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January is National Mentoring Month and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Acadiana is hoping to significantly increase the number of local mentors for disadvantaged young people
"We have a number of mentors in St. Landry Parish but we can use many more," said Alyson Haymark with the national mentoring program's Lafayette office. "We want to establish a satellite office in Opelousas to help spread the word."
One of the current volunteers is Iesha Gabriel, who works in the parish assessors office in Opelousas. For the past year she has served as a big sister to 10-year-old Keoni.
Gabriel, who recently graduated from Nicholls State University, said she had long known about the program and wanted to volunteer, but even so, she was surprised about the result.
"I expected it to be more of an obligation. I didn't expect it to be so much fun. I find myself actually looking forward to spending time with my little sister," Gabriel said.
She said Keoni was very shy and withdrawn at first. For their first outing together, they simply took a walk, talked about things they liked and started the process of getting to know each other.
"Now, if she has a bad day at school, she will call me and we will just talk. We are just there for each other," Gabriel said.
While the relationship is good for Keoni, Gabriel said it has been surprisingly rewarding for her as well.
"It makes me feel so much better; letting a child see that people really do care. It makes a world of difference," Gabriel said. "I am hoping for a lifetime friendship with Keoni."
It is such stories that Haymark wants to duplicate throughout the parish. To do so, Big Brothers and Big Sisters will hold the first of three planned orientation meetings for new volunteers Thursday.
"There is no commitment, this is just for information purposes to hopefully familiarize volunteers with our program," Haymark said.
Future orientation meetings will be Feb. 11 and Feb. 25. All the meetings will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the United Way building at 311 W. Vine St., Opelousas.
"In this orientation, potential volunteers will be introduced to the agency's screening process, the steps involved in being matched, as well as what to expect once you have become their Big Brother or Big Sister," Haymark said. "You will learn how you can help to create little moments of big magic for a child in St. Landry or Evangeline Parish."
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Acadiana provides continuous, one-on-one mentoring relationships for children ages six to 15 from primarily low-income, single-parent homes.
"Our mentors are carefully screened adult volunteers — Bigs as we call them — who meet with their Littles on a regular basis for a few hours each month either in our community-based or school-based program," Haymark said.
She said each match commitment is made for a year and can be renewed.
"All of our matches are monitored and supported by our agency staff. We also offer a variety of workshops and events for children in the program, parents of children who are matched and our volunteers," Haymark said.
She said her agency offers two basic programs — one community-based and the other school-based.
In the community-based program, the "Big" and "Little" agree to meet a couple of times each month for a minimum of a year.
The volunteer mentor and child participate in a wide variety of community-based activities that focus on relationship building. Activities may include a trip to the park, library or museum; going on a bike ride or roller skating; watching TV; playing sports; or doing homework together.
"This program offers the flexibility of participation in weekend or after-school or work activities," Haymark said.
In the school-based program, children from elementary and middle schools are match with volunteer mentors who meet with their "Little" once a week for 35-45 minutes throughout the school year.
"These are site-based visits where the Big meets his or her Little at their school. During the match visits, Bigs and Littles have access to all campus facilities and participate in a variety of activities that promote relationship building and academic success," Haymark said.
"These may include shared lunch, library time, goal sharing or reading together. This program offers the flexibility of daytime meetings for volunteers who may not be able to commit to weekend activities," Haymark said.
The Big Brother and Big Sister program has an impressive success rate. National studies have shown that youth involved with Big Brothers or Big Sisters are 46 percent less likely to initiate drug use and 27 percent less likely to initiate alcohol use than their peers.
Such children are one-third less likely to resort to violence and show better academic behavior, attitudes and performance.
Click here for a list of upcoming "Be Big" Orientation dates
