Profile: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nevada County

2010 Fishing Trip

Visit: http://www.bigsofnc.org

Mission:
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nevada County makes a positive difference in the lives of children and youth in our region through a professionally-supported, one-to-one relationship with a caring and responsible individual. These mentors offer support to children’s growth and development through nurturing relationships, leading to greater self-esteem.

Founded: 1981

Purpose:
We provide successful mentoring relationships to children who want and need them, contributing to better schools, brighter futures, and a stronger community for all.

Funding:
Combination of grants, events, and private donations.

Clients Served:
At-risk children and youth, ages 6-18, in Nevada County and North Lake Tahoe.

How CNL has helped our organization:
CNL has given us so many tools to help us develop our organization’s leadership, especially in the areas of Fund Development, Nonprofit Management, and Board Development. It also has provided a great venue for networking with other nonprofit leaders, creating a support system where we can learn from each other’s successes and challenges.

Will & Forrest - Then and Now

Alan & Ed – Then and Now

A Big Brothers Big Sisters Success Story:
Every year, we assess the impact that our mentoring programs have on the children served. We find year after year that our programs improve participating children’s self-confidence, performance in school, sense of the future, ability to avoid delinquency, and their relationships with parents, other adults, and peers.  We also know from decades of research on mentoring that mentoring is viewed as a developmental asset; children who have at least one positive adult role model in their lives are more likely to overcome life’s obstacles. The more positive adults that children have in their lives, the more resilient they become. Specifically, studies show that when given a suitable mentor in a well-designed mentoring program like the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, children have a greater chance of avoiding a potential life of crime and personal devastation due to drug abuse, poor self-esteem, school failure, and poor relationships with peers and adults. The impact this has on the community is exponential, by not only saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by preventing those children from entering into the juvenile justice system, but by helping them grow into healthy adults that contribute positively to the communities in which they live.