The Big Brothers Big Sisters program has been helping to change the lives of children and adults for over a century. According to the website of Big Brothers Big Sisters, in 1904, a young New York City court clerk named Ernest Coulter was seeing more and more boys come through his courtroom. He recognized that caring adults could help many of these kids stay out of trouble, and he set out to find volunteers. That marked the beginning of the Big Brothers movement. By 1916, Big Brothers had spread to 96 cities across the country. Around the same time, the members of a group called Ladies of Charity were befriending girls who had come through the New York Children’s Court. That group would later become Catholic Big Sisters. Then in 1977 the two joined forces to become Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. The program currently operates in all 50 states in the U.S. and in 12 other countries around the world. Although, many years have passed since Coulter’s vision the program remains and so do all the stories of the lives that have been changed through his dream.

Here is the story of how Big Brothers Big Sisters of America changed my life. My father was never in the picture from the very day that I was born. My mother worked full-time; I have an older brother that joined the Navy when I was about eight. I also have two sisters but was lacking that male bonding that seems to be vital in the growing up of a young man. I was dealing with a lot of anger problems at this point in my life and the hard streets of New Orleans weren’t a suitable substitute for a role model. Then my mom decided to go to Big Brothers Big Sisters to find help, and help she found. In 1991, when I was nine years old I was matched with a Big Brother named Earl. This meeting of two brothers couldn’t have come at a better time in my life, because while all my so called friends were running the streets getting into trouble I was spending a great deal of time with Earl. We did all sorts of things together but most importantly just hung out as “the guys”.

Some of the things we did included going fishing a lot, going for walks, hanging out at his house, going to the park to fly kites or play Frisbee or just having a male figure to talk to about my problems. All these things combined have crafted a lifelong brotherhood of two people, Earl and I still keep in touch after 18 years of friendship. He has told me on many occasions that I have helped him in his journey of life more than I know that I have, just by knowing he too has someone he can count on and talk to. My own story is only the breaking point of the lives that have been changed due to Big Brothers Big Sisters. I have found another story I would like to share with you the readers.

According to Big Brother B. Quick on the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta’s website, In May 2000 when Kevin came into his life as his my Little Brother paired through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta, Quick expected an opportunity to teach this young man a thing or two about life, love, friendship and culture.  While Kevin is an outstanding student, improving each and every year that he has known him, Kevin is a better teacher…to Quick. Quick thought he was going to be the teacher and Kevin the pupil, but what Quick found was that he learned a lot more about himself, love, life, friendship, culture and a slew of other things as a result of their relationship. Kevin is incredibly talented. He remembers everything.  He is motivated to succeed and is driven to make his family proud.  He offers so much—his easy-going attitude, soft and kind approach, open-mindedness, and observant intelligence.   What he needs is the opportunity to share this with others, improve our society, and make everything he touches golden. While he is a strong student and he is destined for scholarly success, he is a better teacher.  Kevin has taught Quick about friendship, culture, and how family is most important.  He has also taught him the importance of consistency and how to make something out of nothing. Kevin is an outstanding young man.  As his Big Brother for nine years, Quick is very proud of him for his past successes and for the successes he will accomplish in the future.  Quick stated that he is grateful for the opportunity on the Metro Atlanta’s Website.

The story of Big Brother B. Quick and my own are very moving indeed but merely only scratch the surface of the countless amount of lives that have been changed by this great program.  No matter how many stories we see of all the good Big Brothers Big Sisters has done we mustn’t neglect the fact that there are still stories of those lives that haven’t yet been touched.  All that is required of your time to become a Big is volunteering four hours a month. We can all share four hours a month to help change the life of a young person or even our own. All one needs to do is go to the Big Brother Big Sister website at www.bbs.org and click on the volunteering link or just simply call 888.412.BIGS to be routed to your local agency. Make life worth living and help change someone else’s life today.