Spotlight On...

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ulster County

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It wasn’t long ago (2001) that if you were a child in Ulster County hoping for a big brother or big sister, you’d have a long wait. More than a year.

The staff was tiny. Funding rapidly disappearing. Closure on the horizon.

Today Big Brothers Big Sisters is a healthy, vibrant organization matching and supervising over 300 ‘littles’ and their ‘bigs.’ They added a school based mentoring program in 2003 to make sure another 227 kids receive the attention and nurturing they need to grow into healthy adults.

How did the change occur? The Big Brothers Big Sisters Board approached Families First New York for assistance. Families First Nyew York helped them save a significant amount by handling their management services, accounting and payrolls. We wrote the grants that found funding to hire a new program director and hire more staff. We worked with the Board to develop a new fundraising plan. And, although it wasn’t originally part of the plan, Big Brothers Big Sisters found a home with us. They’re now one of our subsidiaries.

Things look different at Big Brothers Big Sisters now. Last fall NYS awarded them the largest grant in NYS for mentoring children of incarcerated parents. This program will provide the mentoring these children need to break the cycle of violence. Together we change lives.

If you would like to talk about what we could do with your organization, call me, Allan Thomas, President, at 845-452-1114. Or email me and I’ll call you.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ulster website is now online and located at:
www.bigbrothersbigsistersulster.org