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Staying Connected

How are Bigs staying connected with their Littles? Like this!

 

 

A Big shows up – at a socially appropriate distance, of course

Big Sister Julia, a reading teacher, has been meeting Little Sister Kamryn on Google Meet for an hour each day to help with her class work and just hang out. On May 7, Julia surprised Kamryn by showing up in person in Henderson County to do her schoolwork. Julia sat in a lawn chair on the lawn, and Kamryn sat on the porch.

“It was so fun!” Julia said. “We didn’t get close to each other, but we could see each other.”

A Big Brother’s online commentary explains how he is keeping connected with his Little

Little Brother Andre works at home while his Big Brother Joey helps him when he can.

In this May 10 column at BlueRidgeNow online, Hendersonville Big Brother Joey Popp writes about how his communicating with his Little Brother nearly every day is helping his Little blossom during the pandemic. Thank you, Joey!

A Big stays connected by overcoming big obstacles

This story was written by Henderson County Big Sister Rebekah, who has two Littles in Henderson County.
Since we’ve been out of school, connecting with my two Littles has not been as easy. It was very difficult in the beginning to find ways and times to connect with my Littles.

To add to the challenge, we really struggled to get in touch with the second Little’s parents to get consent to continue communicating and figure out our options for that. It’s also more challenging to schedule the time to reach out and communicate with them about when and how we will connect. They aren’t checking their emails the way we do as adults, so it’s hard to get information to them in a timely manner. Whereas when we were in school, I could remind them in the hallway or pick them up easily.

Connecting with teachers and other support staff about their progress has also been an adjustment. I have to make more of an effort to reach out to teachers to see how my Littles are doing and what I can support with. But even then, supporting virtually and explaining things is a challenge. Then there’s so many distractions from parents, siblings, and pets in the background that it’s hard to focus on school subjects with them virtually, and it’s really not what they want the focus of the conversations to be.

However, there have been a lot of highlights during my time working with my Littles electronically. I find it to be a highlight just that I can be a consistent person in their lives even when I’m not physically there.

We’ve also managed to do some cool stuff like show and tell. My Little always talks about her animals, and since we are able to Zoom, she was able to show me all of the animals at her house and I showed her pictures of my horse. We shared pictures and I saw the animals through her video, and we talked about each one’s uniqueness.

My other Little has not been as responsive with his emails and offers to Zoom together. However, he will email me occasionally to give me an update about what is going on at home.

It’s difficult with that one because I know he needs someone to talk to consistently and I want him to realize I can still be there. However, I can’t force him into chatting with me and I’ve had to respect that. I just really wish we were in school still so I could chat with him more easily. I know that he knows I’m here for him though and he has that space to chat, so that’s what I remind myself matters.

Overall, it’s been quite the adjustment but I’m so thankful we have the technology to still stay connected with our Littles. I enjoy the consistency as much as I hope they do.

Cupcakes, virtual birthdays and a cooking challenge

A very special match in Burke County – a 70-year-old Big Brother and his 7-year-old Little Brother, have been writing letters to each other, Program Coordinator Nina Ervin said. The Little Brother isn’t connected to the Internet, which makes the letter writing all the more wonderful. The boy’s mother said he’s been drawing pictures of books he and his Big Brother have been reading together. “He’s just over the moon that he’s getting a letter every week,” Nina said.

One of Morgan Harris’s Bigs in Henderson County told her he was going to try to deliver cupcakes to his Little for his birthday and also take a cupcake to his Little’s friends so they could all Zoom in and have a virtual birthday.

One match that Jill Hartmann has in Buncombe County decided to try to find something they could cook together, while separate, from their pantries and for their families. Then they were going to watch a cooking show together!

Project MARS members staying connected

Project MARS members have a strong connection with each other, and they have missed seeing each other in service. Here, members Rachel Boyle and Emma Snope participate in a virtual training together. Members are staying busy with school projects, community service projects, and as seen here, trainings during the school closure. Look at those great smiles!

Asking a Little, what are you grateful for today?

Big Brother Joey in Henderson County has been emailing Andre, his Little, with these questions and more. Below are some of Andre’s answers.

What am I grateful for today?

Who am I checking in on or connecting with today?

What expectations of ‘normal’ am I letting go of today? – in other words, what are you not doing that you normally do on a daily basis?

How am I getting outside today? – in other words are you going outside to play, exercise?

How am I moving my body today?

What beauty am I either creating, cultivating or inviting in today?

Opening the mailbox and finding a handwritten letter – what a great way to keep in touch!

Martha Barksdale, Program Coordinator of BBBS Haywood County, was talking with a mom recently who told her that her daughter and her Big Sister had started writing each other letters!
 
“Big Sister will write Little Sister a letter and attach it with a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and Little Sister writes her back,” Martha said.
 
