Big Brothers Big Sisters opening Paso Robles location
Expansion to north county funded by donation from Must Charities
Big Brothers Big Sisters is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Paso Robles office at 517 13th Street. The event is March 17 from 4:30-6 p.m., with festivities at 5 p.m.
Vicki Janssen from Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian’s office, the Paso Robles and Atascadero Chambers of Commerce and Becky Gray from Must Charities are scheduled to offer a few remarks regarding the Big Brothers Big Sisters expansion and to assist in the ribbon-cutting.
Must Charities has made a $253,000, four-year investment in Big Brothers Big Sisters with a goal of expanding youth mentoring in an underserved region, making sure children, who ask for assistance from an adult, receive the help they need. Big Brothers Big Sisters has hired an additional caseworker and is opening the Paso Robles location to better serve the North County community.
Currently there are 46 youth from the north San Luis Obispo County, waiting for a mentor. “With local drug problems increasing among youth, local gang-related issues continuing to raise concerns, and limited budgets with ever increasing caseloads for family advocates servicing families in need, today’s youth are facing adversity in their lives and searching for an outlet of hope and happiness,” said Becky Gray from Must Charities. Big Brothers Big Sisters nationally proven model shows the opportunity for success.”
Anna Boyd-Bucy from Big Brothers Big Sisters said, “a nationwide study conducted for Big Brothers Big Sisters by Harris Interactive found that adults who were involved as children in our program, were better educated, wealthier and reported stronger relationships with their spouses, children and friends. The expansion of our services in the North County via funding from must! charities is making that possible for local youth.”
For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. Most children they serve are in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated. As a part of the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, they make meaningful, monitored friendships between adult volunteers and children. Funding provides for a system of ongoing evaluation and support that is proven by independent studies to help families by improving the odds that participating children will perform better in school, avoid violence and illegal activities, and have stronger relationships with their parents and others. For more information on volunteering or contributing to Big Brothers Big Sisters, call (805) 781-3226, or log onto www.slobigs.org.
