Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island’s mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported, one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. To this end, BBBSLI has many different mentoring programs, which you can learn more about below:
BBBSLI makes meaningful, professionally supported, one-to-one matches between adult volunteers (Bigs) and children ages 7-16 (Littles), positively impacting the lives of families across Long Island.
All volunteer mentors are interviewed, screened and trained, and BBBSLI provides every match with a professional program team member to monitor the relationship during its entirety. The Big, Little, and his/her Parent/Guardian make a one-year commitment to the match relationship. Mentors and mentees agree to meet a minimum of a few hours throughout the month enjoying low to no-cost activities.
Raising a child with special needs presents unique challenges. Parents often feel pulled in several different directions and there may be times when the other children in the family need additional attention.
Our Sibling Support Program, which is part of our Community-Based mentoring program, specifically focuses on matching the siblings of special needs children with a volunteer mentor. Mentors can provide the additional support and individualized attention a sibling may be seeking. The volunteers follow the same guidelines as set forth in our Community-Based program, sharing activities, experiences and friendship.
Bigs in Blue was started to help increase the good will and connection between children in our community and the local police force, firefighters, sheriff’s office and other first-responders.
Our Sports Buddies program gives Littles, along with their Bigs, the opportunity to engage in sports and physical activities while promoting healthy lifestyles and providing essential mentoring for children facing adversity.
An adult volunteer from the community is matched with a child who, due to family or environmental factors, could significantly benefit from the additional support and guidance a mentor provides. Consistency is key to the success of the relationship between a child and their mentor. The children in this program look forward to seeing their Big regularly. Spending consistent time together allows for a meaningful and lasting relationship to develop.
Our Site-Based mentoring programs match volunteer mentors to children in need of a positive role model. Matches take place in a supervised setting and are professionally supported by a program team member throughout the duration of the match. Matches meet regularly, where Bigs provide homework assistance, friendship and model positive behavior.
We provide several different Site-Based programs to children throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Site-Based Mentoring Programs Offered:
Within our College Mentoring and High School Bigs program, elementary school students build an ongoing relationship based on one-to-one interactions and occasional group activities. The younger students (mentees) gain confidence, while the older students (mentors) build leadership skills. Young mentors learn that they can make a difference in the life of a child and have a positive impact on their community.
Our Workplace Mentoring program matches middle school students with employees from a company within the community. This program focuses on career exploration and goal setting in a professional workplace environment. Helping children realize their full potential is the goal of all of our mentoring programs!