Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Arkansas

Big Brothers/Big Sisters Looks for Role Models

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Arkansas was launched by five Little Rock-area churches in 1968 to help boys from single-parent homes in the Highland Park public housing project. Today, about 450 children from around central Arkansas are matched with a “big” brother or sister at any given time, and at least 200 kids are on a waiting list to be matched.

“Our mission is to serve kids by providing them with positive role models,” says director Linda Teer – “particularly same-sex role models. A great number of the kids we work with have absolutely no contact with their dad and frequently don’t have any other male positive role models in their lives.”

Once matched, “bigs” and “littles” spend time together about three times a month, creating a bond of friendship.

“It’s about stabilizing kids lives. It’s a real success story if you have a child who comes in at [age] 8 or 9 and is doing OK and he continues to do OK,” Teer says, noting that’s the time in a child’s life when trouble tends to start if the right role models aren’t in place.

“In many cases, it’s a matter not of what you change, but what didn’t go wrong,” Teer says.

This year, the organization’s budget will be about $350,000, up slightly from $340,000 last year. About half the money is raised through the annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake, and the rest comes from the United Way and public funds.

There are also programs for the many kids who are on the waiting list. Some of the kids are picked up at colleges and community centers and taken to group sessions, where they receive tutoring and hear inspirational messages from members of the community.

The program was planning in late January to hire a coordinator to set up a school-based mentoring program in Pine Bluff with the help of Simmons First National Bank and International Paper Co. And soon, the program will help United Way develop a mentoring center for other child-oriented programs in the area.