Little Adam and Big Joe were matched in March 2021 in the mentor2.0 program. Joe recalls that the first time he met Adam was understandably awkward. Due to COVID, Adam and Joe had their first interactions via Zoom meetings set up by BBBSC. This was of course not ideal, but they were able to get to know each other at least superficially, and it was a start. During Zoom meetings, they connected on shared hobbies such as video games, books, and military history. Adam is quite the war buff and is fascinated by the mechanics and engineering behind tanks, ships and all manner of automobiles.
Within a few months, COVID restrictions finally relaxed and Adam and Joe were able to meet up in person. It was during this time that they made strides to really get to know each other, asking why they both did the program and their expectations of it. Recently, Adam and Joe have transitioned to the Match Plus Program, which allows them meet up together outside of Adam’s school. They successfully completed their first Match Plus visit at Cherry Creek Dog Park, where they discussed Adam’s goals and plans for what he wants outside of high school and how he wanted future outings to go.
Joe notes that Adam has grown a great deal during the program. He’s seen him juggle a lot between taking up a job part-time to help his family at home, extra-curricular events (he does cross country, something else they have in common), and maintaining his grades. He admires that he’s taken on so much without ever complaining and while still managing to be a kid.
Adam has expressed interest in learning a trade after high school and he and Joe plan to visit the Community College of Denver’s welding program on one of their next outings. Joe shares, “All in all, I think the Match Plus and BBBSC Program as a whole is providing Adam with an environment where he can bring up topics and ambitions that he may not feel comfortable enough to bring up to family or even his high school counselors, and it helps provide resources to help enable realization of those ambitions.”
To donors, Joe says, “Thank you for your continued support to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado. Programs like these really change lives and help children who have more to deal with than people like me ever had. It also helps provide a place for people like myself to give back. Your gift enables the power of one-to-one mentoring to encourage youth to reach their full potential and gives them a safe space to be kids.”