As we celebrate Black History Month across the US, we wanted to take a moment and spotlight some of the Black History events happening right here in our own backyard. From art exhibits to open mic nights to historical discussions, there are plenty of wonderful ways to celebrate in Washtenaw County. Here are just a few of the highlights:

• Just a Kid from Ypsi 

When: Tuesday February 14 l 11:45 am-1:00 pm 
Where: Online l Zoom info: Meeting ID 378 111 0170 Passcode YpsiStrong
Description: Chat with professionals that grew up in the 48197 and 48198 zip codes 
and now have amazing careers through hard work, dedication, and community!
Featuring Kid Jay, Tashauna Hall, Jesse Davis, Lorenzo Brown, Brian Jones-Chance,
Kenya Glover, Crystal Lyte, and Travis Willis. Brought to you by the YCS Black History
Month Speaker Series 

• The Great Migration 

When: Saturday February 18 l 1:00-2:30 pm
Where: Ann Arbor District Library Westgate Branch
Description: The Great Migration transformed America’s cultural landscape, impacting cities and towns across the nation, including Detroit and Washtenaw County. Participants will learn about the exodus of more than 6 million African Americans from the deep South to the North, Midwest, and West Coast between 1910-1970. Attendees will view highlights of the Intergenerational Dialogue on the Great Migration, which captured the oral histories of local older adults whose families migrated from the South. *The Great Migration: Millions Moved is also open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm to 4pm at the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County through March 26th, 2023*

• Culinary Historians: Bound to the Fire: How Virginia's Enslaved Cooks helped Invent American Cuisine 

When: Sunday February 19 l 4:00-5:30 pm
Where: Online l Check this page 15 minutes before event for Zoom info
Description:  In her book Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped             
Invent American Cuisine, Kelley Fanto Deetz draws upon archaeological evidence, cookbooks, plantation records, and folklore to present a study of the lives of enslaved plantation cooks from colonial times through emancipation and beyond. Deetz's talk focuses on enslaved cooks at Virginia plantations including Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and George Washington's Mount Vernon. She restores these forgotten figures to their rightful place in American and Southern history. This event is in partnership with the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor.

• Open Mic-Celebrating Black Culture
  

​When: Tuesday February 21 l 6:00-8:00 pm
Where: Neutral Zone
Description: Attention Teens! Come to NZ for our Celebrating Black Culture event! Join for this Black culture themed open mic, hip-hop cypher and art showcase

• Safely Talk about Race and Racism Film Discussion

When: Sunday February 26 l 2:00-3:00 pm
Where:  Ypsilanti District Library, Whittaker Branch
Description: During this event, watch an interview with Dr. Carol Anderson, professor of African American Studies at Emory University about her book "The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America". After the viewing, La'Ron Williams, local storyteller and peace activist, will facilitate an open, honest discussion about race and racism.

• AACHM Hold Me UP Exhibit (All Month) 

When: February (all month)
Where: Online 
Description: Narrative Histories of Black Community Building in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, 1920s-1970s. This project features five narrative histories of Black communal, institutional and political life in  Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti from the 1920s through the 1970s. Each account centers a particular topic: experiences of childhood, Black religious institutions, adult education and the importance of Black History, battles over racial inequality in housing, and Black Power institution building. The project builds upon and honors the storytellers and institutions that have long centered Black communities in the history of Washtenaw County (indeed, you can find a list of those important institutions and projects on the homepage). While students drew from the rich collections of the Bentley, they also relied significantly upon digitized materials from the Ypsilanti Historical Society, Ann Arbor District Library and the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County (AACHM).

​Five undergraduate fellows (Krista Albetins, Isabella Buzynski, Paige Hodder, Miriam Saperstein and Bennett Walling) collaborated with Greg Parker (Public Engagement Manager), Eshe Sherley (Doctoral Candidate, History) and UM Assistant Professor Jennifer Dominique Jones, Ph.D to create a public history project that expands the topical scope of the Michigan in the World Program. Given the reverberations of COVID 19, a significant portion of the Bentley Historical Library’s holdings had to be digitized prior to the start of the program. Sarah McLusky and Cinda Nofziger generously helped to survey the collections, while Brian Williams shared his expertise about and access to African American Alumni files. The digitization team scanned newspaper articles, photographs, correspondence, organizational records and a very fragile scrapbook from the 1930s so that students could access the documents remotely. Their labor and generosity combined with the generous support of Terry McDonald, Director of the Bentley- was instrumental to the project’s success

