Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Georgia Mountains

Count on Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters has been the nation's preeminent youth-service organization for a century. Our service is based on our volunteers. We have a proven success in creating and nurturing relationships between adults and children.

Little Moments. Big Magic.
Big Brothers and Big Sisters are, foremost, friends to children: They share everyday activities, expand horizons, and experience the joy in even the simplest events. Within those little moments lies the big magic that a Big Brother or Big Sister brings to the life of a young person.

Professionals in youth development support these individual, responsible relationships. And national research has shown that the shared experiences between Bigs and Littles have a direct and lasting impact on children's lives. A Big can help a child discover a world of possibilities and opportunities simply by being a genuine friend.

Being a Big Brother or Big Sister is something that almost anyone can do. The only requirement is a willingness to make a new friend and a desire to share some fun with a young person. Our volunteers consistently say that being part of BBBS match is as enjoyable and fulfilling for them as it is for their Littles.

An Organization You Trust
Youth development experts agree that, in addition to their parents, children need additional supportive, caring adults in their lives. BBBS works closely with parents to match every child with the right Big Brother or Big Sister. Each potential Big is screened, trained, and supervised to help ensure that the relationship will be safe and rewarding for everyone involved.

Today, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves hundreds of thousands of children in 5,000 communities across the country. And we are continually growing: Our goal is to provide Bigs to 400,000 children by 2004, the year of our 100th anniversary, and to one million children by 2010.

Nobody else is doing the work that Big Brothers Big Sisters does in exactly the way we do it. That is why America counts on Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Impact
Recently Public/Private Ventures conducted a comprehensive study of boys and girls involved in a one-to-one mentoring relationship through the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. The results:

46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and
27% less likely to start drinking;
52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school;
30% less likely to hit someone; and
Mentored girls are 5 times less likely than other girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in Georgia to become pregnant.

Quite simply, mentoring makes a difference.

About Us - Frequently Asked Questions

What does it take to be a Big Brother or Big Sister?
Big Brothers and Big Sisters are, foremost, friends to children: They share everyday activities, expand horizons, and experience the joy in even the simplest events. Within those little moments lies the big magic that a Big Brother or Big Sister brings to the life of a young person.

Being a Big Brother or Big Sister is something that almost anyone can do. Each potential Big is screened, trained, and supervised to help ensure that the relationship will be safe and rewarding for everyone involved. The only requirement is a willingness to make a new friend and a desire to share some fun with a young person. Our volunteers consistently say that being part of BBBS match is as enjoyable and fulfilling for them as it is for their Littles.

What do "Bigs" and "Littles" do together?
Bigs and Littles share everyday activities: Playing sports, seeing movies, cooking, going over schoolwork, visiting museums, washing the car, taking walks, volunteering in their communities, or just hanging out. Youth development experts agree that, in addition to their parents, children need additional supportive, caring adults in their lives.

How did Big Brothers and Big Sisters begin?
Ernest Coulter, a court clerk from New York City, started New York Big Brothers in 1904, which would eventually become Big Brothers Big Sisters. Coulter was influenced by the work of Judge Julius Mayer of the New York Children's Court, where Coulter worked. Judge Mayer recruited influential men to mentor delinquent boys who came before him.

Coulter became increasingly appalled by the suffering and misery of the thousands of children who came through the court. In late 1904, he appeared before a group of civic and business leaders and described a boy about to be jailed: "There is only one way to save that youngster, and that is to have some earnest, true man volunteer to be his Big Brother, to look after him, help him to do right, make the little chap feel that there is at least one human being in this great city who takes a personal interest in him. Someone who cares whether he lives or dies. I call for a volunteer!" Every man in the room raised his hand.

The following year, Catholic Big Sisters, the first known Big Sisters program in the country, was formed in New York.

Where did the idea for Big Brothers and Big Sisters come from?
At the turn of the twentieth century, the media was exposing the terrible problems many children faced - dangerous jobs, poverty, crime, and absent parents. A man named Irvin Westheimer from Cincinnati was credited with creating the Big Brothers Big Sisters concept in 1903.

One day Westheimer saw a young boy and his dog scavenging through trashcans for food. He introduced himself to the boy and gave him a decent meal. Later he met the boy's impoverished family, and he eventually became a trusted friend. Westheimer went on to found Big Brothers of Cincinnati in 1910

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