Mission
To provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported 1-to-1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.
Vision
All children achieve success in life.
Accountability
We partner with parentsguardians, volunteers and others in the community and hold ourselves accountable for each child in our program achieving:
Higher aspirations, greater confidence, and better relationships
Avoidance of risky behavior
Educational success
History
The Big Brothers movement began in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1903 and slowly the one-to-one mentoring philosophy took hold over the next forty years. In 1946, thirteen Big Brothers Associations joined forces and formed Big Brothers of America, one of the few social welfare organizations to be chartered by the Congress of the United States. Big Brothers of America and Big Sisters of America merged in 1976. Today, our agency is a full network affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. There are more than 400 affiliated agencies nationwide serving youth and helping them reach their potential.
The local donor and volunteer supported agency formed in Fresno in 1968 and began mentoring services in 1969. Since that time, we have served over 10,000 children and their families. Our program has been acknowledged and honored by the Juvenile Justice Commission, Fresno Police Department, Fresno County Probation Department, California Youth Authority, City of Fresno, The United Way of Fresno County, and the Governor’s Office. We received a 2005 Quality Award and a 2007 and 2008 Family Strengthening awards from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
In 1997 satellite offices opened in Hanford and Madera to cover an expanded service area of Kings and Madera counties. Expanding yet again, in late 2007 we merged with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tulare County and changed the name to reflect our regional nature. About a year later in October of 2008, a satellite office was opened in Kern County through the help of a local Leadership Council.
Children are shown through local and national evaluations to have improved their grades in school, participated more in class, increased their self-confidence, and improved relationships with family and peers. New research on Little Brothers and Sisters now in their adulthood are significantly more likely to have completed a 4 year degree, live in higher income households, and give back to their community both as volunteers and financally.