Big Brothers Big Sisters continues mentoring mission in Southern Indiana
Read the full story from the News & Tribune, published April 24, 2024.
NEW ALBANY, Ind. — A local, long-running mentorship program continues to uplift young people in Southern Indiana.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a nonprofit youth mentoring organization that was founded in 1904.
Bigs and Littles take part in a free yoga class in New Albany, Indiana.
Bryce Shreve, Marketing and Communications Manager with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana, said the mission of the organization is to create mentoring relationships between adults, called Bigs, and youth, called Littles, between the ages of 7 and 16.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana serves 10 counties between Kentucky and Indiana, including Clark and Floyd counties. The hope with each mentoring relationship is to inspire the young individuals to find their purpose and potential.
Adults sign up to be a Big, and Shreve said the process usually takes around a month for that adult to be approved and be matched with a mentee through the community-based program. Mentors meet about twice a month for two hours at a time.
The organization facilitates free community events for its participants, and offers free tickets to local events for mentors to take their mentees to.
The program also has the School to Work program in Southern Indiana where it partners with local workplaces and school districts to create mentoring relationships with high school students and career professionals.
Catie Eichhorn was a School to Work mentor when she worked at Samtec in New Albany, Indiana.
Catie Eichhorn is a professor in the school of business at Indiana University Southeast and has been involved in the organization for around eight years.
“[Mentoring] is a worthwhile endeavor,” she said.
At the time she began, she was working at Samtec, which is involved in the School to Work program. She and other Samtec employees were matched with Jeffersonville High School students and either met the students at the school or at the business, once a month for a few hours.
After her first mentee graduated, she began working with Liliana Gonzalez-Chavez, who she still communicates with today even after leaving Samtec since they’re both invested in the relationship, making it worthwhile to continue.
“We learn from each other,” Eichhorn said.
Eichhorn since has helped Gonzalez-Chavez apply to college and navigate that environment, a process her family was unfamiliar with. Gonzalez-Chavez is currently a student at Indiana University in Bloomington.
This is part of the Big Futures Program, which also has information for the mentees including help with budgeting, housing and other transitional adult advice for mentees between 16 and 25 years old.
“It’s really rewarding to be a part of that and just be a support for her and watch her succeed,” she said.
Eichhorn said when she was transitioning out of the School to Work program to more of the Community-Based match program with Gonzalez-Chavez, she was nervous about the commitment, but has found that a friendship has developed between the two and has even developed a relationship with Gonzalez-Chavez’s family.
“It’s been really enjoyable to be a part of that,” she said.
She said she not only talks about school work with her mentee, but also encourages her to have fun and relax.
Mellanie Hunter and her Little have done free activities like ice skating, cooking classes, and crafting.
Mellanie Hunter is a professional speaker, confidence coach, event producer and entrepreneur living in Charlestown. She’s now been mentoring her second student through the program, 11-year-old Jazlyn, since last June, and quickly saw that they have many things in common.
“It’s gone very well. She and I were very well matched,” Hunter said.
Hunter said that the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization is very helpful to its mentors by providing information and advice for mentoring. They also have an events calendar that helps to find things to do with her mentee.
Hunter said she and Jazlyn have done ice skating, cooking classes, painting, pottery and gone on trips. Ultimately, however, it’s more about being there for them in that moment.
“It’s about being their friend and spending time with them. Not impressing them,” Hunter said.
Hunter said that those who need mentoring in the program are those who can benefit from a connection with an adult outside of their parents/guardians since the mentors have a different perspective. This can lead to the mentee talking about something they might be struggling with that they may not necessarily feel comfortable discussing with their parents.
Hunter speaks during a Big Recruitment Night event in Louisville, Kentucky.
She said that considering the small amount of time it requires, more adults in the area should be volunteering to be a mentor to foster young people into their futures.
“If we’re going to complain about the next generation, but not be willing to do something about it, that’s a problem,” she said.
Every year, Shreve said Big Brothers Big Sisters conducts youth outcome surveys to quantify the impact on the mentees. Last fiscal year, he said the surveys determined 100% of the youth individuals involved avoided the juvenile justice system. Mentors also report more confidence in their leadership skills.
In total, there are 600 littles in the Kentuckiana area, with 100 of them being those in Southern Indiana. About 75% of the littles on the wait list are boys. Shreve said male mentors are typically harder to recruit.
“The fact that you are an adult and have made it as far as you have in life means you have something to give,” Hunter said about mentoring.
