Mission

The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fresno, Kings and Madera Counties is to make a positive difference in the lives of children and youth, primarily through a professionally supported, one-to-one relationship with a caring adult, and to assist them to become healthy, confident, competent, and caring individuals.

History

The Big Brothers movement began in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1903.

The one-to-one mentoring philosophy slowly took hold over the next forty years. In 1946, thirteen Big Brothers Associations joined forces and formed Big Brothers of America, one of the few social welfare organizations to be chartered by the Congress of the United States. In 1970, Big Sisters Associations became Big Sisters of America, and in 1976 Big Brothers of America and Big Sisters of America merged. Our agency is a full member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Today there are over 500 affiliated agencies throughout the world serving youth.

A group for young men representing different backgrounds and vocations decided in 1968 to establish this unique social service in Fresno. They sponsored fundraising events, membership drives, etc., until a sufficient amount of money was raised to implement a Big Brothers program. In October of 1969, an Executive Director was hired to begin recruitment of volunteers, screen potential Little Brothers, and start providing Big Brothers one-to-one mentoring services. Big Brothers joined United Way of Fresno County in 1970. A Federal three-year grant was secured in 1970 from the California Council on Criminal Justice and was the major source of funds until 1973, allowing the program to grow to 52 active match relationships.

In March 1973 a contract was negotiated with Model Cities/Planned Variations. A commitment was made to implement a Big Sisters program as well as to expand Big Brothers services. This was achieved in 1973. By 1975 the city and county were providing revenue sharing funds. In 1976 the agency negotiated a contract with Manpower for a federally subsidized staff position under the CETA Act.

Since that time, the Board of Directors has continued to seek ways to finance the growing demand for our services. They continue to work toward diversifying our revenue to ensure that no more than 20% of funds are from one source. This will guarantee that a cut-off from any one source will not place our agency's future in serious jeopardy.

As society has changed over the years, so has the way that Big Brothers Big Sisters screens their volunteers. We have a very comprehensive and thorough screening process, to ensure the safety of children in our program. In 1989 we implemented an exclusive training program for the parent and the volunteer that includes issues related to child abuse, communication and effective mentoring.

Professional staff is well qualified in the area of counseling, with staff experienced in various disciplines such as marriage, family and child therapy, youth services and more.

Since 1969 we served over 8,000 children and their families. Our program has been acknowledged and honored by the Juvenile Justice Commission, Fresno Police Department, Fresno County Probation Department, California Youth Authority, City of Fresno, The United Way of Fresno County, and the Governor's Office.

In 1995 the Agency received a grant from the Garabedian Foundation to develop and implement a program dealing with character development. From this effort grew a new program and working handbook titled "Kids With Character". All new Bigs are provided with training and ongoing support to use the tools offered in the Kids With Character handbook.

In addition to our Fresno County program we offer our services in Madera and Kings Counties. In 1997, we opened branch offices in Hanford and Madera to cover our expanded service area. Initial funding from the State enabled us to hire program staff to recruit volunteers and begin providing services.

In 2001, we launched our first High School Bigs Program, recruiting students from local high schools to provide one-to-one mentoring of elementary school-age students. In 2003, nearly 50 high school students were matched with elementary students. The program continues to expand with all three counties participating.

As we look to our next 25 years, we know that we must continue to be sensitive to the needs of our growing and diverse community. We recognize that through our efforts, more children will be able to achieve their highest potential as they grow to become healthy, confident, capable, and caring individuals.