BBBS News
Ex-Philly mayor seeks mentors for at-risk youths
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW - Thursday, March 3, 2011 - The Rev. W. Wilson Goode knows what it's like to be a child adrift in the world with a father in prison.
Goode, the former mayor of Philadelphia and founder of a national mentoring program, was growing up in the rural South when his father was imprisoned. His family relocated to Philadelphia, but he says he was told not to dream big and not to plan to go to college or do much with his life.
He broke racial barriers to become Philadelphia's first black mayor and chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, and he served as deputy assistant secretary of Education in the Clinton administration. Along the way he witnessed how a good mentor can keep a vulnerable child from going down the wrong path.
"Do programs like this make a difference? I'm here to tell you they do," Goode told a group gathered Wednesday at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh headquarters in East Liberty. "Mentoring is about saving lives, rescuing children and making sure that a child can become all they deserve to be.
"We have the chance to put the world back together for so many children in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania who otherwise might be lost."
Goode, who founded the Amachi program, a national faith-based mentoring model for children of incarcerated parents, visited Pittsburgh to address staff from that branch and from Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Laurel Region, which covers Westmoreland and Fayette counties.
Both divisions are part of the statewide Keystone for the Future Initiative program in which Goode will help match 1,100 children of incarcerated parents with mentors this year. The children, ages 7 to 17, will come from each of the state's 26 Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies, said Tom Baker, executive director of the Pittsburgh branch.
Kelli S. Belanger, executive director of the Laurel Region branch, said that chapter hopes to identify 25 children there for matches.
"This is so important because you see such a cyclical effect, and generation after generation end up in prison because that's all the kids know," Belanger said. "If someone can lead them down another path and show them another future, it can make a difference."
Jan Glick, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh, said it costs about $1,200 a year for the agency to keep a mentor and child matched. By comparison, the cost to house a child in the Allegheny County Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Highland Park averages $70,000 annually, Glick said.
Big Brothers Big Sisters' Newest Initiative
We are so proud to publicly announce Big Brothers Big Sisters' newest initiative to help change the lives of disadvantaged children for the better, forever.
With the help of supporters, we hope to encourage all Americans to Start Something™ for kids facing adversity by donating money or time. Start Something, developed in partnership with the Ad Council and Publicis Modem, is the result of three years of hard work by many volunteers, donors, staff members and supporters like you.
This work was recognized On January 13, 2011 in an article in The New York Times, and it is our pleasure to share it with you. Click here to view The New York Times' article. We thank everyone who has brought us to where we are today—everyone who is ready to help us Start Something in 2011 and beyond. We hope this article inspires you and renews your enthusiasm for our mission to help children succeed in school and in life.
Thank you for your continued support!
"Little Brother" Off to War in Afghanistan: The Marines Change both Steve Hartman and the Man he's Mentored Since the 3rd Grade
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., March 8, 2010 (CBS) Of the 30,000 new troops headed to Afghanistan, one is the most special - at least, to me he is. I've known 21-year-old Marine Lance Corporal Heinrich Soltow since he was 3rd grader Heinrich Soltow.
Heinrich was my little brother in the Big Brothers program. He grew up in Los Angeles with his mom, an older sister and a younger sister, which meant I was the only male figure in his life - the only one he had to talk to about intellectual, guy-type stuff.
Heinrich and I got together once a week, every week, for 10 years. I've seen a lot of changes in him, but nothing as dramatic, or as positive, as what I see now. This story is about how the Marines changed him.
"I had no discipline whatsoever," Heinrich said.
By changing him, the Marines changed me.
"Well, I'm not successful by any means," Heinrich said.
"No, you are successful by a lot of means and I guess that's what I'm realizing," I replied.
Before joining the few and the proud, Heinrich belonged to the bored and the uninspired.
In high school he was a 5-star underachiever. In college his grades were so bad - he still won't tell me what they were. All I know is he dropped out.
Yet, his staff sergeant at Camp Pendleton says he's a model Marine.
"What did you do?" I asked Sgt. Chaplin.
"You teach 'em all to work as a team and put 'em in stressful situations in training," replied Sgt. Chaplin. "He'll come back more mature.
"Even more mature?" I asked.
"Oh, yea."
"I don't know if I'd recognize him."
"I never really knew the value of a hard day's work until I joined the Marine Corps," Heinrich said.
The fact is, Heinrich never wanted to be in college. That was more my dream than his.
"Did you feel pressure to go?" I asked.
"Oh yea," Heinrich said.
"I think at the time I thought everybody should go to college," I said.
"I don't think college has to be the way for everybody," Heinrich replied.
"Well, I realize that now," I replied.
Ironically, we're still at odds on the issue - we've just switched sides.
"I know eventually I know I'm going to have to get out of the military," Heinrich said.
