“My Big Sister is special because she is one of a kind! She is a beautiful person inside out and I wouldn't trade her for the world.”

Enrolling a Little

Do you remember a person from your childhood who you not only looked up to, but who brought a little magic into your life, just by being there? Likely, it was someone other than your parents, someone you respected, but who did not have an authoritarian, parental role.

Youth development experts agree that, in addition to their parents, children need additional supportive, caring adults in their lives. Little Brothers and Little Sisters-"Littles"-are children of school age have been given that advantage, and have a friend there just for them.

Through their friendship with a Big Brother or Big Sister, Littles often discover a whole new world of experiences, opportunity, and potential. Being a Little can transform the life of a child, and have lifelong results. In fact, research has shown that the shared experiences between Bigs and Littles have a direct and lasting impact on young people's lives.

Bigs and Littles do simple things together-playing sports, seeing movies, cooking, going over schoolwork, visiting museums, washing the car, taking walks, volunteering in their communities, or just hanging out together. It's the friendship that develops while doing these everyday activities that makes the difference.

Big Brothers Big Sisters works closely with parents and guardians to match every child with the right Big. Every volunteer is screened, trained, and supervised, and professionals in youth development support each match to help ensure that the relationship will be safe and rewarding for everyone involved.

The Options:

Community Based Mentoring is a program that matches children ages 6 to 18 (or 4 to 18 if the child has a parent in prison) with a volunteer mentor. The volunteers, who we call "Bigs" are adults or at least 21 years old. The Bigs and the child, who we call "Little" get together once a week for about 2-4 hours. The Big and Little, that we call a "Match", do mostly free or low cost activities, such as play or watch sports, bake cookies, go to the park or the libaray. The one-to-one relationship creates positive outcomes for the child. Children who have a Big Brother or Big Sister:

Develop more confidence
Develop an improved sense of their future
Develop improved social skills
Less likely to start using drugs or alcohol
Show improved school attitude
Show improved school performance
Are less likely to lie to a parent or guardian
Show improved relationships with peers, family and other adults

Bigs In Schools matches children in grades one to six at one of our school sites. The current sites for Bigs in Schools are:

Hunter Lake Elementary School
Grace Warner Elementary School
Mt. Rose Elementary School
Rita Cannan Elementary School
Sierra Vista Elementary School
Veterans Elementary School

The volunteer Big Brother or Big Sisters is either an adult or at least fifteen years old. The Little and Big get together once a week for an hour, usually have lunch together, play on the playground, do a craft project or spend time in the library. The match usually only get together when school is in session, but during the summer we will try to plan a couple of group match activities for all the Bigs and Littles to get together.

Reaching for the Stars is our special mentoring program for children with incarcerated parents. In this program Littles are ages 4 to 17. These matches are similar to either the Bigs in School or Community Based Program, but extra support is offered to the families to help with their needs.

In all of our programs, our Bigs go through a careful screening which includes an interview, a criminal background check, a reference check and approval by the agency.

It sounds great! How do I enroll my child?

First, talk to your child about Big Brothers Big Sisters. Be sure she or he wants a Big Brother or Big Sister.
Contact us at 352-3202 for Reno, Sparks or North Valley or
283-0606 for Carson City serving Carson Valley.
The interview takes about 1 ½ hours and includes an orientation. Both the caregiver/parent and the child need to come.
If the child is accepted into the program, she or he goes on a waiting list until just the right Big Brother or Big Sister is accepted.
When we have the right "Big" for your child, we will call you and schedule a time to introduce you and the child to the Big.
Girls usually get matched more quickly than boys, because we usually see more women volunteering than men.