.
Kesher invests heavily in educating and supporting volunteers so they can create the most optimal, healthy, and effective mentor-mentee relationships.
Little Sisters
Little Sisters are referred to Kesher through school personnel or community partners because of familial, social, emotional, or other challenges they are facing. Most program participants do not have major mental-health struggles — they are girls who would simply benefit from a supportive and meaningful relationship, consistent attention, and self-esteem building. Kesher serves as a preventative program during the formative years of a girl’s life.
Big Sisters
All Kesher Big Sisters enthusiastic, caring, and dedicated young adults committed to positively impacting the life of a young child or teen. After a careful screening process, volunteers receive training and continuous support from Kesher’s mental-health professional. Kesher believes that educating and empowering mentors creates the most optimal and effective mentor-mentee relationships.
Who Benefits More - the Little or Big Sisters?
Kesher’s primary purpose is to support Little Sisters. However, Big Sisters gain tremendously as well. Volunteers consistently share how much they love their time with their Littles and how meaningful the experience is. Big Sisters develop confidence, relationship skills, and a sense of accomplishment. As the Jewish saying goes, “When you give, you get.” These relationships are truly a win-win.
Our Growing Community Impact
Mentorship Connections
75+ Sisters
Kesher currently supports 75+ pairs of Big and Little Sisters — more than 150 individuals benefiting from the program every week.
Program Growth
325 + lives changed
Kesher changed over 325 lives of school ages girls helped since our founding.
100%
of participant parents say their daughter looks forward to their visits with their Big Sisters.
83%
of parents indicated that their daughter shows increased confidence in handling difficult situations as a result of working with their Big Sister.
97%
of parents feel their daughters become more confident in themselves through the program.
90%
of participant parents say their daughters’ relationship with the Big Sister has had a positive impact on their child's emotional well-being.
What Big Sisters Say
"I have volunteered for different organizations in the past. The time I spent volunteering for Kesher has had the most profound impact on my own personal development. I find it meaningful and heartwarming to see how much my Little Sister looks forward to spending time together each week. It’s MY favorite part of my week!”
What Little Sisters Say
"My Kesher Big Sister is the highlight of my week. I know that life is hard and school is hard for me, but when my Big Sister comes to pick me up I feel like she's one of the only people who I can talk to and who really cares so much about me."
What Parents Say
“[My daughter] feels like a million bucks when she goes out with her big sister.”
“My daughter's Bis Sister is creative, fun, and dedicated to spending quality time with her. They do a variety of activities together - each week they do something different and that keeps their time together exciting and fun. But honestly, the main benefit is the consistent focused time with someone who enjoys spending time with her, recognizes her strengths, and encourages her to be her amazing self. The focused time is confidence-building and gives her something to look forward to each week.”
“My daughter waits at the window each week on the day that her Big Sister is picking her up. She loves telling me about it and how she loves talking to her Big Sister.”
“In many ways, [my daughter’s Big Sister] has helped shape their world — filling it with love, fairness, and achdus. The environment she creates is one where every child feels seen, valued, and treated with genuine care and consistency. There is warmth, but also structure. There is compassion, but also accountability. That balance has made all the difference.”
Your contribution helps us establish lasting mentorship connections and provide the emotional support our little sisters need to thrive.