Mom told Martha that the Little Sister runs to the mailbox just about every day to see if there’s a letter there.
 
“She loves getting the mail and writing,” Martha said Mom told her. “I just thought this was a great communication idea, a little old-fashioned letter writing.”
 
Martha said she was going to start this with her Little Sister.

A Big Sister/Project MARS worker helps Mom with easy Easter ideas

Big Sister Shirley, who is also an AmeriCorps Project MARS member, recently visited her Little Sister Dinastie’s mom about what she could do for Easter with Dinastie and her two other daughters, Keola (who also has a Big Sister) and Skylar, the baby of the family.
 
“I gave her suggestions for some things to do to occupy them and ideas for prize eggs for Easter that didn’t cost anything,” Shirley wrote, “like extra one-on-one time with mom, iPad time, picking the TV show for the family, etc. I will continue to keep in touch with them.”
 
The family was super-excited to see Ms. Shirley!

Two Big Sisters help out an entire Cherokee family

A Big Sister in Cherokee County is working with another Big Sister there to get crafts kits to their Littles. The two Bigs ordered the kits, as well as a ball, not only for their Littles, who are siblings, but also for their Littles’ little brother! “Good people are all around!’ says Gloria Dockery, Program Coordinator of BBBS Cherokee.

A phone call from a Big lifts a Little’s heart

(This email came from a mother of a Little Brother in Cherokee County.)
 
My heart is overflowing & I wanted to share it with you… I have a very happy little boy this afternoon. Big Brother Dawson called and talked to Mason (his Little Brother) this afternoon. I don’t think Mason has ever talked so much in his life!!! He was on cloud 9 & took the phone all over the house & outside telling Dawson about his toys, etc.
 
Once they got off the phone, Mason said Dawson was calling him back next week so I couldn’t forget & needed to make sure my phone was charged up!!! Memories like this make a lasting impression! I am so thankful God allowed Mason to be paired with such a caring Big Brother! ❤️

An online auction enables a former Big to help her former Little Sister’s family

Trying times like these are keeping even former Matches connected. Here’s a story about cutting boards, an auction, and how a former Big Sister helped her former Little Sister’s family, as told by the former Big Sister herself. (All the names have been deleted to respect their privacy.)

“I got in touch with (my former Little and her mother) once all this started to unfold. (Her mother) has been a cafeteria worker at (an Asheville elementary school) for years and years.  She and (her daughter also) work together at an afterschool program each afternoon.

“I knew that with schools closed, they are out of work. I checked in with (my former Little Sister’s mother), and, as I suspected, she was/is really stressed about money.  So here’s a sweet little story for you:

“One of our dear friends – and (my husband’s bike) riding buddy – posted on Facebook that, with all the time at home, he’d made some gorgeous cutting boards. He got all kinds of likes and comments on them on Facebook.  Then he texted (my husband) and their buddies, saying maybe he could auction them on Facebook and raise money for someone who was hurting from loss of work.

“I told (my husband) that we know such a family – (my former Little’s) family. (My husband’s friend) didn’t know how to conduct an auction, so I did that part, on Facebook, on Sunday, March 22. I posted, with (the mother’s) permission, of course, a bit about the family’s situation and tried my best to express how helpful this would be for them.

“Would you believe that the first cutting board sold for $275, the second board raised $110 and the third board raised $200????  AND, my college roommate just sent me a $100 donation to help out (the) family.

“I was elated to send (the mother) a total of $685 the next day. She was crying, she said, and so surprised and grateful!

“Now that is a story that we can feel good about! It doesn’t solve all of their problems, but it does help. I’ve also given (the mother) a ton of links to resources for food, rent assistance, etc., as that info has come across my email at (work).”

BBBS staff share some stories about how everyone is staying connected

How are BBBS of WNC staff staying in touch with their Bigs? Like this!
 
In Cherokee County, Program Coordinator Gloria Dockery said a Little’s grandmother said her grandchild’s Big has been leaving phone messages for the Little to hear.
 
In Highlands, Program Coordinator Danielle Hernandez-Juarez said a Big Sister told her that communicating virtually with her Little about their lives at home was bringing them closer together!
 
In Buncombe County, School-Based Program Coordinator Fran Shuler said a Big Sister worked with her Little’s mother to get her Little on FaceTime so she could let her Little know that they’ll celebrate her birthday (and so the Big could see Mom’s new baby!).
 
In Buncombe, Match Support Specialist Dee Dee Allan said a Big Brother has been emailing his Little Brother every day to make sure he’s keeping up with his schoolwork.
 
In Burke County, Program Coordinator Nina Ervin said a sponsor at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (a big sponsor of the branch’s recent Bowl For Kids’ Sake) asked for all the Littles’ birthdays so that she could get presents that Nina could drop off on their birthdays!
 
