At Big Brothers Big Sisters, Mentorship Moves the Needle

When Xavier met his “Big Brother” Weldon in 2018, Xavier, then 12, felt lost. “Like my life wasn’t gonna go anywhere,” said Xavier, who lives in Houston and was matched with Weldon as part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) community mentoring program.
But Weldon, who works as a counselor at Houston Community College (HCC) in addition to volunteering as a “Big,” saw in Xavier a young Black man with talent, curiosity, and plenty of passions - especially in the arts. The two hit it off quickly.
At the start of Xavier’s seventh-grade year, Weldon attended his Little Brother’s school orientation and met his teachers. Before long, Weldon took Xavier to tour the graphics department at HCC and meet the faculty. They visited the library together every two weeks, and regularly volunteered at BBBS celebrations. That was just the beginning.
Four years later, Weldon calls his “Little” one of the “most positive kids I know.”
“Xavier has always been open to trying everything I threw at him - he never ran away or said ‘no,’” he said. “He’s still in a learning process, but he knows now what he likes and what he doesn’t, and he feels more confident about the future.”
Relationships like Xavier and Weldon’s point to the power of the BBBS model, built on the premise that a caring adult outside of the family can make a positive mark on the life of a child. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) touts the ability of a “one-to-one” mentoring relationship to impact academic achievement, self-esteem and social competence and keep kids away from risky behaviors.
A new report, presenting interim findings from research conducted over four years on over 1,300 youth, provides clear evidence of that impact, specifically on delinquency and crime prevention. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted out of the University of Illinois Chicago and supported by Arnold Ventures.
Read more: www.arnoldvent...

[@BBBSofJohnsonCounty]

What a powerful story and vision. Thank you to the participants for sharing your truth!

[@SheffPurp]

His jeans are actually fire 🔥

[@leeharvey1364]

Proud son of Dr Elbert, this is just in him to reach back and help others

[@JesusIsKing1958]

Simply Amazing!