Big Brothers Big Sisters- A boon to community’s children

As most people know, Big Brothers Big Sisters aims to match adults and children in a one-on-one mentoring relationship to help all children reach their goals. It’s one of the oldest and largest youth mentoring charities in the United States, and it makes its presence felt here in Houston County as well.

Mickell Gooden, program area manager for BBBS, recruits adult mentors and children into the program.

“The opportunity I get to impact a child’s life and help with issues, whether shyness of an educational thing, or maybe they had a guardian in the past and are now in a new environment is the enjoyment I get from it,” Gooden said. “It’s just trying to help the child with any obstacle or hurdle.”

All children regardless of religion, ethnicity or socioeconomic program are welcome to join the program, Gooden said, and as a research-based organization, BBBS knows that mentor relationships can help any child, though there are certain qualities he looks for.

“First off, I love to hear about family dynamics, whether from a single parent, government or public housing. I interview for personality, ask about what they like to do, their favorite teachers and how the teacher treats them so we can look for the same things in the mentor as well,” Gooden said.

Not all children make the cut, as unfortunate as that may be.

“We definitely have to reject. We have certain do’s and don’ts, and we cannot enroll any aggressive child. It wouldn’t be fair to the mentor since we ask for a year commitment.”

Mentors are screened as well via a background check and interview. The organization asks for a year-long commitment to mentor a child, and community-based volunteers need to be able to spend eight to 10 hours a month with their match on their own time.

“For mentors, we look for previous youth organization or events, whether they’ve mentored before, in the Boys and Girls Club, babysitting, coached youth sports,” Gooden said. “We have do’s and don’ts as well, and if nothing comes up on a background check, we look for experience, how comfortable they are, what type of children they like. The more comfortable they are, the more likely that relationship can keep taking place.”

Mentors get to have an interview with a match support specialist upon deciding to join the organization, and during the interview, the potential mentors are asked about hobbies or what they would do in a certain situation. The match support has to be able to read people well in order to find out what the mentor is like in order to pair that mentor with a child who has similar interests and likes. After the match, the specialist will continue to keep in touch with both the child and mentor to make sure things are going smoothly. They are also available if a mentor or child has a problem.

“Our agency is research based, so we’re not going to match someone and say ‘see you in a year,’” Gooden said. “We have a monthly, continuous follow-up to see if there are any issues, and we do wrap-around care as well.”

What Gooden means by wrap-around care is that a match support specialist only spends a short amount of time with the child and family, so they may not see certain issues that need addressing. However, mentors spend several hours each month with their mentee and may see an issue the family is struggling with, such as needing food assistance. In cases such as that, the mentor can speak to the match support specialist who can then refer the family to another agency that can help.

“Mentors always have to get activity approval from the parent,” Gooden said. For example, just because a mentor is responsible for the child outside of the home doesn’t mean the parent stops being a parent.

“Mentors have to focus on being a friend, and bring consistent is the most important thing when starting out with a child. Kids are good at reading people, so being consistent is important. Mentors shouldn’t see the child too much in the beginning — it’s a fresh, new friendship, so don’t be a burden on the child or yourself. Kids have high expectations, so if they start out seeing a child 20 hours the first month, they (the children) will expect that the next month,” Gooden said.

BBBS also has another way adults can mentor children in Huston County, which is through the REACH program.

“REACH is an acronym for Raising Educational Achievement for the Children of Houston County,” Gooden said. “We have a partnership with Robins Air Force Base for civilian employees. They can go mentor in the school system for one hour a week at no cost to them. Really, it’s an hour of leave time.”

The partnership with the base is now 20 years old, and it allows a mentor to work an hour before or after lunch to mentor in one of the title 1 schools, which means the school has a free or reduced lunch program. Active duty personnel are not part of REACH; however, if they are not deployable, they are able to join the community-based program.

Mentors are needed, especially male mentors, and anyone is welcome to apply to BBBS. Parents can also enroll their children in the program, as research shows that 92 percent of Littles maintain or improve their grades and 90 percent have better peer satisfaction, meaning they are less susceptible to illicit behaviors or drug. It is also proven that children who are mentored for 18 months get a positive, lasting change on their entire lives. Even mentors can feel a strong, lasting impact on their own lives through their mentorship.

“I think all children wan to learn, and having this program puts somebody in their corner that’s going to be accountable,” Gooden said. “They want attention, they will act out, but they want someone to be accountable to them.

To enroll your child or sign up as a mentor, visit the Big Brother Big Sisters Heart of Georgia website at www.bbbsheartga.org.

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