Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Sudbury

VISION All young people realize their full potential. MISSION To enable life changing mentoring relationships to ignite the power and potential of young people. STRUCTURE Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada is a Federation comprised of 108 member agencies servicing more than 1,100 communities across the country. ISSUE Many children and youth in Canada struggle with societal barriers and face adversities in their lives. IMPACT Facing prolonged adversity creates toxic stress in the brain that can negatively impact development. SOLUTION With the support of a mentor, these risks can be reduced or even avoided, and youth can reach their full potential. OUR SOLUTION Many children and youth in Canada struggle with societal barriers and face adversities in their lives like detrimental living conditions, family violence, risk factors for mental health, school issues and identity challenges. These circumstances have nothing to do with the value of who they are or who they can become, but because of these situations, children and youth risk not having the opportunity to live up to their full potential. Even worse is the possibility of continuing cycles of poverty and crime or developing mental health issues. This comes at a cost to the young person, and to society. With the guidance and support of a mentor, these risks can be reduced or even avoided, and youth are reminded they can be anything they dream of being. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada is a Federation comprised of 108 member agencies servicing more than 1,100 communities across the country. Together we mobilize over 21,300 volunteers who in turn mentor 41,700+ children and young people. That works out to nearly: 2.2 MILLION VOLUNTEER HOURS EACH YEAR Each Big Brother Big Sister agency provides direct service to children by matching volunteers and youths in quality mentoring relationships. Our agency staff members are experts at screening volunteers and matching them with a mentee having similar interests. The national organization provides services and programs to our member agencies to assist them with their work with parents, mentees, and volunteers. Ranging from staff training workshops to our leading Child Safety Program, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada works diligently to ensure we have superior quality programming in all parts of the country.

WE CHANGE LIVES The Cost of Doing Nothing THE COST OF DOING NOTHING Many young people find themselves in vulnerable situations and facing adversities such as mental health issues, family violence, identity issues or poor living conditions, which put these youth at risk of not reaching their full potential. PAVING THE WAY TO SUCCESS With the guidance and support of a mentor, these risks can be avoided, and these young people can gain the confidence to achieve more higher incomes, happier lives, more contributions to their communities. THE CONFIDENCE TO ACHIEVE MORE Our mentors advise and challenge these young people, act as their champions, provide greater consistency in their lives, connect them to broader experiences, opportunities and networks, and provide safe, nonjudgmental environments in which the child or youth can confide anything. WHICH LEADS TO BETTER FUTURES HIGHER INCOMES HIGHER ESTEEM ACHIEVEMENTS BETTER HEALTH BELONGING HOW DO WE DO IT? BBBS creates individual and group mentoring relationships amongst adults and youth. Mentorship is a two-way, learning and development partnership where the young person needs are placed at the centre. Because young peoples brains are still developing, mentoring can support that process through back-and-forth interaction like the volley in a good game of ping-pong. Mentoring is an important way to give youth experience with these essential back-and-forth relationships, developing them into healthy young people better able to deal with and overcome lifes adversities. THE STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL MENTORING RECRUIT SCREEN TRAIN MATCH SUPPORT We have a comprehensive infrastructure for supporting mentorship partnerships: detailed legal screening of mentors to ensure child safety; a broad network of professional staff supporting mentors and volunteers; systems for selecting, approving and supporting volunteers; referring families to agencies that provide other services if required for the mentee and their family.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Sudbury is open Monday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM Tuesday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM Thursday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM Friday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

Call (705) 673-6161, or use the website.

Phone

(705) 673-6161

Website

https://sudbury.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/