In Swain County, Program Coordinator Caitlin Quinnett was happy to report that two Littles who live deep in the mountains were able to connect their school-provided iPads to the Internet to do their schoolwork.
 
“We really can make a difference, even if we can’t be face to face,” said Jamye Davis, Assistant Director of BBBSWNC.

A Little Brother tells his Big how he’s doing his schoolwork

Big Brother Joey in Henderson County checks on his Little Brother Andre several times a week via video conferencing. Here’s an email Andre recently sent Joey telling Joey how he (Andre) is keeping up with his school work.

“The way we are able to do work from home is that we log in to our computers and we go to Google Classroom, and we go to our gmail to see what the teacher assigned us,” Andre wrote. “So our recent piece of work is March Madness. And what we did is we solve problems for four days. And the way we read is the teachers assigned us books to read and we will read them for at least 30 minutes. And then we would log it on our reading log. And the way we do science is we go to our science classroom, she will give us a link to our assignment, and we do what she assigned us. That is how we do our work from home.”

Email opens up a new world of communication for this Match

(This story is by Joey Popp, chair of the BBBS Henderson County Advisory Board.)

By now we would have had the garden prepped ready to go.  Hey, doesn’t COVID-19 know it’s getting in the way of Andre planting his garden!

This day and time, one-to-one mentoring takes on a new look.

Since social distancing came into view, our Little/Big relationship consists of telephone calls, reminders to do homework, read and along the way talk about fun things.

I can’t wait to get to see him again.  I brought back from South America a small gift of interesting looking candy.  He loves candy.

At my last check, Andre was getting a new computer program set up at home so he can communicate with his teachers.

The reporter in me came out and immediately gave him an assignment.  Realizing he now has email, I gave him a deadline to send me back a paragraph or two on what he’s learning.

“I don’t know your email address” he said.  “Well, let me give it to you” I responded.

This 5th grader is moving right along during the medical crisis.

Stay tuned.

Making sure a Little is helping his grandmother

Every other day, Joe Sherman calls his Little Brother to check on him and see how he’s helping his grandmother and being a good brother to his two sisters. This Henderson County match is forging ahead with one of the most powerful tools for staying connected – the telephone.
“He understands what’s going on,” Joe said of Christian, his Little Brother. Joe checks to see what progress Christian has made on not staying up too late on weekends, with being helpful around his grandmother’s house, where Christian and his sisters live.
“They’ve gotten all the school supplies they need – the electronics and paperwork – so they can do all their work at home,” Joe said. Joe makes sure Christian, who makes As and Bs, is staying on top of his studies.
Joe also talks to Christian’s grandmother to see how Christian is doing. “We talk about Christian a lot,” Joe said. And he and Christian talk a lot too. They’re keeping their relationship going during this time of separation.
“He knows that I’m going to show up again when the time’s right,” Joe said.

School video chat keeps a Match paired up!

This is from Ally Sloss, the Site-Based & Group Mentoring Program Coordinator for Buncombe County.
 
I want to give a shout out to Dana Williams and her Little Brother Lucas. I just spoke with Dad who said that Lucas was able to chat with Dana via their school’s video chat, and he is so glad that Lucas has her support!
(Posted March 20, 2020)

A caregiver takes online classes with her granddaughter

Earlier this week, Buncombe County Match Support Coordinator Kelly Wolf spoke to a grandparent caregiver who is really taking advantage of the online opportunities available to supplement student education, many of which are now being offered for free.

She and her granddaughter Zari are taking an online yoga class, participate in a daily storytime and illustration activity via Instagram, check out what’s going on at the Cincinnati Zoo each afternoon, and take lots of virtual field trips.

She is getting ready to sign Zari up for a free online cooking class, as well. She said she is very grateful for the huge number of free activities available to keep kids occupied and engaged while they can’t be in school!

(Posted March 20, 2020)

Video chat lets a Big help a Little with classwork

After contacting Bigs to let them know in-person outings between Bigs and Littles will be suspended for two weeks, Buncombe County Match Support Coordinator Kelly Wolf immediately received a response from Big Brother Steve asking if it would be OK to reach out to his Little Brother Ky’ren via video chat so they can catch up and so Steve can offer Ky’ren assistance with his schoolwork.

Steve normally takes his Little to Homework Diner every week and wants to be sure Ky’ren feels supported academically during this time.

(Posted March 19, 2020)

Project MARS helps deliver food to school children in Cherokee County

Yay, AmeriCorps Project MARS! Cherokee County MARS members Jadrian Ledford, Betty Jean Jones and Lauren Allen (on the bus) and Taylor Swain (not photographed) recently assisted in the delivery of meals to students across the county while school is out of session.