Daily Sitka Sentinel

Big Brothers Big Sisters Program a Care Giver

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER 

Sentinel Staff Writer

Studies show that about a quarter of Alaskan teens feel like no one cares about them. And some fewer than that have contemplated suicide, said Kealoha Harmon, the Big Brothers Big Sisters director in Sitka.  

Kealoha Harmon (Sentinel Photo)

But the teens who are involved in the program around the state are less likely to skip school, use drugs and drink alcohol. 

“We know when a child is matched with us there are positive outcomes,” she told Sitka Chamber of Commerce members at a luncheon Wednesday.

January is National Mentoring Month and Harmon was at the Chamber meeting to talk about the importance of pairing kids with caring adults in the community. 

In Sitka, she estimated some 429 students need mentors, based on national statistics that say one in three students do not have them, she said. 

Sitka resident Kelly Ferguson is one of the longest serving mentors in the program in Sitka. She was named Alaska Big Sister of the Year in 2014. She also spoke at the Chamber about her experiences as a Big Sister.

Mentorship “is something we all need to be successful in life,” she said.

Ferguson is currently on her second mentee in the program. Her first mentee graduated from high school despite many risk factors, she said.

“It’s not what activity you do it’s the quality of time you spend with the individual,” Ferguson said. “It’s the small time you spend with someone. It’s healthy for both of us.”

She has taken her mentees fishing, boating, volunteering and on other outdoor adventures. 

“I would encourage anybody to become a mentor,” she said. “I believe in this program and think it is extremely important.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters is always looking for more volunteers to be matched with kids.

“Chances are you know someone who needs a mentor,” she said. “There’s no downside of being matched with the child.”

Mentors, called “Bigs” in the organization, don’t need any other skills than a genuine interest in working with youths, she said. There are both school-and community-based programs where bigs can meet with their “littles,” or mentees, during school or take them on excursions out in town.

“I do encourage our matches to get outside as much as possible,” Harmon said. 

She had one student who moved to Sitka as a kindergartner but still hadn’t been to Sandy Beach until several years later when he went with his big, she said. 

“I hear stories like that all the time,” she said.

Matches also get the option of going to the Hames Center free of charge, through a program there. That means when the weather is bad they can still play inside, and use the climbing wall, for example, Harmon said. 

“There is no set activity whatsoever,” she said. 

The activities are unique to the matches. 

“One group does subsistence activities,” Harmon said.

Some people even opt to mentor along with their spouses or partners so a child has a couple to spend time with, she said. 

But, if the time isn’t right to volunteer at Big Brothers Big Sisters, the organization could still use help at its fundraiser “Bowl for Kids Sake,” set for April 7 at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School. Harmon is currently recruiting teams and sponsors for the event.