Big Brothers and Big Sisters

By Miracle Negron, Olympia Chapter Leader

A program that I found beneficial to me in my community is Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Their goal is to provide relationships between a youth and a mentor to help change their outlook on life. These are youth who have faced hardships in their lives. With the help of the mentors, or "Bigs," young people can create a bond that may be the best thing that has ever happened to them. Each Big takes their "Little" out to parks, forms an interpersonal connection with them, and becomes their support system when needed.

As a Little, aged 5-18, you are matched with a Big that fits your interests and what you like in someone. When the program finds a potential match, they notify the guardian and they set up a meet time to see if they are a good match. From there, you work with staff and your guardian to figure out when and how often the Little sees their Big.

I was a Little in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. This was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I wanted someone who was older than I, but still young enough to do fun activities. I was matched with someone ten years older than mysel

All in all, we are a great pair and support each other in all that we do. Even though I have aged out of Big Brothers Big Sisters and my big has a foster child, we still meet at least once a month which is the average for people involved in the program.f. She had her Juris Doctorate as a lawyer and I was majoring in Criminal Justice so this was an awesome opportunity to get the support I needed to complete classes at South Puget Sound Community College. I'm also a good mentor to my Big as well. She is currently looking to adopt a child and wants to provide the child with all the support it deserves. Since I've been in foster care since the age of 4 and am now a former foster youth as well as a former adoptee, I know the hardships that may occur.