A BIG Need: Volunteers From Outlying Areas
A BIG Need: Volunteers From Outlying Areas
It comes as no surprise, but Central Texas is changing. Consistently ranked at the top of ‘fastest growing communities’ lists, the area has experienced massive growth in population and changes in housing. All of which have impacted businesses and families – especially BBBS families, prompting many of them to move to counties surrounding Austin.
How does that impact BBBS? It is harder to make matches for these families because many of our prospective volunteers are centrally located. We have an urgent need for Bigs from outlying areas who can meet this growing need.
Matching a child with a Big is a serious business at BBBS. It’s a process that produces amazing, life-long relationships, but the matching process is very intentional, which is something that sets BBBS apart.
If a match doesn’t last past the first 6 months, it’s not good for the child or the volunteer. Consequently, creating the right match from the very start is critical. An important factor in the matching process has to do with proximity. We aim to keep the driving distance between Bigs and Littles within 20 to 30 minutes, if possible. We don’t want volunteers to have to drive an hour to spend time with their mentees.
“We ask all of our participants for a one-year commitment,” said Ana Rodriguez, BBBS Director of Customer Relations and Enrollment. “We would like for them to live relatively close to each other to create that sense of consistency and commitment for each other. As we know, traffic in our area is unavoidable, but if we can keep that obstacle to a minimum, we will try to do so. Things may change throughout or even after a year of being matched, but if we can provide a great foundation for the match, that is very important.”
With so many of our families moving to the suburbs, BBBS needs to find more volunteers in these locations. “We have quite a list of ‘ready to be matched’ Littles located in the outskirts of Austin,” said Mitzi Neville, BBBS Chief Impact Officer. “Areas such as Manor, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Taylor, Hutto and Cedar Park. Finding volunteers to match with these kids is one of our biggest priorities.”
As a result, BBBS is developing outreach strategies to recruit mentors from these locations. The agency plans to hold mixers and networking events, to offer Lunch & Learn presentations at local businesses and organizations, and to advertise in these communities to get the word out.
You can help! If you know of a group or business in any of these communities that would be interested in learning more about BBBS, hosting a networking event, scheduling a Lunch & Learn presentation, or distributing information about our organization, please reach out to Meg Sweeny at Msweeny@bigmentoring.org. If you know people who live in these areas who might make great Bigs, please encourage them to contact us. Or, if you have other ideas and connections, please let us know.
Mentoring has powerful benefits. Last year more than 96 percent of the children served by BBBS remained in school and improved their grades, 99.9 percent avoided early parenting, and 95 percent avoided juvenile justice involvement. BBBS youth are also above the national average in terms of finishing high school and planning to attend college.
At BBBS, many of our matches last for a lifetime. That’s why we work so hard to help them get off to the right start. Living within a comfortable distance from one another allows Bigs and Littles to meet more easily and regularly, which helps to create strong connections.
As Central Texas grows and as more of the families we serve reside in counties surrounding Austin, we need to find more Bigs who come from these areas as well. We have a number of kids and families who are already waiting to meet them.