"Not necessarily," I said.
Now he thinks he may want to go back to college and I think he's doing great in the military. Regardless, that's a decision for another day.
For now, Heinrich is just happy to have found his place.
Last month he and the rest of his company shipped out for Afghanistan -- which is my new beef with the military. They hand you this whole new person to appreciate, then, all too often, ship 'em right back out again.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Supports Michael Baisden’s One Million Mentors Tour
PHILADELPHIA, PA, February 17, 2010 -- Big Brothers Big Sisters has partnered with popular nationally syndicated urban radio personality Michael Baisden for his One Million Mentors Campaign and Save Our Kids tour. The seven-month, 72-city national bus tour begins in Dallas this week where Baisden’s show is headquartered.
The Michael Baisden Show is the top-ranked urban afternoon program in the country. Every weekday, Baisden ignites lively, passionate discussions while combining the best in music, comedy and social commentary to inspire real change across America. In 2007, he spearheaded the widely reported Jena 6 civil rights demonstration where tens of thousands of Americans peacefully marched in Louisiana to protest the justice system’s mistreatment of six young African American men.
“We applaud Michael Baisden’s fearless focus on encouraging community activism and believe his outspoken advocacy and support of mentoring will make a real difference in the communities we serve,” said Big Brothers Big Sisters of America President & CEO Karen Mathis. “We have independent evidence and know first-hand how long-term volunteer mentoring makes communities stronger and safer, empowering children and families to beat the odds. We will join the Baisden Foundation’s One Million Mentors tour, providing information about how Big Brothers Big Sisters’ time-tested careful mentor matching and ongoing support benefit children, their families and volunteers.”
During the tour, the Michael Baisden Foundation will team with local radio affiliates, Big Brothers Big Sisters, 100 Black Men of America, National Cares Mentoring Movement, the United Way, local faith-based organizations and other community mentoring organizations to educate communities about mentoring and raise funds to support local organizations.
The One Million Mentors tour comes on the heels of Big Brothers Big Sisters’ national summit with African American fraternity leaders from Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi, who have teamed with the nation’s largest donor-supported network of volunteer mentors in an unprecedented collaboration. Representatives from the fraternities will also join local Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies at the One Million Mentors tour rallies. With African American boys disproportionately representing the children waiting to be matched with “Bigs,” the fraternities have committed to help recruit Big Brothers and raise funds so that agencies can meet the demand with sufficient match support.
President Barack Obama’s National Mentoring Month Remarks Highlight Big Brothers Big Sisters Benefits
Philadelphia, PA, January 21, 2010 -- President Barack Obama praised Big Brothers Big Sisters at a National Mentoring Month celebration where he was introduced by 11-year-old Anthony, Little Brother to Big Brother of the Year Ben De Leon.
“…Anthony did a wonderful job introducing me. I'm told that with the guidance of his mentor, Ben De Leon -- where's Ben? There's Ben right there. Anthony, I hear you're working hard, doing great in school. And so we are very proud of you and we expect you to keep up the good work. And Ben, thank you for your extraordinary service,” the president said.
Also attending the event were Big Brother Anselmo DeLaCruz and his 11-year-old Little Brother Andre, who were matched in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado’s Operation Mentor, a national program launched in 2004 at Camp Pendleton with funding from San Diego-based Jack in the Box Foundation. Anselmo, who is married with a 2-year-old daughter, became a Big Brother when he was medically discharged from the Army as the result of a bomb injury while serving in Iraq.
“… as the folks up here on stage will tell you, the mentor usually gets as much or more out of it than the mentee. So I'm pleased that non-profit organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters are stepping up -- expanding their efforts to connect children of deployed service members to mentors who are often veterans themselves,” the president continued.
Also attending the White House event was Linda Lang, chairman and CEO of Jack in the Box Inc. Continued funding from the restaurant company has enabled Big Brothers Big Sisters to expand Operation Mentor.
“We’re pleased to commit an additional $1 million to Big Brothers Big Sisters to expand its military mentoring programs,” Lang said. “We’re proud to support our nation’s youth who bravely share their parents with the rest of the country, and we commend the military personnel and volunteers for their efforts in filling the void created in a child’s life when a parent is deployed.”
President Barack Obama has proclaimed January National Mentoring Month, urging Americans to give back to young people, saying mentors help children grow into productive and responsible adults. During the celebration, the president and first lady Michelle Obama kicked off a White House mentoring program for boys, similar to a program introduced earlier by the first lady to mentor girls.
Big Brothers Big Sisters, a network of 385 agencies serving 255,000 children of single, low-income and incarcerated parents and their 255,000 mentors, expects an increase this month in volunteers and parents enrolling their children. To meet the demand for its services, the mentoring network is urging Americans to invest in the cause, not just with time, but also with financial support.