CEO Corner April 2024

Happy Volunteer Month! We thank all our volunteers that serve as mentors or as board members. It takes a village to fulfill our mission of creating and supporting one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise in youth!

This month also marks the return of our annual Youth Protection Summit. The Summit highlighted emerging best practices in youth protection strategies and recent innovations from our own organization. BBBS has been a leader in child protection in its almost 120 year history, and our standards consistently evolve, becoming better and better over time. We modify and strengthen our child protection systems continuously, making it our priority to learn, share best practices, and screen volunteers to the highest standard.

Did you know our BBBS team monitors matches for the LIFE of the match? Yes, I said LIFE of the match, no matter how many years it spans. Our team did almost FOUR THOUSAND check-ins last year alone. Once we make a match between a child and mentor, we keep an eye on that relationship, checking in regularly with the child, mentor, and parent/guardian. We provide child safety check-ins, resources and referrals to other services that may be needed, access to planned activities and events that the match can attend. Plus, a listening ear for anything that may arise in the relationship.

Just like the flowers blooming – we are constantly changing and growing to provide the best possible outcomes for youth. Did you know that mentees/”Littles” in the program said…

98% said their Big provided stability
90% said their Big helped them make better choices
85% said they grew parental trust and relationships
80% said they viewed their social acceptance in a positive way
90% said their Big made them feel better about themselves
83% said they improved positive attitude towards school/grades
86% said they improved a positive attitude toward risk behaviors such as substance misuse

Mentoring works!

Happy spring 💐,
Stacy