Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado

1.Under the traditional Community-Based Mentoring (CBM) model, our youth meet their volunteers once per week for 2-4 hours with a minimum commitment period of one year. The core focus of our CBM model is developing a quality relationship where our youth learn life skills such as communication; decision-making, future planning, and risk avoidance techniques that help each child become a productive member of society. In 2018 the CBM served a total of 78 youth in Archuleta and La Plata counties, with recent closures bringing us to 66 youth in an active Community-Based match as of April 2019.

2.The School-Based Mentoring (SBM) models are in a partnership with the Durango 9-R School District and include three sub-programs; School-Based Mentoring (SBM) (see 2.a), the High School Bigs School-Based Mentoring (HSB) program (see 2.b), and the School-Based Active and Healthy Lifestyle Mentoring (SBM+) program (see 2.c). All of our SBM matches meet at a staff-supervised program once per week for one hour a week at the youth's school. While at program, each match spends at least a quarter of their time working on homework, reading and other academic projects.
2.a. SBM: Our traditional academic mentoring program matches an adult with an elementary-aged youth from one of five elementary schools we serve; Park, Needham, Riverview, Florida Mesa, and Pagosa Springs. The primary focus of our SBM matches is academic.
2.b HSB: Our HSB model was piloted in 2013 and pairs students from our area's four high schools; Durango, Animas, Big Picture, and Pagosa Springs High Schools with a student from one of the five elementary schools we serve. We are excited to have this opportunity to expand mentoring to more children, and to provide high school students with a powerful and meaningful way to engage with the youth in their community. This program, like all others offered by BBBS, is focused on the unique benefits of a one-to-one mentoring relationship, and is still under significant development with only 15 youth currently matched with our high school mentors.
2.c. SBM+: Our SBM+ Healthy and Active Lifestyle model was initiated last year with the hopes of inspiring and informing our most rural School-Based sites about the benefits of eating a balanced diet and exercising every day. In 2018, we developed curriculum that focuses on maintaining active and healthy lifestyles in alignment with CATCH, a national physical and mental well-being education model, for the School-Based Programs at Florida Mesa and Pagosa Springs Elementary Schools. If the curriculum is well received, we look to implement it into all of the elementary schools served by our School-Based model.

All BBBS of SW CO service delivery models operate in both La Plata and Archuleta counties. Our professional Program Management staff screen, train, support, and monitor each match over the duration of its lifetime to ensure a safe and quality relationship for every child.