On September 1, the Faribault Rotary Club was pleased to welcome Ms. Michelle Redman of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota. Ms. Redman has been with the southern Minnesota Big Brothers Big Sisters, which covers Rice, Steele, Dodge and Waseca Counties, for 13 years. She has served as the Executive Director for the organization for the past 6 years.
Ms. Redman stressed the positive impact a positive adult role model can have in the lives of the children (i.e., littles) involved in the program. She noted that nearly all the “littles” see their academics improve and show increased self-confidence. Almost 93% of the participants comment on improved relationships with family and peers of having an adult role model.
Within her region, Ms. Redman said 67% of the children in the program qualify for free or reduced lunch. Fifty-five percent come from non-traditional households. Twenty-two percent have parents that are either incarcerated or somehow involved with law enforcement (e.g., on parole).
Ms. Redman highlighted anyone can be a volunteer (i.e., a big). Prospective volunteers all need to go through background checks and an interview process. Her organization takes time and works hard to match the volunteers with “littles” that they would most be compatible.
With the spread of the pandemic in spring of 2020, the Big Brother Big Sister program initiated a new virtual program called AVID. AVID is entirely online and has volunteers talk with students for a half hour about their individual career/life path. For Faribault, 46 students have signed up for the program for this fall so she is looking for volunteers to engage the students and talk to them about the lessons the volunteers have learned about life and careers. The AVID program is starting up again in the Faribault school district in late October.
Ms. Redman also spoke about the Traditional School Site program in which volunteers meet their “littles” during school lunchtime, stressing the value of having this face-to-face interaction. She also commented that the traditional community programs are still going on despite the challenges of the pandemic. Volunteers for these programs would need to commit for one year.
Ms. Redman thanked the Club for inviting her to speak, highlighting her past service as a Rotarian and commenting on all the good work the Club is doing in the Faribault community.
