What does Big Brothers Big Sisters do?
Since 1966, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County has been the premier provider of youth mentoring services in Dane County. Our one-to-one mentoring program creates and supports mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Our vision is for all youth to achieve their full potential.
When you participate in Trivia Night, you have the power to change lives for the better, forever. We depend on the money raised from our events like Trivia Night to carry out the work of carefully matching children with caring adult mentors and providing ongoing support to the Big, Little and the Little's family.
Before we make a Match (a Big/Little relationship), we do our homework. After someone expresses an interest in becoming a Big, they go through a background check and careful interview process. Then we match Bigs and Littles based on location, personalities and preferences. But our work doesn't stop there. We provide ongoing support for the life of the Match, helping them develop a lasting, impactful friendship. The entire matching process is made possible though donations from individuals like you.
Click here to learn more about becoming a Big in our program.
Using our research-based service delivery model, our program helps children achieve success in school, avoid risky behaviors, improve their self-confidence, and aspire for the future. We hold ourselves accountable to our supporters by regularly measuring our impact.
Mentoring has always been important, but its presence has never been more crucial for the youth we serve. At a time when many of our Littles were already facing inequities as a result of their race, income, home life, etc., the pandemic came along and widened disparities, compounded hardship, and increased their likelihood of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
But researchers studying the impact of ACEs have found that the presence of positive childhood experiences, like mentoring, can serve as a “buffer” that protects against the worst consequences of trauma. Mentoring builds stronger youth today but also does the powerful preventative work to build stronger youth tomorrow.
For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County, please visit www.bbbsmadison.org.