Diversions
Exponential change
FROM: JUL-AUG 2004 ISSUE
In 1988, Patricia Barbato, CGA, met a little girl who changed her life. Patricia volunteered as Big Sister to 10-year-old Keesha, who was “at-risk” and needed a mentor to look up to. Each week, Patricia would take Keesha to her favourite restaurant, a movie, or simply shopping, and talk about life, school, and friends.
At 26, Keesha is now a director at a Vancouver online hospitality recruitment company and has a Little Sister of her own. Meanwhile, Patricia, who is vice-president, corporate services, and CFO at Providence Healthcare in Toronto, has continued her involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC) and is currently serving a two-year term as the organization’s chair.
“Anyone who has been touched by the organization is touched deeply,” Patricia says of her ongoing commitment to BBBSC. And, as chair, she has big goals.
The main focus of BBBSC’s new strategic plan is to serve more kids. Volunteer numbers have declined in recent years, so BBBSC has adapted its programs. It has begun matching across genders and has introduced “Couples for Kids,” where a couple can share responsibilities. The organization has also started an “In-School Mentoring” program, which matches volunteers with a child at a school near their workplace. Instead of the usual commitment of three hours a week for at least 12 to 18 months, volunteers commit only one hour a week for the duration of the school year.
The organization is still assessing the benefits of this new mentoring arrangement. However, most of BBBSC’s research indicates that these relationships work. More than 80 per cent of former Little Brothers earn a secondary school diploma, compared to 60 per cent of the peer group not in the program. Also, 78 per cent of former Littles who came from social assistance backgrounds no longer rely on social assistance.
“I know that to be a fact with my Little Sister,” Patricia says, adding that no one in Keesha’s family could believe it when she went to university. “You can change someone’s life,” she continues. “I feel like I’ve had a positive role in her life. And now I’m watching her with her own Little Sister, Teana … It’s exponential.”
To learn more about the BBBSC, visit www.bbbsc.ca.
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