BBBSWNC welcomes and enrolls youth from 6-15 years old.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina offers three mentoring programs—each of which provides its own unique opportunities for your child to engage with their Big Brother or Big Sister. There is no cost to participate in any of our programs.
The firsts steps to getting your child enrolled are to choose which program will work best for them and then to contact the regional office closest to you to find out if your family is eligible and schedule an interview.
Parent FAQs
As a parent, bringing a new mentor into your child’s life can be a huge step—a step that is not just transformative to your child’s life, but often for yours and the mentor’s as well. As you consider enrolling your child in one of Big Brothers Big Sisters’ programs, here are some frequently asked questions that you may be asking:
How will my child benefit?
Statistically, when compared to their non-mentored peers, Little Brothers and Little Sisters are 52% less likely to skip school and 46 % less likely to begin using illegal drugs, and there are so many other immeasurable benefits they will experience from having a consistent and caring adult in their life including higher self confidence and personal aspirations.
When your child is matched with his or her Big Brother of Big Sister, he/she will:
- Have brand new, fun experiences that broaden their horizons
- Gain self-confidence and believe in what they are capable of
- Expand their vision of what’s possible for their future
- Learn new skills and try new activities
What is my role as parent or guardian?
Big Brothers Big Sisters works closely with parents and guardians to match every child with the right Big. Your input about the type of volunteer that is right for your child is very important.
Once matched, A Match Support Specialist requests your feedback regularly about your child’s relationship with their Big and about how we can be meet the needs of your child.
Our goal is for Littles’ parents to be an integral part of a mentoring team which includes: 1) the parent, 2) the mentor or “Big” and 3) the BBBS match support specialist. Together, this mentoring team provides mutual support and communication so that the match relationship is enriching and expansive for everyone involved.
What kinds of activities will my child be doing?
Bigs and Littles share in a diversity of everyday activities and we work hard during the enrollment and matching process to evaluate individual interests of both the mentor and mentee so that once they meet, there are ample common interests for them to pursue and explore together but still plenty of potential for expanding both of their horizons.
Some common activities Bigs and Littles enjoy include: playing sports; reading; cooking; arts and crafts; volunteering and community service; visiting local attractions; gardening; movies; hiking or going out to eat.
What Parents Say
The Whens and Whys of Match Support
Each Big/Little match is provided with a professionally trained Match Support Specialist. Watch this short video below to learn more about how match support works, what to expect and how parents can be a successful partners in the match support process.
