INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The simple words “big” and “little” have huge meaning within the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, where “bigs” are matched with “littles” in hopes of developing long-term mentoring relationships with children and unlocking their potential for future success.
Big Brothers Big Sisters was founded in New York City in 1904, but didn’t make an appearance in Indian River County until 2003. The local chapter is essentially a legacy of the late Allan Klotsche, who passed away in March of this year.
“When he moved here he started looking for one to volunteer with and didn’t find one,” says Judi Miller, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee Counties.
Klotsche had chaired a successful chapter in Milwaukee before retiring to Vero Beach and, Miller remembers, “he drove himself down to Saint Lucie County, knocked on our door and we talked for a couple of hours.”
Klotsche initially volunteered and joined the Saint Lucie County board, before eventually garnering the support of then school superintendent Rodger Dearing and a stalwart band of early advisory board members, including Cathy LaCroix, Joanna Meyers, Peg Keller, Greg Brown, Pastor Jack Diehl, Trent Leyda and Deborah Long, to introduce the concept locally.
They launched the chapter working with 50 children in four Title 1 schools and never looked back; each year enlisting a growing number of supporters and increasing its influence to more than 500 children annually.
“It was truly a credit to Allan Klotsche that there is a Big Brothers Big Sisters in Indian River County,” says Miller. “Many of the first board members are still a part of our board, for which we’re very grateful.”
Although the majority of children are enrolled in the School-Based Mentoring program, recent grants and collaborations now present the opportunity to touch even more children through innovative new programs.
Thanks to a $100,000 grant awarded this past spring by Indian River Impact 100 through the Indian River Community Foundation, a collaborative program with Youth Guidance offers comprehensive mentor training, mentor roundtable facilitation, and researching best practices and mentor resources.
“That grant is a wonderful opportunity to provide collaborative services in Indian River County,” says Miller. “We have hired Jessica Brinkerhoff, who has a Master’s degree in social work, to do the mentor training and mentor roundtable facilitation. We’re very excited to have her on board. She has great experience in training and of course a terrific background in social work. That combination will be very important as she’s offering help and support to the mentors in Indian River County who are able to take advantage of her services.”
Other organizations will also participate, including the Gifford Youth Activity Center, Feed the Lambs, Community Church of Vero Beach, IRC School District and Hibiscus Children’s Center.
Training takes place at the United Way of Indian River County building, which has provided the program incubator space. Workshops will cover a wide range of topics such as mentoring orientation and ongoing assistance, mentor guidelines, building relationships, problem-solving, communication skills, dealing with common mentor relationship issues, reading strategies to promote literacy skills, child safety guidelines, reporting guidelines and basic everyday living issues for at-risk children.
“The focus with Big Brothers Big Sisters is to build long, enduring relationships that last –hopefully a lifetime, but at least a year,” explains Miller. “Research does show that the longer and more enduring a relationship the better the impact and outcome. So part of this training is going to focus on best practices for increasing the length of matches.”
A new literacy initiative, entitled Mentoring for Success in Early Childhood, is a collaborative effort with the Early Learning Coalition of Indian River, Martin and Okeechobee counties and is funded by an Indian River Community Foundation $40,000 grant.
“We specifically wanted that collaboration because the Early Learning Coalition is all about working to increase literacy and socialization skills in early childhood; helping 3-and 4-year olds increase their skills at a time when there is so much learning taking place.”
In Indian River County, 50 pre-K children are launching the program at Cradle to Crayons, formerly known as School Depot.
“If you look at the research, the time between 0 and 5 is when children’s minds grow so rapidly. And they have the capacity to learn at an incredible rate. So having an opportunity to extend our mentoring program below kindergarten age is a tremendous chance for Big Brothers Big Sisters to make an impact with young, young children, so that they can start on an even playing field, if not more, when they enter school.”
Of all its programs, the Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring program continues to impact the greatest number of children.
“It’s a credit to both our volunteers and our AmeriCorps members. AmeriCorps; they’re wonderful people,” praises Miller.
“They help us serve a larger number of kids than we could ordinarily do. They’re paid a minimal stipend through funding that comes from Corporation for National and Community Service, administered through Volunteer Florida. Rather than working an hour or two as a volunteer, they work 25 hours a week on average with many different kids. They provide awesome service, as do our volunteers.”
Additionally, thanks to a grant from the John’s Island Foundation to refurbish “Little House” near the Vero Beach High School, volunteers and AmeriCorps members will have a place to meet for enhanced school-based matches after school and during the summer. “Little House” has been passed along to BBBS by the Boys and Girls Club, and will also be utilized as administrative office space for the local chapter.
Other Big Brothers Big Sisters programs include T.E.A.M. (Tennis, Education and Mentoring) in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club; and M.C.O.P. (Mentoring Children of Promise), which focuses on children who have a parent or parents incarcerated in state or federal prison.
For more information on programs or volunteering call 770-6000 or visit www.bbbsbigs.org.
