CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s most at-risk kids need more mentors, according to Sara McDowell, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central West Virginia, who said the demand for those to serve as positive role models cannot be overstated.
“Having that person to go to really does make a huge difference,” she told MetroNews as National Mentoring Month continues.
“Mentoring is much more than just helping a child today. It’s encouraging and empowering that child to grow into a confident adult with aspirations to achieve something greater in life.”
The children and young people served by Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central West Virginia are primarily between the ages of six and 20 and come from single parent, low-income households.
Funding limits the organization’s reach to four counties at this time, but McDowell said the goal is to eventually expand the work of the nonprofit to every child in West Virginia who wants or needs a mentor.
“As we see the growing shift in demographics in the state of West Virginia and a growing number of single parent homes and the financial issues that many families are facing, the fact that many grandparents are now raising their grandchildren due to substance abuse or incarceration of parents, that mentoring becomes a greater need for those young people,” McDowell said.
Young people involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters are 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to start drinking alcohol, 52 percent less likely to skip school and 37 percent less likely to skip class, according to McDowell.
That’s why, she’s making “a critical call to action” to private businesses, community leaders and elected officials to get involved — either by giving money or their time to mentoring.
For more on the mentoring programs through Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central West Virginia, currently the only Big Brothers Big Sisters organization operating solely in West Virginia, click here or call 304-746-7900.
“These young people are amazing kids and what they really want is just to know that they’ve got that extra champion in their corner cheering them on and helping them make the decisions that they’re facing every day,” McDowell said.