posts categorizedBig Impacts

Big Brother Todd and Little Brother Tyrone, “T.J.,” were matched when T.J. was 7. At…

The year Aaqila turned 7, everything changed. Her mother moved her from Chicago to Springfield. She changed schools. She was surrounded by fewer kids who looked like her. Not long after their move, Aaqila’s mom told her that she was no longer going to be an only child – a little sister was on the way.

Every Friday night for years, Big Brother John sat on a bleacher, cheering on his…

Big Sister Dawn raised her two sons and called herself the “tomboy mom.” She taught her boys the traditionally male and female roles in their household, and felt comfortable raising boys. When her boys moved out and she felt that “empty nest” feeling, she volunteered to be a Big Sister. She asked for a Little Brother and was matched with Little Brother Philip, who was 8.

Growing up an only child of a single mom can be lonely, so Little Brother Evan was more than ready for camaraderie and adventure when he was matched with Big Brother Nick, then an MIT student, nine years ago. “Nick and I play sports together sometimes, and he inspires me to work hard to be like him,” Evan says. Through hockey, Nick showed Evan how to be a good teammate, be confident, and challenge himself.

Big Sister Katy says she knows she benefited from mentors in her own life, people who had supported and pushed her to reach her potential. “My father, a high school principal, often mentioned to me if more children had a mentor – a positive, trusted person – in their lives, opportunities would look a lot different for them,” Katy says. Now, she’s playing that role for Little Sister Trina, a child who bounced from her birth mother to foster care in her early life, before being adopted at age 3.

As a football coach, Big Brother Tohib saw that boys truly needed positive adult role models. Growing up, he had caring parents who pushed him to reach his potential. “They never settled for ‘good,’” he says. “I always had to work harder.” With his parents’ encouragement, Tohib went to school for finance and earned his Master’s degree. He wanted to give back and help kids who might not have such positive adults in their lives, so he became a Big Brother. He was matched with Little Brother Makhari.

Taniah’s mom enrolled her as a Little partly because she was lacking self-confidence. In the more than three years they’ve been matched, Big Sister Angie has helped her open up.