            Click Here to View Exhibit
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For more information on local Black History Month events, visit Ann Arbor District Library and Ypsilanti District Library. For more information about Black History in Washtenaw County, visit the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County

With National Mentoring Month well under way, we wanted to take a moment to highlight what it takes to be an effective and successful mentor! 
Becoming a youth mentor is a proven way to have a positive impact on their lives, with young mentees experiencing lower dropout rates, improved interpersonal skills, decreased likelihood of drug abuse, and enhanced self esteem and self confidence. [Youth.gov], but what’s involved in being a great mentor? 
Qualities of a Good Mentor
Acting as a mentor to a young person involves more than just spending time with them once in a while. Successful mentoring also requires a significant and thoughtful emotional commitment. According to The Balance, the top 5 traits of a great mentor are:

• Enthusiasm 
• Active Listening
• Experience
• Helpfulness
• Mutually respectful

These characteristics go a long way in showing young mentees that they are seen, heard, and safe in their mentor’s presence, which is the most important aspect of the youth mentoring relationship. 
How to Utilize these Qualities
How can a mentor put those valuable qualities into practice? Business News Daily explains with their How to Be a Good Mentor list:

1. Communicate and Listen

Feeling fully heard and understood is vital to the wellbeing of young people and one of the best things a mentor can do for their young mentee is communicate honestly and listen with curiosity. As the author Roy T  Bennett states, “the greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity..we listen for what’s behind the words.” Great mentors keep themselves open when communicating with their mentee so that they can truly understand and support them.
     2. Practice Empathy
    According to Brene Brown, “empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong wayto do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’” 
Empathy helps build connection in relationships, and feeling connected to trusted adults
Is necessary for a young person’s optimal well being, helping them feel valued, loved, 
And cared for. 
      3. Let Your Mentee Make Decisions
Allowing young people to make their own decisions, with guidance as needed to ensure their safety, goes a long way in helping them build confidence in themselves and their ability to navigate their own lives. This sense of confidence will then go on and help them make healthy, thoughtful choices throughout their lives. 
     4. Work on Becoming a Positive Role Model
While perfection is of course impossible and not a requirement to being a successful youth mentor, mentors who are open and honest about their own personal growth and development with their mentees teach them that life is always a work in progress and that mistakes are a natural part of growth. 

This is a fantastic month to get involved in a youth mentoring relationship and there are so many wonderful young people waiting for their very own Big mentor, through both our community and our school based match programs. 

Interested in helping to improve the life of one of them? Give us a call at 734-975-0933 or sign up for a volunteer info session today! 

Tis the Season! On Sunday, December 18th, University of Michigan student athletics, along with local Ann Arbor businesses, sent several of our Littles on a holiday shopping spree so that they could buy gifts for their families, with a wrapping party afterwards! 

In the spirit of holiday giving, Amir and Alexus Rad of Thrive Training Facility, Flex Lex Treats, University of Michigan Football Quarterback JJ McCarthy and Wrestling Captain, Mason Parris, along with Coach, Sean Bormet, generously donated more than $8,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County (BBBS) to help provide kids in the program with an unforgettable holiday and the opportunity to give back to their own families.

Over 30 kids in the BBBS program received a $150 gift card to use at the store of their choosing, and were accompanied by their Big Brother or Big Sister on their shopping spree. Afterwards, everyone gathered at Thrive Training Facility in Ann Arbor for lunch and gift wrapping.

Additional funds from this generous donation have been used to support BBBS’ Adopt-a-Family program and assemble "Helping Baskets", which are laundry baskets filled with practical household items like cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, dish soap, toilet paper, toothbrushes, and other personal items. 

BBBS is so grateful to everyone who helped make this magical day happen for our Littles!

​

With National Mental Health Day occuring earlier this week, we wanted to take a moment and highlight some of the proven mental health benefits of being connected with a carefully selected adult mentor can lead to improved mental health in young people. 

