Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Seacoast provides adult mentors and role models for "at-risk" youth between the ages of 6 and 17. The common mission of Big Brother Big Sister organizations is to provide successful mentoring relationships for all children who need them, promoting a brighter future, better schools, and stronger communities.

Description:
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Seacoast serves youth who are residents of Rockingham or Strafford County. Agency services include recruiting, screening and training volunteers before matching them with a "Little". Professional case managers provide support services to the matches for the lifetime of the match. Regular group events for both matches and youth on the waiting list are scheduled. Regular group support meetings for the "Bigs" are also offered. Our volunteer mentors may reside anywhere. The commitment required is a minimum of one year to the relationship, with regular meetings of meaningful time.
School and site based programs are offered to supplement our traditional community based mentoring. We offer school based programs in Barrington, Dover, Epping, Exeter, Farmington,Hampton, Raymond, Portsmouth, Rochester, Rochester, Seabrook, and Somersworth. The commitment required for our school based program is a 1 hour meeting once each week for one school year.
We offer same gender matches in most instances, but also will match female "Bigs" with male "Littles" where appropriate. Little's are referred to us in a number of ways, including self-referral, school staff, family counselors and police.
The outcomes from BBBS programs are well established. Well-known national research into BBBS programs results indicate that children who are mentored by a "Big" will be more likely to have a more positive attitude towards school and achieve higher grades;have improved relationships with adults and peers;develop higher levels of self-confidence;not use illegal drugs and alcohol.

History:
Seacoast Big Brothers Big Sisters of NH was founded in 1977. The name of the agency was changed to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Seacoast in November of 2002.

Contact person: Tawnee Walling, Executive Director, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (603) 430-7760

Address:

909 Islington Street, Ste. 4 Portsmouth, NH 03801 (See a map)

Miscellaneous Information

Name of Executive Director (or equivalent) if not listed above:
	Tawnee Walling, Executive Director
Type of organization
	Nonprofit 501(c)3
Is your organization a Health and Human Service agency?
	Yes