A HISTORY OF... | .jpg) |
Internationally
A young Cincinnati businessman named Irvin F. Westheimer who, spotting a young boy and his dog rooting through a garbage can for food, became concerned as to why such a situation was occurring, began the Big Brothers movement on July 4, 1903. Befriending
the child, Mr. Westheimer discovered that he lived in a home where the father was absent through death. Mr. Westheimer took the boy under his guidance, seeing him 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 to other boys and young men from father-absent homes; hence "Big Brothers". Amazingly in the very next year, 1904, in New York, Col. Ernest Coulter, Chief Clerk of the New York Children's Court, noting that a large number of children appearing in court came from homes where the father was absent, approached the Men's Club of Central Presbyterian Church to become 'big brothers" to boys and young men who were known to the court.
Thus, Big Brothers has the unique distinction of having been conceived as a program independently by two individuals who were concerned about the welfare of children.
In 1908, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, learning of the work of Big Brothers in New York City, organized the first Big Sisters service to girls and young women. Therefore the basis for both services to children indicates a deep and direct concern early in the century.
The first agency formally incorporated to undertake Big Brothers work was Big Brothers
of New York in 1909, followed closely by the Cincinnati agency. The Big Sisters agency in New York was incorporated in 1911.
Nationally
In 1913, the Toronto delinquency rate was growing rapidly and some businessmen interested in doing something to combat the problem, sent a representative to New York to investigate an organization known as the Big Brother Movement. Impressed with what he saw, the representative convinced his fellow businessmen that they should do something similar in Toronto. Thus, "The Big Brother Movement of Toronto" was born. In 1946 representatives of 13 Big Brothers agencies under the leadership of Charles Berwind of Philadelphia, met and decided to form Big Brothers of America (BBA) to act as the federate, central representative of the Big Brother program in the U.S. and Canada.By 1964, 10 Big Brothers Associations in Canada were providing services to a total of 300 matched boys. These agencies were affiliated with the Big Brothers of America, headquarters in Philadelphia. During 1964, efforts were made to begin a Canadian organization with a view of promoting the Big Brothers concept throughout Canada. Big Brothers of Canada was federally chartered on December 15, 1964.
The idea spread to many other cities in the U.S. and Canada and in 1971, the first national conference was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. By 1972, 60 Canadian agencies were providing service to 3,000 boys, a ten-fold increase in eight years! In that year, Big Brothers of Canada signed a separation agreement with Big Brothers of America, to become a completely autonomous national body. Growth was rapid in the ensuing years and by 1980, 150 agencies were in existence serving 7,200 children.
By the mid 70's several communities established joint Big Brothers/Big Sisters agencies. As new agencies were organized, the majority offered services to both boys and girls.
The Big Brother program is not limited to Canada and the United States. Big Brother organizations exist in many countries including Japan, Korea, England, Germany, Australia, Africa, Jamaica and Israel.
Today
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC) is the leading child and youth serving organization providing mentoring programs across the country. Providing support to more than 1000 Canadian communities, our over 135 local agencies offer the service that the organization was founded on: One-to-One Matching. Men and women (age 18 or older) give of their time to become a mentor to a young person who can greatly benefit from having an adult role model to look up to.
Currently, over 27,000 children are matched with adults in one-to-one programs. Our challenge is to find matches for the 10,000 kids on our waiting lists.