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MISSION STATEMENT: Our mision is to provide children facing diversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported 1-to-1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.
We strive to foster positive and measurable growth for at-risk youth including a strengthened sense of self-worth; development of character; and improved relationships & performance at home, in school, and throughout the community. We achieve our goals through four (4) mentoring programs utilizing carefully-screened and trained volunteers.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Berks County, PA, serves children ages 8- to 19-years-of-age. Applications for new Little Brothers or Little Sisters are accepted up to and including age 15.
For volunteer Big Brothers or Big Sisters...flexibility is the key! They can choose between our various mentoring programs based upon the time they have available to volunteer, their location, their experience, etc.
ONE-TO-ONE program -- This is our best known program, and the cornerstone of our agency. A positive adult role model (aged 19 or older) is matched with a Little Brother or Little Sister for at least one year. The Little and Big meet for a minimum of 8-to-10 hours per month. The Big, Little, and parent/guardian of the Little decide on what the outings are and when they occur...with guidance and support form BBBS professional staff. Tremendous flexibility exists with this proven program offering.COUL (CLUB OF UNMATCHED LITTLES) program -- COUL is a group-mentoring program that offers a great option for volunteers with time constraints! Supervised COUL activities are held weekly for unmatched Little Brothers and Little Sisters while waiting to be matched in our One-To-One program. The activities differ each week, and range from informational/educational to just plain FUN! Volunteer mentors in this program are required to attend at least six (6) activities a year, although many attend more! COUL fosters resiliency, encourages goal-setting, teaches life skills, and provides all COUL Kids with a caring and supportive environment.TEEN program -- Also a group-mentoring program, TEEN is for clients already part of Big Brothers Big Sisters...ages 13 and older, matched or unmatched. The program is designed to teach adult-life skills, and helps our teen Littles prepare for the decisions they will need to make after high school graduation. TEEN meets at least once a month with Big Brothers/Sisters from our COUL and One-To-One programs helping. TEEN is a program for teens, run by teens...with a peer-elected TEEN Executive Committee planning and coordinating monthly events.SMART (STUDENTS & MENTORS ACHIEVING RESULTS TOGETHER) program -- This program is strictly a school-based mentoring program, targeting specific elementary & middle schools in Berks County. The program expanded for the 2012-13 school year to include Conrad Weiser East Elementary, Conrad Weiser West Elementary, and Conrad Weiser Middle Schools (Conrad Weiser School District), the Tilden Elementary School (in Hamburg School District), Whitfield Elementary (Wilson School District), and Muhlenberg Elementary Center (Muhlenberg SD). College, business professionals, and/or high-school students work with the Littles for at least one hour per week at the school in a carefully-supervised setting.
- 99% high school graduation rate
- 99% academic grade level advancement
- Less than 5% teenage pregnancy rate
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