Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central California

Community

Who We Are

Mission

To provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported 1-to-1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.

Vision
All children achieve success in life.

History of Big Brothers Big Sisters
The Big Brothers movement began in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1903 and slowly the one-to-one mentoring philosophy took hold over the next forty years. In 1946, thirteen Big Brothers Associations joined forces and formed Big Brothers of America, one of the few social welfare organizations to be chartered by the Congress of the United States. Big Brothers of America and Big Sisters of America merged in 1976. Today, our agency is a full network affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. There are more than 400 affiliated agencies nationwide serving youth and helping them reach their potential.

Our local donor and volunteer supported agency formed in Fresno in 1968 and began mentoring services in 1969. Since that time, we have served over 10,000 children and their families. In 1997 satellite offices opened in Hanford and Madera to cover an expanded service area of Kings and Madera counties. Expanding yet again, in late 2007 we merged with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tulare County and changed the name to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central California to reflect our new region. Today, we serve four counties in the Central Valley and serve over 1,000 children each year through our different programs.

Our program has been acknowledged and honored by the Juvenile Justice Commission, Fresno Police Department, Fresno County Probation Department, California Youth Authority, City of Fresno, The United Way of Fresno County, and the Governor’s Office. We received a 2005 Quality Award and a 2007 and 2008 Family Strengthening awards from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In 2015, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central California was one of 16 agencies to receive the National Gold Standard Award for their outstanding statistics and reaching all of their yearly goals.

What We Do

Who do we serve?

While Big Brothers Big Sisters is one regional non-profit organization, programs are tailored to the unique circumstances of each county. Currently, we are have programs in four counties and hope to expand into our 5th county within the next 5 years.

Our Counties
Fresno County - Madera County - Tulare County - Kings County - (Future Plans to Expand into Kern County)

Even though we are spread throughout the Central Valley, we have our main office in Fresno with three satellite offices in Madera, Visalia and Oakhurst. Our mentors are recruited locally for children in their local community and funds are raised locally as well. We pride ourselves on having representation from all our counties serving on our Board of Directors to ensure that each county is well served and spoken for.

Community Based Mentoring

Community Based Mentoring is the original program that Big Brothers Big Sisters started with and is the most flexible. Our volunteers work with children in their local community by spending time together one to one. Volunteers are called "Bigs" and our children enrolled are called "Littles" and they hang out in their community 2-4 times a month to share fun activities and learn about each other. Being a Big is simple, if you know how to be a friend, you know how to be a Big. Bigs pick up their Littles from their homes for these outings and set aside time based on each individual's schedule. There is no set time or day for each outing which works out great for our Bigs who are in the work force.

Getting together with your Little should be fun as all outings are based on things you and your Little enjoy doing. Since Bigs and Littles are matched for compatibility, they usually have things in common from the beginning. It doesn’t require expensive activities or special occasions. Share the simple things you already like to do with your Little can create that friendship.

Mentors listen, guide, care, and have fun. We find that the impact of mentoring positively affects matches that have been together for at least a year. This is why we ask volunteers to make a minimum one year community to the program. But trust us that when you’re having fun, time flies by

Details

	(559) 268-2447 ext. 1013
	aphelps@bigs.org
	Amanda
	Community & HSB Program Coordinator of Tulare/Kings County
	http://www.bigs.org

208 W. Main St. Suite E
Visalia , CA 93291