Kate Hartman 2015-12-18 13:56:31
THE ORGANIZATION: Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters
THE STORY: At different points in our lives we can all use a big brother or big sister, someone to lean on and spend time with. Many of us are lucky enough to have an older sibling in our lives, but there are those of us who don’t, or who aren’t close with our relatives, and must seek that kind of bond elsewhere.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has always seen the importance of this relationship and its local chapter, Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters, has been pairing youths with adult volunteers for 50 years. The group marks its anniversary on Jan. 14 with a party at the Connecticut Historical Society and the timing couldn’t be any more perfect since January is also National Mentoring Month.
“The core of our mission is to match children in need with great professionally supported mentors so that those children can reach their highest potential,” says Andy Fleischmann, local chapter president.
When people think of Big Brothers Big Sisters, they likely imagine a child and a mentor going out for the day to a museum or a baseball game. Fleischmann says that is still the vast majority of what the organization does, but it also facilitates site-based programming where children go to a workplace or school to spend time with volunteers. It also has a “foster grandparent” program, where low-income seniors are taken into classrooms to spend time with young children.
In all of the programs, the experience is one-on-one for child and mentor. Fleischmann’s team of professional enrollment coordinators takes great care to pair the right child with the right adult to be sure both are getting the most out of the experience. All manner of personal experience, from race to religion and home life to sexual orientation, is taken into consideration when making a pair.
“There are a lot of ways that kids have needs,” he says. “We are sensitive to the incredible variety and depth of need out there.”
“We ask our big brothers and big sisters to commit at least six to ten hours per month of their time to being with the child one-on-one,” Fleischmann says. “After several months of that time, it is quite common that the child falls in love with the big brother or big sister and vice versa. Once there’s a strong bond, they want the match to continue. We aim for long-term matches between mentors and children. In our community-based program, the average match length is three years.”
Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters works with approximately 1,000 children each year and is aiming to grow in the future. That growth is dependent on funding and having the right amount of personnel to make the matches. Over the last 50 years, more than 65,000 children have been served.
The organization hosted a fundraising gala in November and has other events planned. Excitement is high for the 50th anniversary celebration in January, which will bring together many current and former big brothers and big sisters.
“Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of the few youth service programs out there for which the primary intended result is love,” says Fleischmann. “We don’t talk about that when they are thinking about volunteering because it can be intimidating, but the reality is once they’ve met their little brother or little sister, they become engaged in their lives. There are amazing close bonds that form.”
nutmegbigbrothersbigsisters.org
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Published by New Haven Register formerly 21st Century Media Newspapers . View All Articles.
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