Mission

To make a positive, measurable impact in the lives of children through professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships.

Vision

Successful mentoring relationships for all children who need and want them, contributing to better schools, brighter futures and stronger communities for all.

Promise

To foster a culture of commitment to diversity and inclusion, partnership and collaboration, continuous learning, people development and high performance.

We aim to achieve our mission by providing one-to-one mentoring for each child enrolled in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. It's a proven method that has worked for more than 100 years.

As early as 1902, the “Ladies of Charity,” a Catholic organization in New York City, began befriending girls who came before the children’s court. The following year in Cincinnati, a businessman named Irvin F. Westheimer spotted a young boy and his dog rooting through a garbage can for food on July 4th, and became concerned as to why such a situation was occurring on this of all days. Discovering that the boy’s father had died, Mr. Westheimer decided to offer his guidance; he began seeing the boy regularly and helping him as a “big brother.” Further, Mr. Westheimer asked a number of his friends to act in a similar capacity, on a one-to-one basis, with other boys and young men from father-absent homes.

Although these informal arrangements existed, the founding of the organized Big Brother movement is celebrated as 1904, when Ernest K. Coulter, Chief Clerk of the New York Children’s Court, noted that a large number of the children appearing in court came from homes where the father was absent, and took action. In addressing the Men’s Club of the Central Presbyterian Church regarding delinquent boys, Mr. Coulter said: “These boys’ only guilt is that they have been deprived of a basic childhood right...the right to a father’s love, understanding and example. It is a right which they and others like them may never receive unless men like you give it to them.” So impressed were the forty club members by Coulter’s words, that they volunteered their services and the first officially recognized Big Brothers agency came into being. In 1908, the first Big Sisters agency was also formed in New York City. “Big Brothers of America” and “Big Sisters International” operated separately until a merger in 1977 when “Big Brothers Big Sisters of America” was created.

The formation of an agency under the umbrella of “Family Services of Midland” (now known as “Centers for Children and Families”) in 1975 marked the inception of the Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring initiative in Midland. It became an independent agency fully accredited by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in 1981; since 1984 it has been a member agency of United Way of Midland, and currently receives approximately 35% of its operating budget through United Way allocations. The remainder of funding is raised through private donations, grants, bequests, and the revenue generated from special event fund raisers. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midland is a non-profit organization directed by a volunteer Board of Directors. There is no cost to the client for services provided by the agency.