“My cousins are gang members, and before I met Mark they always used to want me to join in with them. If I hadn’t met (Big Brother) Mark, I’d probably be in a gang, or in juvenile hall, with them."
— Little Brother Rickey
Rickey says his Big Brother kept him out of gangs. Instead of being involved in trouble, he’s got a job. After she met her Big Sister, Olivia decided to graduate high school. She’ll be the first member of her family to do it – and then she’ll keep going.
Effects you can measure
In a study conducted by Public/Private Ventures, a Philadelphia-based national research organization, researchers found that Little Brothers and Little Sisters were:
- 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
- 27% less likely to begin using alcohol
- 52% less likely to skip school
- 37% less likely to skip a class
- More confident of their performance in schoolwork
- One-third less likely to hit someone
- Getting along better with their families
Impact that's immeasurable
A neighborhood where kids have only drug dealers and gangbangers to look up to is one where kids don’t expect to live past 25, or stay out of prison. Before they met their Bigs, Rickey and Olivia didn’t think about the future much. Now, they think about it all the time. Instead of joining gangs, children with hope for the future turn their neighborhoods around. Instead of taking, they give back.
It’s simple, when you think about it: kids with access to people who value work are more likely to value work. Kids with access to people who are responsible are more likely to be responsible. Kids with access to good people are more likely to become good people.
Having a responsible, caring adult friend makes a powerful difference to a child. Here’s more evidence you can measure:
• 56% of Littles improve their relationships with their peers
• 55% of Littles are better able to express their feelings
• 64% of Littles develop higher levels of self-confidence
100 kids like these turn their neighborhoods around. 1,000 kids like these can transform a city. 5,000 kids like these can transform the whole Bay Area.
We want the Bay Area to have more kids with responsible mentors than it has kids in gangs.
Imagine the community impact.