The last few years especially have highlighted the importance of mental health awareness, especially in children and teens. The CDC states that almost 50% of young people have experienced feelings of persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in the last 12 months, and just under 40% have experienced poor mental health during the Covid pandemic years. 

Having a strong network of people in their lives who support them unconditionally goes a long way in helping youth manage the stressors of daily life and the mental health challenges they may bring. In a study conducted by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a significant percentage of former Littles reported that their experiences with their Bigs left them feeling better about themselves, helped them go on to lead fulfilling adult lives, and aided them in establishing healthy and satisfying relationships. 

A Deeper Look 

Measuring mental health doesn’t just involve the presence or lack of sadness, anxiety, or fear. It also includes looking at how comfortable a person feels with themselves, others, and moving around in the world around them.  According to this Guider article, having a reliable adult mentor (Big) in their lives benefits the mental health and well being of kids in a multitude of ways, including: 

• Increases Self Confidence
  
• Strengthens Communication Skills
  
• Teaches New and Different Perspectives
  
• Improves Sense of Well Being
  
• Increases Life Satisfaction 
  

A Youth.gov study  found that having a Big reduces the risk of a child getting involved in illegal drug and alcohol use and drastically decreases the chance of them acting out violently and destructively. Having a mentor has also been shown to increase social and emotional skills development in kids, improve their relationships with their parents, and encourage them to pursue higher education goals, all of which definitely contribute to a young person’s mental health.  

Benefits for mentors

The young person involved in a stable mentoring relationship is not the only one to benefit. The mentor can also experience significant improvement in their well being, including an increased sense of self esteem, accomplishment, and patience, as well as deeper insight into and understanding of their own experiences as a young person. 

Helping to improve their mental health and well being is just one of the many valuable reasons to become a mentor to a child. There are also so many wonderful young people waiting for their very own Big mentor, through both our community and our school based match programs. 

Interested in helping to improve the life of one of them? Give us a call at 734-975-0933 or sign up for a volunteer info session today! ​

​Last year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County launched our school based program to much success. This year, we are excited to announce that not only is the program returning, it’s expanding, providing the community with even more ways to become involved in BBBS! The response to last year’s program was higher than expected, so our needs have also increased. We had eleven 2nd-4th grade Littles matched to a Big last year and 13 additional kids on the waiting list, and our hope for 2022-2023 is to find Bigs for those waitlist students and match an additional 60 children from the 2nd to 9th grades. 

Why become a Big? To change a young life for the better in concrete ways! According to youth.gov, having a close, one on one relationship with a reliable adult mentor benefits school age children in a multitude of ways, including increased high school graduation rates, increased school attendance, higher college enrollment rates, stronger relationships with parents, teachers, and peers, and increased self esteem and confidence. 

These relationships also benefit the mentor, with adult volunteers experiencing an increased understanding of youth and dedication to their well being, increased self esteem, and a greater sense of community connection, making the Big/Little relationship a win all around. 
Our school based program options are also an excellent way to become a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor without having to invest quite  as much time and planning as being a community based Big requires.  

Interested in becoming involved? Here are our three school based mentoring program options:

Lunch Buddies

Lunch Buddies is our original school based program and focuses on Bigs spending 45 minutes per week visiting their Little at school, having lunch, answering ice breaker questions, and playing a game or going outside together. The pilot program ran in Estabrook Elementary school during the 2022-2022 school year and this year will also run at Erickson Elementary. 

Big Buddies

Our new Big Buddies program is similar to Lunch Buddies, only rather than matching elementary students with an Adult mentor from the community, we’re matching them with a local High School student. This is a wonderful opportunity for younger students to bond with older students closer to their age and get a glimpse into what their own educational futures might look like. It also gives the older students a chance to develop their own socioemotional learning, executive functioning, and feelings of accomplishment and self esteem. Big Buddies will run exclusively in Estabrook Elementary during this school year. 

MentorU
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We are also launching a new MentorU program for the 2022-2023 school year. This program will focus on matching 9th grade students from Ypsilanti High School with a community based mentor who will visit them weekly to discuss and explore their college and career plans. 

Becoming a mentor to a school aged youth is a fantastic way to positively impact not just their lives, but yours as well, and with the new school year quickly approaching, there’s no time like the present to get involved! 

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, email [email protected], call  734-217-4550, or sign up for an informational session by clicking here