1:1 Community Mentoring
1:1 Community Mentoring or “traditional” mentoring is when an adult volunteer mentors youth between the ages of 7 and 16, spending one-on-one time together twice a month.
Little Brothers and Sisters are youth from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances facing one or more socioeconomic risk indicators. All youth in our program want a mentor in their lives.
Through activities like playing ball, catching up over lunch and going to the park, life-changing friendships are built. Having the friendship and support of a mentor opens a child’s eyes to new possibilities.
Sports Bigs
Sports Bigs is a unique extension of Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County’s 1:1 Community Mentoring program. This initiative unites mentors and youth through the dynamic world of sports, laying the foundation for a healthy and active lifestyle through fun shared experiences.
Together, matches can embark on a variety of activities, including Soccer, Basketball, Flag Football, Boxing Classes, Hiking, Frisbee, a BBBS-sponsored 5K, and much more!
Hermandad Media Partners
- Univision San Diego
- eularadio.com
Hermandad
We Need Spanish-Speaking Volunteers!
Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County has embraced the Hispanic Mentoring Model that we have locally named Hermandad, which means Brotherhood and Sisterhood in Spanish.
The Hispanic Mentoring Program is designed to encourage, engage, and sustain greater numbers of Latino children and recruit volunteers and families to join in.
Hispanic Mentoring provides Latino children with a caring Big Brother or Big Sister who can enrich their lives culturally, socially, and academically and support them in reaching their potential through one-to-one mentoring friendships.
Hermandad will continue the Big Brothers Big Sisters tradition of outreach to all at-need youth through the recruitment of Latino volunteers to mentor Latino Littles.
A BIG thanks to The Jack in the Box Foundation for generously providing the funding needed to launch this initiative in San Diego County.
Ayana Program
Creating a Refuge for Chaldean Refugee Youth Through Mentoring
Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County and the Chaldean community have come together to create Ayana, a 1:1 mentoring program for Chaldean refugee youth.
Chaldean Christians are an ancient and storied people from Iraq who have been persecuted by terrorist groups in the Middle East. Many have been forced to flee to the United States, fearing for their lives.
Detroit, Michigan, and San Diego have become havens for Chaldean refugees, with an estimated 55,000-75,000 Chaldeans living in concentrated areas of North and East County.
Ayana means “helper” in Aramaic, and that’s exactly what a mentor can do in the life of a refugee child. Help them navigate the challenges of assimilation and integration as well as the usual challenges of adolescence.
You can help us connect refugee youth to a stable, productive future by mentoring or donating to support a child in the Ayana program.
Please contact us if you feel inspired to give your time or talents to Ayana and are interested in volunteering or making a donation.
In Partnership With
- The Patriots Connection
- The Jack in the Box Foundation
- Farrell Family Foundation
- May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust
- Bob Woodruff Foundation
Operation Bigs
Mentor a Military Child
Operation Bigs is a first-of-its-kind program that provides mentors to children of military families, including active duty, veteran, and Gold Star families.
San Diego County is home to the largest concentration of military activity in the world. Operation Bigs supports families presented with challenges such as frequent relocation, school transitions, separation from extended family, increased responsibility coupled with a sense of loss when a parent deploys, as well as the physical and psychological stress faced when parents return from war.
To date, the program has served more than 3,000 Navy and Marine Corps children, and it inspired the expansion of over 30 Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates across the country.
This program is made possible by funding from Jack in the Box, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, the May & Stanley Smith Foundation, and the Farrell Family Foundation. Military and political support, media partnerships, a dedicated staff coordinator, and advocacy from local elementary schools have also been essential to the program’s success.
Jewish Big Pals
The Center for Jewish Care at JFS in San Diego and Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) have partnered on a unique mentoring opportunity for Jewish Children aged seven to 16.
In addition to BBBS match events throughout the year for Bigs and Littles to get together, the Center for Jewish Care provides Jewish Holiday gatherings, group Padres tickets, and other opportunities to engage in Jewish holidays and culture.
BBBS staff support matches with regular check-ins, training, and meetings. The Center for Jewish Care at JFS provides ongoing consultation and cultural competency training to BBBS staff and continues to work within our Jewish community to identify and refer potential Littles and Bigs. The Center for Jewish Care can also support Little’s families and Bigs with additional needs, from food to housing to transportation.
In Partnership With
- Jewish Family Service
Our programs ignite a child’s potential.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County provides one-to-one mentoring through two umbrellas of programming: (1) Community Mentoring, (2) Operation Bigs.
Across all programs, the foundational model remains the same: one child (“Little”) is intentionally “matched” with an adult volunteer (“Big”) in a long-term, professionally supported mentoring relationship. And no matter at what age a child enters a program, there’s no limit to where he or she can go.
Volunteering
To learn more about volunteering, click here.
Child enrollment is OPEN. Click here or e-mail signup@sdbigs.org for next steps.
