It was 1974. Tanya was eight years old (pictured) when she met her Big Sister Debbie. Debbie was in college and had long beautiful red hair. Tanya had never met anyone like Debbie. Neither Tanya’s mother nor her grandmother had graduated from high school, and were both teen moms.
Debbie exposed Tanya to something different. Debbie would come to pick up Tanya in her car from her neighborhood and take her to the college campus, which to Tanya felt like a big park. They spent a lot of time at the college and would make cookies from scratch together in Debbie’s dorm kitchen. Tanya had never done that before and knew that when she had her own kids, she wanted to do that with them.
Tanya’s match with Debbie closed after about a year. As life went on and Tanya entered her teen years, the lifestyle surrounding her was hard to overcome, and she became pregnant at age 16.
Even though they were no longer matched, Debbie’s influence continued to inspire Tanya. Next week, check our blog for what happened next in Tanya’s story.
We are kicking off our Celebrate Potential campaign with a goal of $36,000 to support 20 mentoring relationships for a full year! You can make a difference with a gift today that will help BBBSC connect 20 children to a caring adult mentor. https://www.biglittlecolorado.org/donate/ #celebratepotential