BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA
2880 E Meade Avenue Suite 250, Las Vegas, NV 89102 www.bbbsn.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada (BBBSN) is a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation that is a leader in youth mentoring services. Since 1971, BBBSN has been developing positive relationships that have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of youth in our community, ages six through 18. Our mission is to help children reach their full potential through professionally supported one-to-one mentor relationships. BBBSN is the local agency of a national organization with over 100 years of history in providing mentors to youth who need them the most. All children are born with potential and the role of their mentor is to defend that potential and ignite their future towards educational, social and career achievements.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters Mission: Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

The Community Based program is the more traditional mentoring program of BBBSN. Carefully screened and trained mentors are matched with children in the community who can benefit from an additional caring and positive adult in their life. Over 90% of these children and youth are being raised in a single parent household or, by grandparents - a growing population. These friend matches engage in activities in the community and on a schedule arranged between the Big, Little and parent or guardian. Matches meet several times a month, doing activities in the community that the Big and Little enjoy. We strive to support these matches so they stay together for years, or for life. Special populations who we are targeting based on high need include children involved in the foster care system and juvenile justice involved youth. Research indicates that these youth are at high risk of challenges and need additional adult support in their lives.

BBBSN's Site Based Mentoring program works directly in schools, with school principals, counselors and teachers to enhance a child's ability to learn, interact with their peers and reduce questionable behavior and negative influences. Typically, the youth are ages six to 10, and are from low income and at-risk environments. We partner closely with eight elementary school sites within the Clark County School District. The Site Based Mentors are caring adults and high school students from the community who go through rigorous background checks and training prior to being matched. Program staff from BBBSN are continuously and actively involved in every mentoring experience. Staff provide liaison with the school, support for mentors and families. BBBSN also has site based programs at East Las Vegas Community Center during after school hours. Site meetings are scheduled Monday through Friday between 1:00 and 6:00 PM. All matches at a site meet together on the same day and time for one hour per week. We ask for a minimum of a one year commitment to the program. The Bigs become very important in the life of their Littles and consistency in a long lived relationship is critical.

Dream On - Based on the success of the federally funded five year DREAMR project, BBBSN developed the Dream On project to continue to support youth in foster care with a mentor. Referrals were made by caregivers, case managers and social workers and those youth live in foster homes, group homes, kinship placements and some are re-unified with their biological families. The key to this program is that despite the multitude of options where the youth may be "placed" to live or how many case workers they meet, they only have one mentor who is in their life by choice and a safe friendship with a caring adult. This program was funded by the Clark County Outside Agency Grant. Power-On: Clark County has one of the highest rates of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the country. The transient nature of our community coupled with the "everything goes" image of Las Vegas results in thousands of children being trafficked in Clark County each year. The research tells us that the highest indicators for CSEC risk in a youth are 1) Child welfare system (foster care) involvement, 2) LGBTQ identification and 3) Homelessness. A partnership with the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, The LGBT Center of Las Vegas and other community agencies was funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programming for the Power On project. The youth involved were in the high risk identified groups and were matched with a mentor in the BBBS Community Based program.

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