2010_11 Annual Report - Big Brothers Big Sisters of Victoria

Community Mentoring Lisa and Michaela
The children and youth who participate in Community mentoring programs
are diverse in age, gender, religion, ethnicity, and social backgrounds.
They live in a geographic region that extends across Greater
Victoria, from Sooke to the Gulf Islands and north to the Malahat, but
they share a single common thread – they each need an additional
positive role model and mentor in their lives to help them build resiliency,
confi dence, and self-esteem, to learn new tools and problemsolving
skills, and to engage in learning and positive activities that help
them connect and succeed at school, at home and in the community.
Every child registered in a traditional community-based mentoring
program is matched with a volunteer mentor who will visit with them
for up to four hours once each week for a minimum of one year. The
child and mentor decide on activities and destinations together, and
work to develop self-esteem, confi dence, resiliency, and the tools and
skills needed to succeed in school, at home, and in the community.
The average mentoring match between a child and volunteer lasts 15.7
months, many last much longer. The positive impact of mentoring lasts
for a lifetime.
Through community mentoring we are able to offer traditional Big
Brother or Big Sister mentoring, Aboriginal mentoring, couples mentoring
and small group mentoring through Big Bunch. It takes on average
six weeks to successfully screen and train a community based mentoring
volunteer.
START SOMETHING to connect with others.
“I am very proud of the young woman that Michaela has become. I love
Michaela very much and it has been a privilege to watch her grow up into a
confi dent, and well balanced teenager.
Through the 9 years that we have been together, a lot has happened in our
lives. I got married and I even asked Michaela to be a junior bridesmaid in
my wedding. I’ve had two beautiful children and I fi nished my PhD. And
Michaela has been a part and shared in the joys of all of those things.
She has grown up. When we fi rst started to hang out we used to bake and
scrpabook and now, we get together and have coffee and talk.
I couldn’t have asked for a better match.” -Lisa, Big Sister
“ A big part of who I am today, is because of my Big Sister Lisa. She has
helped me through so much and I’ve learned so much from her. I’m studying
biology and history at Camosun College right now. She taught me that
volunteering is important. And last March I had fundraised enough money to
go to Africa with 5 classmates to volunteer and help build schools for children
there. I couldn’t have asked for a better Big Sister.” - Michaela, Little Sister
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