OUR PROGRAMS As the pandemic continued to keep girls relatively isolated, we found creative ways to keep our Big and Little Sisters connected to each other. We fostered relationships in all of our programs with increased personalized guidance and support. We provided both virtual and COVID-safe in-person activities for Community-Based Mentoring Big and Little Sisters. When it was safe to do so and with caregiver permission, many of our matches met in person for the first time! And, we distributed 150 activity kits to Big and Little Sisters so they could try new experiences together virtually or inperson. Our Site-Based Big and Little Sisters met virtually to keep their connection strong during a time when they were unable to meet at Little Sister’s school or Big Sister’s workplace. We persisted in the face of another challenging year to keep girls connected.
COMMUNITY-BASED MENTORING
BIG FOR A DAY
Our largest one-to-one mentoring program matches girls between the ages of 7-15 with a Big Sister. These Little Sisters meet individually with their Big Sisters at a date and time of their choosing, and engage in low- to no-cost activities that can range from baking to basketball, watching movies to simply talking with each other. Big and Little Sisters commit to at least one year together, meeting weekly for the first three months and then twice per month. Matches in our CommunityBased program are matched for an average of nearly four years.
Girls who are enrolled with us in CommunityBased Mentoring, but not yet matched with a Big Sister can participate in a monthly group activity with a Big for a Day volunteer led by our staff. Girls who are waiting to be matched are engaged with us from the start. We host many exciting programs for participants in Big for a Day including, yoga, self-defense, painting, engineering projects, and tennis.
Big and Little Sisters in our Big For A Day program learn self-defense skills with Boston Budo
24 BIG SISTER BOSTON | 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
Big Sister Leslie and Little Sister Harmony enjoy virtual needlepoint.
Big Sister Fakisha and Little Sister Jade “twinning” during one of their visits together.
