By Kana Coonce

Contributing Writer

STEVENS POINT ‑ At at time when it is serving more children than ever, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Central Wisconsin has a big move ahead of them.

With a new location within the Commons Nonprofit Center (formerly the Delta Dental building) at 2801 Hoover Rd., Stevens Point, BBBS is even more dedicated to matching young people aged 6-17 – “Littles” ¬– with adult mentors ¬– “Bigs.”

“The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth,” said Dawn Cherek, executive director of BBBS’s Central Wisconsin chapter.

Through BBBS’s community-based mentoring model, after being matched, Bigs and Littles meet on a schedule of their choosing to do activities together.

Activities can be anything from playing board games, to making crafts, to going for bike rides.

BBBS also offers a site-based mentoring model, in which Bigs and Littles meet at a consistent time and place each week throughout the school year.

During the summer, matches can communicate via letter or card, phone call or Zoom.

“Research has shown that one-to-one mentoring can have a profound effect on young people. The need for caring mentors in the lives of youths is apparent,” said Cherek.

“We were outgrowing our former location,” said Cherek, who said that BBBS has over 60 children currently waiting to be matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister.

To help meet the organization’s growing needs, “the new, larger space” at the Commons Nonprofit Center “will allow BBBS to host group activities for Bigs and Littles, unmatched Littles and their families.”

The center also contains an additional large community space that will be shared among the other nonprofits that call the building home.                                 

Delta Dental donated new furniture to each of the building’s new tenants.

“BBBS was fortunate to be one of the nine tenants in the nonprofit center,” said Cherek. “We could not be more grateful to Inclusa and Delta Dental for the opportunity.”                                                                                

 For more information about volunteering with BBBS, visit www.bigimpact.org.