Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati`
2400 Reading Road
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Adopt-A=School/Site Based Mentoring Program
Grant Application:
The demand of families seeking mentors for their children is always significantly greater than the number of volunteers available to serve these youth. Big Brothers Big Sisters' Adopt-A-School program, supporting our Site-Based Mentoring, addresses this need while serving the children who need us the most and who are often the most difficult to reach. The program occurs one hour weekly throughout the 10-month school year and continues through the summer. Each week, Littles meet with their Bigs--during lunch, after school or during the school day, at a school or a community site such as a Boys and Girls Club. Typically referred by their teachers, these children/youth primarily live in single-parent and/or economically-disadvantaged homes. Site-Based Mentoring allows us to reach more children, in part by recruiting adult mentors who are more comfortable visiting Littles at a school or supervised site. We aim to serve 299 children in 2022 through this program.
Grant Evaluation Report:
In October 2022, BHS transitioned into a new 58,000 sq. ft. building in which all staff, programming, and services from seven buildings were combined under one roof. In early December 2022, Bethany House reached full capacity for the first time in the new building, with 41 families (93 children) -- two of which used adjoining rooms for their large families, thereby utilizing all 43 rooms.
The FSD suite of programs to support children experiencing homelessness has been overwhelmingly successful in 2022 and continues to innovate into 2023 due to the Foundation’s generous support. BHS has secured and implemented youth development curriculums, such as it did recently with the Kaleidoscope Play & Learn program, and expanded partnerships with Project Connect to provide consistent academic enrichment after school since moving into the new building. In partnership with Best Pointe, Kaleidoscope has been an increasingly attended class for young parents in shelter. The program is led by an external facilitator and designed for parents and children from birth to the age of five to participate in group activities that are designed to promote children’s cognitive, language, social, and emotion development--while also helping parents learn the nuances of early child development. 55 parents have attended weekly sessions in Q1 of this year but BHS is exploring expanding the program to families in Housing programs as staff/trainer capacity and family interest grows.
Website:
http://www.bigsforkids.org Amount: $35,000
Date: April 2022
