Big Brothers-Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County

We partner with parents/guardians, 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 behaviors
• Educational success

We have two programs, both designed to build developmental assets in vulnerable children through role models and mentor friendships.

Our School Based Program allows us to double our impact, serving two children with every mentor relationship. A group of carefully selected high school and college students travel to their partner elementary school once each week for the entire school year. Older and younger students are paired for ongoing relationships built upon one-to-one interactions and occasional group activities such as doing homework, playing sports or making crafts. The younger students gain confidence while the older students build leadership skills. They learn that as individuals they can shape the world and have a positive effect on their community. The exposure to new ideas and opinions offered by both the mentors and elementary students from differing backgrounds expands both groups' horizons.

Our Community Based Program creates strong and enduring relationships by connecting vulnerable local youth with adult volunteers. We thoroughly screen and professionally train volunteers in order to insure child safety. Volunteers and children spend at least 6 hours a month exploring shared interests and developing positive, stable relationships. Volunteers enrich children's lives by modeling healthy choices and providing connection with their community. Our professional staff provides individualized case management to each match relationship and hosts educational and enriching group activities for all program participants. The agency conducts regular baseline and follow-up surveys to ensure long-term positive results.

Since opening for service in 1995, we have created more than 3,400 mentor relationships. In 2018, we served 394 mentor pairs in San Luis Obispo County. We have been recognized by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America four times for outstanding performance and growth, putting us in the top 2% of agencies nationwide, in addition to being selected as the Agency of the Year in 2016. The honor of both Big Brother and Big Sister of the Year for the State of California was awarded to local volunteers in 2014.

We regularly measure our impact and consistently find that children who participate in our programs improve their academic performance, relationships with peers and other adults, and ability to make positive decisions for their future. The following Local Youth Outcomes data are from combined Community and School based programs in 2018.

Children in our programs achieved positive outcomes in the following areas:
82% Attitude Toward Risk (tobacco, drugs, alcohol, skipping school, truancy, rule breaking)
85%-90% Academic Expectations
70%-73% Grades
75% Parental Trust
90% In One Major Category of Risk, Academics and Trust
75% In Two Major Categories Risk, Academics and Trust
0% Entered the Juvenile Justice System