BY B.G. GREGG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Many people don't know that the national Big Brothers-Big Sisters program started right here in Cincinnati, in 1903.
Even more remarkable, many people don't even know that modern-day Cincinnati has a Big Brothers-Big Sisters program.
So how has an organization born in Cincinnati managed to keep a low profile among local folks? Not by design.
"We haven't done a good job of making the community aware of what we do and how good and right what we do is," said Noel A. Thesing, vice president of the Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati board or directors.
|
HOW TO HELP
|
|
Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati Inc. operates in Hamilton, Clermont, and Brown counties in Ohio; Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties in Kentucky; and Dearborn County in Indiana. Average matches last 3 1/2 years. If you would like to be a Big Brother or Big Sister, or would like to donate money, call 421-4120.
|
The organization is on a five-year push, called Success 2003, to promote the organization, increase the number of volunteers who help young children and raise money.
The year 2003 will be the organization's 100th birthday, and leaders are determined to bring it into the future and make it a presence in Cincinnati.
"Everything has come together," said executive director Kathleen P. List. "We're ready now to let everyone know that we're here and what we're here for."
Cincinnatian Irvin Westheimer is credited with starting the organization that eventually became known as Big Brothers.
"He literally saw a kid in the West End picking through the trash," Ms. Thesing said.
From that experience came the idea to team up needy children with mentors who could provide guidance and friendship. The idea spread throughout the country, and there are now 514 Big Brothers-Big Sisters agencies around the nation.
Mentoring has become a popular choice for helping young people as divorce rates have skyrocketed in the past three decades.
Other organizations, such as the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, have sprung up around this movement and taken some of the spotlight. But organizers in Big Brothers-Big Sisters say there is plenty of need for all of the mentoring organizations.
The Cincinnati Big Brothers-Big Sisters now has 449 children paired with a "big brother" or "big sister" and often puts people on a waiting list or refers them to other organizations because volunteers are not available for matches.
A look at one match
Jennifer Hack knows how valuable Big Brothers is. She was a 27-year-old single, working mother when she turned to Big Brothers in 1991 for help with her son Travis, then 7 years old.
"I'd hate to see how Travis would be without Jeff," said the Finneytown research associate. "Trying to be both mom and dad is a challenge."
Jeffrey Stechschulte is a 30-year-old Procter & Gamble engineer who moved to Cincinnati after college. His father had helped start a Big Brothers-Big Sisters organization in Findlay, Mr. Stechschulte's hometown.
"It was something I always wanted to do," he said. "You go into it thinking you are going to help a kid. You quickly realize how fun it is and how fulfilling it is."
His match with Travis Hack started slowly. Their first event was a trip to the mall for video games.
"It was like just taking a ride with some guy I didn't know," said Travis, now 14.
By their third or fourth event together, a Cincinnati Cyclones game, they bonded. Their match has now lasted seven years.
"I tell him more than I tell my mom," Travis said.
"I've seen him grow up," said Mr. Stechschulte, of Mount Lookout. "I always see him as part of my life, be it phone calls or whatever." Their relationship has evolved from trips to play video games to Mr. Stechschulte chauffeuring Travis and friends to Finneytown High's homecoming. In between have been a lot of sporting events, woodworking, movies and other activities.
"We get as much fun out of hanging out at my place as anything," Mr. Stechschulte said. "It's not really about the money. You spend as much as you want to. It's about the quality time together."
Ms. Hack is grateful, because Travis' father lives in Arizona, and she says her son needed a male role model.
"Jeff was sent from God," she said. "He has gone above and beyond. He's been in every aspect of Travis' life -- more than some biological fathers are."
Making more matches
The leaders of Big Brothers-Big Sisters are proud of matches such as Travis and Mr. Stechschulte. They proudly proclaim that only two of their 449 "littles" are pregnant, only four are struggling with substance abuse, only nine have dropped out, and only nine are involved with the juvenile court system.
The key is to make more matches. That's where their 2003 push comes in.
Ms. List has started applying for and receiving grants from foundations, a first for the organization. Big Brothers-Big Sisters has also held a golf fund-raiser for the past three years (it raised $37,000 this year, compared with $2,000 in 1995). A 5K race is also held to raise awareness and money.
The fund-raisers have pushed the organization's budget from $325,000 five years ago to $600,000 today. With more money, leaders feel, they can recruit and train more "bigs" and make more matches. The cost of a match is about $600 to $700, which includes police checks, home visits, training, interviews of references, et cetera. "We've got to get a war chest," Ms. Thesing said.
They've already bought new computers, hired more staff and installed a new phone system.
"We made a decision to make every aspect of a social service agency like a business," Ms. List said. "Our entire infrastructure needed to be updated."
The agency is also planning new strategies. It has partnered with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to start a school-based mentorship program, similar to the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative. Another idea is to have senior citizens call kids who arrive home to empty homes after school.
"That would be huge for older adults to know they are still needed," Ms. Thesing said.
One other idea is to have "sports buddies." Volunteers who don't feel they have the time to be full-time Big Brothers or Big Sisters could meet with children about six times a year and accompany them to sporting events.
Ms. List hopes that such events will spur the volunteers to plan more outings through the year.
"Something's happening when these kids have somebody to call and talk to them," she said. "It means so much."
