Mentors Matter

Big Brothers Big Sisters

By Leah Etling on Jun 27, 2013 in Giving, People

For Yardi programmer Alexander Graf, spending time each week with his “little brother” should probably not be described as volunteer work. As he talks about his mentee through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program of Santa Barbara County (part of the nonprofit Family Service Agency), Alex tells stories as though he is talking about his own sibling. Hanging out with Jerry, his 10-year-old “little brother”, is clearly not a chore to him at all.

Jerry came into Alex’s life just two years ago. Despite a very busy schedule filled with work and community activities, Alex makes time to see him every week. With four siblings and a large extended family, Jerry might not always have the chance to have an adult’s undivided attention focused just on him. During his outings with Alex, that changes.

“It’s nice to be a positive influence on someone’s life. And it’s great to see the happiness in kids’ eyes when they get to do something they have never been able to do before. Most of the mentees are from low-income families, and they don’t always get a lot of individual attention,” Alex said.

Alex and Jerry enjoy spending time together at the Santa Barbara Zoo, the batting cages, local parks, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.  Alex has realized that Jerry might not respond if he simply tells him a story, but if you show him how to do something, like a chemistry experiment or how to make a balloon animal, he will be curious and probably want to participate. In turn, Jerry might not ask his Big Brother many questions about his own life, but he loves to tell Alex long, complicated stories that he makes up.

Alex’s experience with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program over the last two years has been so positive that he’s now encouraging others to participate. Yardi, which also makes corporate contributions to the Family Service Agency to support its efforts, is no stranger to volunteerism. The company’s employees contribute their out of office time to hundreds of local causes and activities. There are mentors working with kids in the community in just about every Yardi office in the U.S. and worldwide.

The Family Service Agency has a long, distinguished history. It’s actually Santa Barbara County’s oldest non-sectarian nonprofit, having been in operation for 112 years. In addition to social support like the BBBS program, family services offered include counseling, senior and family services. All are offered on a sliding fee/donation scale.

Potential mentors in Santa Barbara County can express interest in the program by signing up on its website, http://www.fsacares.org There is a long waiting list of children between age 7-17 who hope to be placed with a mentor, and the 30 kids the waiting list could have to wait up to a year to be matched.

For a new mentor, the applicant screening process follows in which personal references for the mentors are checked. Then a careful matching process between mentor and mentee is carried out.  The screening and application process can last a month or longer. Next, an effort is made by FSA’s coordinators to ensure that the “big/little” pairs have at least a few common interests.

Research has demonstrated that children with positive adult role models and mentors are less likely to fall in with the wrong peer group, drop out of school, or become involved with substance abuse. Alex’ mentee is doing well academically and was even recently asked to be a mentor for a younger child at school.

Though the program doesn’t require mentors to focus on academics with their mentees, Alex has been happy to help Jerry with his homework and clearly cares about his progress and happiness. He’s become a welcome member of Jerry’s family and is always invited to family get-togethers and birthday parties, where he makes balloon animals for all the kids. He’s a mentor who is willing to go the extra mile!