WE CHANGE LIVES
THE COST OF DOING NOTHING
Potential. It exists in every kid. Yet many children and youth struggle with societal barriers and face adversities such as poverty, family instability, and identity-based discrimination. These adversities can negatively impact a young person’s future.
IGNITING POTENTIAL
Mentoring relationships change young people’s lives. With training and professional support, Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors form strong positive relationships with their mentees that express care, challenge growth, share power, and expand possibilities.
CHANGING TWO LIVES
Mentees and mentors alike benefit from these professionally supported relationships. When you’re there for a young person as they grow up, you learn just as much as they do..
WHICH LEADS TO BETTER FUTURES
HIGHER INCOMES
HIGHER ESTEEM
ACHIEVEMENTS
BETTER HEALTH
BELONGING
HOW DO WE DO IT?
BBBS creates individual and group mentoring relationships amongst adults and youth.
Mentorship is a two-way, learning and development partnership where the young person needs are placed at the centre.
Because young people’s brains are still developing, mentoring can support that process through back-and-forth interaction like the volley in a good game of ping-pong.
Mentoring is an important way to give youth experience with these essential back-and-forth relationships, developing them into healthy young people better able to deal with and overcome life’s adversities.
THE STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL MENTORING
RECRUIT
SCREEN
TRAIN
MATCH
SUPPORT
We have a comprehensive infrastructure for supporting mentorship partnerships: detailed legal screening of mentors to ensure child safety; a broad network of professional staff supporting mentors and volunteers; systems for selecting, approving and supporting volunteers; referring families to agencies that provide other services if required for the mentee and their family.
OUR PROGRAMS
ONE-TO-ONE MENTORING
Our One-To-One mentoring programs provide our youth with a role model to talk to and share the experiences of growing up with. The result is a life-changing experience for both the mentor and the mentee.
GROUP-MENTORING
Our Group-Programs enable us to provide meaningful mentoring movement for the youth on our waiting list. These programs offer monthly agency planned and supervised group activities.
ON-SITE & VIRTUAL PROGRAMS
The social distancing required by the Covid-19 pandemic has been a catalyst to move our mentoring online. We have been working tirelessly to allow mentors and mentees to be matched virtually.