Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona (BBBSAZ) has been awarded funding from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) in partnership with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). This funding will further BBBSAZ youth mentoring initiatives to strengthen underserved communities. This grant will immediately impact the Phoenix metro area by providing evidence-based mentoring to at-risk youth to improve positive outcomes such as improved self-esteem, improved social competence, and increased engagement in academics, and reducing negative outcomes such as substance abuse and juvenile delinquency.
This grant will provide mentoring to over 45 youth across the Metro Phoenix area. It will assist us in enriching the quality and expanding the reach of our mentoring programs and their impact on youth facing adversity, for example those with a family member experiencing incarceration. This funding will support us in providing much-needed training in the areas of inequity and marginalization, substance use, bullying, and trauma exposure. BBBSAZ will be able to provide parent engagement activities and continue our Parent Advisory Council, which empowers parents to collaborate with staff and provide valuable feedback on program policies and implementation. BBBSAZ established the Parent Advisory Council in 2022, and it currently has 20 members.
Across the Phoenix metro area, thousands of youth struggle to achieve their full potential. The need for additional resources and intervention is abundant. Fortunately, we know that 1-to-1 mentoring is a proven successful method for reducing harmful effects of these experiences for children. Since 1955, BBBSAZ has led the way in establishing and measuring best practices in mentoring, with decades of success to show for it.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona would like to sincerely thank Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for their continued support of mentoring in Arizona.
