January is National Mentoring Month, an opportunity to increase the number of mentors in the community.
Mentoring helps make sure local youth have positive role models and dependable people to look up to.
Research by the Harvard Mentoring Project has shown formal mentoring programs for young people, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, can play a significant role in reducing drug abuse and youth violence and boosting academic achievement.
Mentors help build young people’s character and confidence, expand their universe and navigate a path to success, according to hsph.harvard.edu/chc/harvard-mentoring-project.
In April 2020, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast Indiana and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Jefferson County Indiana merged into one agency, said Gina Freeman, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast Indiana.
“By doing this, we currently service Jackson, Jennings, Scott and Jefferson counties in Indiana and Trimble and Carroll counties in Kentucky,” Freeman said. “We provide school- and community-based mentoring programs for children and youth ages 6 to 17 through Jackson County.”
She said their school-based matches meet in the local school and spend an hour one day a week having lunch together, playing games and talking about everyday events in their lives.
“Community-based mentoring is where the Big takes the Little out and they go out to do everyday adventures,” Freeman said. “Whether it is taking a walk at the local park, getting ice cream, going to a movie or picking up a book from the library, it is experiencing time with a positive mentor.”
She said it is the organization’s mission to ignite the power and promise of youth through one-to-one mentoring.
“As a local affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, we have the benefit of being part of the oldest and largest mentoring program in the country,” Freeman said. “For over 114 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been the leader of innovation, accountability and child safety within the field of mentoring.”
She said the organization’s programs were built on a solid foundation of justice, equality, diversity and inclusion, meaning JEDI is woven throughout their mission, vision and values.
“We receive referrals for Littles from numerous people, of course the guardian, this could be a parent, grandparent or foster parent,” Freeman said. “We also receive referrals from teachers, counselors, relatives, mental health therapists and the juvenile justice system.”
The process of matching a child starts with a one-to-one interview with a match support specialist from the BBBS agency, the child and guardian. The match support specialist conducts an assessment and then enters it into their database.
“The process is the same for a Big. We do a one-to-one interview and a criminal background check,” Freeman said. “We then look at the areas that the Big and Little are both interested in and begin the match process. We find that by being a one-to-one mentoring agency that our matches last longer and develop a lifelong bond.”
Currently, there is a need for volunteer mentors in both the school- and community-based programs, and the agency has more than 40 children on the waiting list in Jackson County.
Mark Gillaspy, an inspector with the Seymour Fire Department, still finds the time to be a Big Brother.
“I’ve been with the fire department for eight years, and Fire Chief Brad Lucas has been on the Big Brothers Big Sisters board for many years,” Gillaspy said. “One day, we were having training and we had all the guys together, so chief Lucas decided to have a couple of representatives from Big Brothers Big Sisters come to the fire department to talk to us, and one of them was Kendra Harris, program director at the time.”
He said the representatives told everyone about the organization and asked if any of them would like to become mentors in the program.
“I was excited to accept the invitation and saw it as an opportunity to help someone and maybe make a positive impact in someone’s life who would benefit from it,” Gillaspy said. “I was matched up with Ryan Pike back then, and we’ve stuck together ever since.”
It has been five years since Gillaspy became a Big Brother to Pike, who then was a sixth-grader and now is a 17-year-old sophomore at Seymour High School.
”We are in the Lunch Buddy program, and over the years, we have also spent time playing basketball and throwing football,” Gillaspy said. “We do enjoy our lunches together and our conversations. We also speak on the phone often just to touch base.”
He said they both feel this program has had a very positive impact on their lives.
“I have seen Ryan grow so much over the last five years. His grades have improved tremendously, and he actually reported to me yesterday that he’s currently making all A’s and B’s,” Gillaspy said. “I’ve also seen his confidence improve over the last few years, and he’s now on the SHS football and wrestling teams. I’ve enjoyed our time together and couldn’t be more proud.”
Gillaspy said he and Pike have talked it over and decided to continue the program until he graduates from high school.
“I feel like this experience has been very rewarding for me, and I would encourage anyone who has the time or opportunity to do this, especially the Lunch Buddy program,” Gillaspy said. “It started out with us meeting for lunch, and we try to meet once a week, but in this COVID era, sometimes we haven’t been able to meet, so we call and talk on the phone and we have great conversations, and it has been fun and I enjoy it.”
For information about the program, visit bbbssi.org or go to the national website, bbbsa.org, and enter your ZIP code. Those interested in the program also may call 812-273-0797 or go to facebook.com/bbbsofsoutheastindiana.