Ayni Hailicka does it all. A public relations major at University of Oregon, she is currently interning at UO’s Portland-based Career Center and at Allen Hall Public Relations. She is also a copy editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald, a teacher’s assistant for a UO Transfer Seminar class, and a volunteer for the UO Ambassador Program. The daughter of a philanthropist, Hailicka grew up with a strong interest in nonprofit organizations and a passion for wanting to be involved in everything. In high school she was on the debate team, and in college, she took on what it would seem to other college students more than she could handle. For any college student, it would seem a little overwhelming, but for Hailicka, it wasn’t enough. Six months ago, she went the extra mile and became a Big Sister at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lane County.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is not your typical organization. They aren’t rescuing animals, holding fundraisers to collect books for needy libraries, or helping to fight cancer. Their work starts and ends with youth. The organization has become notorious for making profound changes in both small and large communities threatened by negative influences on youth, such as drug abuse and gang activity. By matching at-risk youth with Bigs, otherwise known as mentors, who dedicate an hour or two of their time per week, BBBS is forming lasting friendships and improving communities nationwide. Positive communication and healthy choices are the building blocks of BBBS, and they use that focus to build stronger kids and, in return, stronger communities. But they couldn’t do it without their volunteers.
Hailicka, 21, has been a volunteer Big Sister to 11-year-old YaiYah Ah Sam for the past six months. She was looking for an extracurricular activity to fill up some of her time and, no stranger to kids having grown up with 13 nieces and nephews, submitted her application to BBBS’ community-based program as soon as she learned they were looking for volunteers. She says BBBS’s mission statement is what keeps her excited about volunteering, and that it helps that the staff are so wonderful. “Being a mentor can be difficult at times, but the staff are committed to making the experience as enjoyable and memorable as possible” she said.
Lane County’s BBBS staff is made up of four people, including Francesca MacCormack, the Executive Director of Programs. She has worked at BBBS for three years, one of which she spent as an intern with the Family and Human Services Program through UO. MacCormack’s office is decorated with pictures by youth in the program and newspaper clippings documenting the success stories of youth and their mentors; both serve as a reminder that her job “really makes a difference.” The reward of working at BBBS, MacCormack said, is “when youth come into the office and tell us how well things are going.” She works mostly in the office during the week, and occasionally participates in mentor/mentee group activities, but when she can’t, “seeing a youth is the reminder that the actual work is still happening outside the office, even if I can’t see it directly.”
There are several programs BBBS has open to youth: HOPE, for youth in the foster care system; Project Promise, for youth who have been identified by school personnel as a student that could benefit from some social and/or academic support in addition to what they receive at school; and the New Options Running Program, which pairs mentors with young men in the Stepping Stone residential treatment program at John Serbu youth campus. BBBS currently has 180 matches across all programs total, but there are still 100 youth waiting to be matched. “Every time we make 15 new matches, we get 15 more,” MacCormack said. “The waiting list is always really long.”
Big Sisters are usually matched more often than Big Brothers simply because young boys want Big Brothers, not Big Sisters. In general, it takes about 12 weeks for a boy youth to be matched, and 6 weeks for a girl youth, but it also depends on how fast paperwork is approved. After a person submits an application to volunteer, it is reviewed by a staff member and then a background check is done. What follows is a questionnaire to help determine a good match, an information session with answers to any questions, and a month-long mentor training. The process is lengthy, but it’s well worth it and it all goes to assuring a perfect match is formed.
Hailicka is part of a growing group of about 180 other mentors in the Eugene/Springfield area dedicated to spending three hours per week with their Little. For Hailicka, it’s time that she would otherwise spend at home watching T.V., sleeping, or just lounging around her house. Instead, she and other mentors get to spend their time being a little kid again. “It’s fun connecting with someone who is going through the same situations I was a decade ago,” Hailicka said.
Volunteers spend that three hours either doing something fun they come up with on their own, or taking advantage of the donations the organization’s many sponsors drop off. These donations include baseball tickets, rafting trips down the Willamette River, rock-climbing lessons, and Hult Center performances. Activities are designed to help everyone come out of their shell, and form a bond between the Big and Little, a bond that “changes how you feel about yourself,” Hailicka said. “Knowing that you’re doing something for someone other than yourself for no reason other than because you enjoy it is a really rewarding feeling.”
In the six months they’ve been matched, Hailicka and YaiYah have gone rock climbing, completed a 5K run, tried sushi together, toured the University, and “dominated ropes courses.” Trust is an important element for BBBS, and when a match is trying to make it across a rope rigged 20-50 feet up in the air, there really isn’t another option. Part of positive communication is learning to open up, and Littles are encouraged to talk about their problems and share any struggles with their Big.
In Lane County, BBBS has recently started working with the Eugene Police Department to create Project Promise, a program designed to help keep kids from being out on the streets after hours. The Eugene Police came to BBBS hoping to come up with a program that would decrease gang formation in the county, and so far, both BBBS and EP have seen positive results.
Hailicka says being a Big Sister has taught her how to be a kid again. “In college we’re encouraged to grow up, mature, and focus on the future,” she said. “As a mentor, I have the opportunity to let loose, enjoy the moment, and pretend to be a kid again.” She acknowledges that it can be nerve-wracking deciding to become a mentor, but has simple advice for any college student thinking about it. “Do it!” she said. “I promise you won’t regret it. Think of it as a chance to be a kid, to shape a child and to be a someone who’s looked up to in a society that’s lacking great role models.”
The biggest worries potential volunteers have had, BBBS said, is that they aren’t perfect role models. “We tell them that they don’t have to be perfect, they just need to be willing to try,” MacCormack said. “They don’t have to have all the answers, they just have to listen.”
If you would like to become a mentor, BBBS is always looking for volunteers! Call (541)344-0833 ext 101 or email ashley@bbbslane.org.
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Serena Piper will always consider herself a Southern belle, but for now she is a senior majoring in Magazine Journalism. Besides being the Campus Correspondent for Her Campus Oregon, she is a freelance blogger at BookRenter.com. She is an avid news reader and watcher, loves to bake yummy desserts and watch Sex and the City reruns, go shopping with friends, and indulge in True Blood. She has big travel plans for after graduation and would eventually like to work for National Geographic or a travel magazine. She wouldn’t mind one bit if her life echoed Elizabeth Gilbert’s in Eat, Pray, Love. Follow her on Twitter!