By: Amanda Price—
Muncie, IN—Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Indiana has been proud to Defend the Potential of the youth in our community for the past 48 years. However, due to increased requirements from our National office, and the costs associated, we have decided to close our agency as of Friday, May 17, 2019.
During our 48 years as a Big Brothers Big Sisters agency we have had the honor and privilege of working with the children in our community. We have seen them grow and mature, laugh and cry, learn and blossom, but most importantly, we have seen them live up to the potential they had inside of them. We have matched over 4,500 children in life-long relationships with caring adult mentors.
The Big Brothers Big Sisters model requires strict adherence to the standards of practice established for all of its affiliates to ensure the safety of the children we serve. Over the last few years, those standards were strengthened to provide additional safeguards for the children we serve and our agency has been proud to implement those standards as the safety of our children is our top priority. However, the increased resources required has proven unsustainable for our local agency.
After thoughtful consideration of the children, families, mentors, and our community, we, as the Board of Directors, have concluded that we must close our doors. This decision is a very difficult one, and we have explored every avenue to continue as an agency. However, when the only options are to reduce the level of service or close the agency, the decision is an easy one as we will not compromise the safety of the children in our community or our mission. We stand behind the transformative potential of the one-to-one mentoring model and believe in the empowerment it provides. The match families and associated mentors have been contacted personally and informed of this decision. We are so touched by their understanding and appreciation for the life-changing relationships we were able to facilitate.
We are proud of the service we have been able to provide for over 4 decades. It has truly been an honor to see the level of commitment from our donors, the empowerment from our match families, the inspiration from the community, and the dedication from our mentors. Our hope is that Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Indiana’s commitment to the children of our community will continue with other organizations. Individually, we will continue to advocate and be their voice, and we hope this community continues to do the same.
Any questions can be directed to Michael Foley, President of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Indiana.
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Indiana
Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Indiana is one of the 270+ affiliates around the country helping children achieve their full potential. Their mission is to build and support one-to-one relationships to ignite the biggest possible futures for youth.
